Rookie 6th round pick (RB) Deji Karim will miss the rest of the pre-season due to surgery on his left thumb.  Karim played in the first two pre-season games for the Jaguars in which he carried the ball 2 times for 9 yards (4.5 ypc) and he caught 2 passes for 5 yards (2.5 avg).  Karim was outstanding on kickoff returns as he returned 9 of them for 295 yards (32.8 avg).  That is where he will be missed the most.

The Jaguars have selected CB/PR/KR Scotty McGee out of James Madison with the 203rd overall pick (6th round) of the NFL Draft.  McGee is not much of a defensive player so the Jags picked him specifically for his special teams ability.  He only had 3 tackles last season for James Madison.  McGee also returned 19 punts for 97 yards (5.1 avg) and 21 kickoffs for 640 yards (30.5 avg) last season.  McGee finished up with only 16 tackles and 10 passes defensed in his four years at James Madison.  He also has returned 31 punts for 275 yards (8.9 avg) and 42 kickoffs for 1,299 yards (30.9 avg) at James Madison.  The Jaguars are taking somewhat of a risk with this pick because Madison is really only a special teams player and little more.

The Jaguars went bargain shopping for a backup running back and they might have found one in Deji Karim.  Karim was picked by the Jags with the 180th overall pick (6th round) of the NFL Draft out of Southern Illinois.  Karim is on the small side at 5′8″, 197 pounds but he’s fast running a 4.47 40.  Karim’s college numbers jump off the page.  He played in 13 games (all starts) at Southern Illinois last season and he carried the ball 240 times for 1,694 yards (7.1 ypc) with 18 TD runs.  He also caught 17 passes for 212 yards (12.5 avg) with 1 TD grab last season.  Karim played in 48 games (32 starts) at Southern Illinois & Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in which he carried the ball 644 times for 3,971 yards (6.2 ypc) with 48 TD runs and he also caught 48 passes for 544 yards (11.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Karim will also help out the Jaguars on special teams as he is a good kick returner.

The Jaguars have selected DE Austen Lane out of Murray State with the 153rd overall pick of the NFL Draft (5th round).  Lane is 6′5″, 276 pounds and he runs a 4.88 40 so he is a good athlete.  His game is speed though as he is not too tough against the run despite having nice size.  Lane played in 11 games for Murray State last season and he had 64 tackles, 19.5 tackles for a loss and he had 11 sacks.  In his four years at Murray State, Lane played in 43 games in which he had 209 tackles, 53.5 tackles for a loss and he had 29 sacks.  This is a big step up in competition for Lane so it will be interesting to see if he can handle it.

The Jaguars have selected OLB Larry Hart out of Central Michigan with the 143th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  Hart is 6′0″, 239 and he’s really fast running a 4.56 40.  Hart’s game is getting into the opposing backfield and making plays.  He is a solid pass rusher but he will need to toughen up against the run some.  Hart played in 12 games (all starts) at C.Michigan last season and he had 30 tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks and he broke up one pass.  In his two years at Central Michigan, Hart played in 24 games (all starts) in which he had 73 tackles, 31.5 tackles for a loss, 21.5 sacks and he broke up 6 passes.  This was a solid pick for the Jaguars who got good value in finding Hart in the 5th round.