Former Cocoa football star and Florida Gator Jawaan Taylor thinks he deserved to be a first round pick. Instead the offensive lineman fell to the second round after a report said he had a knee injury. That was all debunked at Jags Rookie Mini Camp. Our Despina Barton explains it wasn’t only his speed on display but his connection with a team mate, too:

Friendships come in all shapes and sizes and for these two it’s been three years in the making.

“Me and Josh are real cool, we’re like brothers,” Jaguars rookie Jawaan Taylor said of Josh Allen. “We are actually roommates for rookie minicamp and you know we’ve been playing against each other for years.”

Josh Allen, the stud 6’5 linebacker from Kentucky and Jaguars first round pick went up against the stout offensive lineman Jawaan Taylor of the Florida Gators, who Jacksonville snagged in the second round.

The two competed against each other on Saturdays in the SEC.

“I mean Josh was the best I went against, he made me better,” Taylor explained.

And Allen’s said the same about Taylor. Now the two are joining forces in Jacksonville—with a ton of mutual respect and a bond.

“I am happy to be team mates with him we get to make each other better every day and I am happy to have Josh here,” Taylor added.

At rookie minicamp the two already set the bar high for everyone around them.

 “I am going to be the first one in line,” Josh Allen said. “Go hard every play and that’s just my role and that’s contagious and so I feel like doing that consistently play in and play out I feel like that can bring a lot of people on.”

As for Jawaan Taylor, he’s looking to prove all the teams that passed on him in the first round—wrong.

“I always have something to prove my whole life so I am use to it so I am just happy to be out here and have this opportunity and come away and get better, help them win games.”

Head Coach Doug Marrone is already taking notice.

“We didn’t have a lot on his 40 time and we had worked him out and really liked the footwork but there were some drills today that we saw speed that you wouldn’t really know unless you put him out there and did those specific drills,” Marrone explained.

“He was first in a lot of the sled pulls and things like that –so I think he is off to a good start.”

And it all is just a start as the goal in Jacksonville is to win games. And fortunately for Taylor and Allen having a longstanding friendship sure helps to make this transition to the pros a whole lot more fun.

“Me and him are best friends, I look up to Josh he’s a great dude,” Taylor added.

Now a whole city will be looking up to these two as they try to make the Jaguars relevant again.