There will be 259 players drafted next week, but the Jacksonville Jaguars only have their eyes on about half those prospects.
“Our board is not laden with guys. We’ve got 127 names on the board right now that are draftable for us,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke told reporters Thursday. “The culture is huge. We spend a lot of time looking at these guys.
“Do they fit us? Do they not fit us? There are a lot of guys that are taken off the board because they just don’t fit our culture. They’re good players, but they just don’t fit what we’re looking for, and the coaching staff has a big weigh-in on that as well.”
The Jaguars currently own nine picks in next week’s draft, including the No. 24 and 56 overall selections. While the team will certainly have plenty of options on its board when it’s time to make those picks, there isn’t a guarantee when it comes the Jaguars’ three sixth-round picks (Nos. 185, 202, and 208) or their seventh-rounder (No. 226).
Baalke says there are contingency plans in place for that scenario, but he isn’t worried about it becoming an issue.
“We have a specific way of how we set up the board, so while it sounds like 127, there’s more numbers baked in there,” Baalke said. “Those are the 127 that we really feel fit the culture we want, fit the value we have placed on them and really all the stars align. There are other fallbacks that we can go to, but really, we’re picking from 127.”
