The draft is a week away, and many Jacksonville Jaguars fans will be anxiously waiting to see what the team does with their 12 selections. As of now, it isn’t clear what the team will do with the first overall pick, which has made things interesting for draft analysts who are trying to figure out the first round.
However, that isn’t the only interesting thing about the upcoming draft for fans of the Jags. Figuring out who the team could take on Day 2 is also an interesting conversation that’s being had within the fanbase.
Most seem to think the team should and could take a receiver on Day 2 as they have three picks between the second and third rounds. And while it would be huge for the team to get an option like George Pickens at pick No. 33, it seems that the team may be more likely to take a defender there.
With that being the case, Jags Wire asked an expert on a player who could be available in the following round at the position in Alec Pierce. That expert was NFL Network Daniel Jeremiah, who held a conference call on Thursday to discuss next week’s big event.
“So you’ve got big-time sprinter speed,” Jeremiah said of Pierce. “He’s just real strong and powerful in what he does. You can watch the Notre Dame game, you can see the big-time catches, kind of those wild catches.
“He’s one of those guys, in scouting a lot of times we use the phrase ‘quicker than fast.’ He’s the opposite; he’s faster than quick. He’s got big-time speed. Some of the subtleties getting in and out, that’s going to be a little bit more of a challenge with him at the break point.”
Pierce has become a popular name in the Jags community because of his projection as a third-round selection. Many believe that he can help the offense takeoff if paired with Trevor Lawrence, who could use a new X-receiver after losing D.J. Chark Jr. in free agency.
Pierce will be entering the draft after being Desmond Ridder’s top target last season when he hauled in 52 passes for 884 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Together, the two were able to get the Bearcats into the playoffs last season after a magical 13-0 run in the regular season.
Jags Wire also asked Jeremiah if any other X-receivers could help the Jags in Round 3, and he singled out South Alabama’s Jalen Tolbert.
“Along those lines, kind of a big X, Jalen Tolbert from South Alabama would be another one,” Jeremiah added. “A little over 6’1”, 194 pounds, ran in the 4.4s. He’s got a little more stop-start quickness to him. He’s got really good hands in terms of going up and getting it and winning those 50/50 balls, but he has some concentration drops on occasion. Those are going to kind of rear their ugly head there.
“Those are kind of a couple interesting X-receiver options there for them kind of outside those first couple rounds to me that would be good fits.”
Tolbert didn’t face the same competition level as Pierce, but he has plenty of talent. He was ultra-productive in his last two seasons with the Jaguars registering over 1,084 yards in both seasons. He also hauled in 146 passes and 16 touchdowns along the way. Those are the kind of stats that could’ve caught the eyes of Trent Baalke and Doug Pederson, who need better play out wide over what fans saw under Urban Meyer last season.
