5 draft scenarios for Jags
Look for team to shop for guard, receiver
JACKSONVILLE — The mock drafts have been constructed and re-constructed. The trade-up/trade-down proposals have been dissected. And a list of risers and fallers has been compiled.
And we’re still two weeks away from the NFL Draft.
In the famous words of then-ESPN analyst Jon Gruden a few years ago, when the draft season stretched into early May: “This draft needs to get here.”
With time to spare, let’s think outside the box as it pertains to the Jaguars, who hold seven picks starting with the 29th overall selection, with five scenarios: only one in the top 20 — but that means there could be a run on them in the second round ahead of the Jaguars’ 61st overall pick.
Moving from 29 to the early 20s would cost the Jaguars their third-round pick, but that may be what it takes to get Maryland’s D.J. Moore or Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk. do what it takes to get UTEP’s Will Hernandez.
All 49 of Hernandez’s college starts were at left guard, but he’s a powerhouse (37 reps on the 225-pound bench press) and would be a plugand-play selection, establishing an interior offensive line of left guard Andrew Norwell, center Brandon Linder and Hernandez. quarterback this year ... in the first round.
Does that mean Louisville’s Lamar Jackson or Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph at No. 29? The Jaguars could make this bold move feeling Blake Bortles is confident enough to handle the automatic distraction.
The Jaguars are in “Win Now/All In” mode, but their free agent work means they can approach the draft with an eye toward 2019-21.
By the time draft starts, the Jags ought to have made their decision on defensive end Dante Fowler’s 2019 contract option. If they don’t pick it up, a pass rusher could be the focus of round 1 (Boston College’s Harold Landry or Florida State’s Josh Sweat) in the first round since this is a position of little depth.