Jacksonville owns the first overall pick in the draft for the second year in a row after failing to see much improvement in 2021, finishing the season at 3-14. Last year, the pick was straightforward. The Jaguars have been looking for a long-term franchise quarterback since Mark Brunell left the team in 2003, and a generational prospect fell into their laps in Trevor Lawrence.
This time around, it’s not so simple. The elite prospects in this class are a pair of edge rushers, which remains a need for Jacksonville even though it’s been addressed in the first round in two of the last three drafts. There’s a lot of debate about which of the two between Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux should be the top pick, but ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. thinks he knows the answer.
“I think Aidan Hutchinson, the defensive end from Michigan, I think the body of work, the production, that Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa mentality in the Big Ten… The intensity, the consistency, being disruptive against the pass, getting after the quarterback and the run game, as well,” Kiper told Field Yates on ESPN’s First Draft. “Being a great leader, setting a great tone for that defense… People will talk about the Georgia game, Stetson Bennett got the ball out quick, they knew what they had to do in that game.”
