The Jacksonville Jaguars are in relatively unfamiliar territory as owners of the 24th pick in the draft. The team picked first in the last two drafts and is now set to pick outside the top 10 for only the second time in the last 16 years.
While the Jaguars previously had the luxury of zeroing in on a single prospect, general manager Trent Baalke now needs a plan B and a plan C. The good news is that Jacksonville already did the hardest part: it found a franchise quarterback.
With Trevor Lawrence in place, the Jaguars can sit back while other teams jump through hoops to get a passer. And the more quarterbacks that go early, the higher the chance that Jacksonville will land one of the few prospects it’s targeting.
“When you don’t need a quarterback, and there’s four or five of them in the draft that people are coveting, you know at least five guys are going to go up in there, it is going to push everybody back down,” Baalke told reporters Thursday. “We need as many guys to go ahead of us as possible, and hopefully we’ll have our pick of two or three guys that we have in mind right now — it’s down to that level — probably two to three guys that we’re really interested in, and we feel like we’ve got a good shot at one of those guys.”
It’s anyone’s guess who those players could be, but the list of prospects who visited the Jaguars in recent weeks could provide a hint. Among those who have toured TIAA Bank Field in the last month are Texas Tech pass rusher Tyree Wilson, Georgia pass rusher Nolan Smith, Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks, TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston, and Clemson pass rusher Myles Murphy, each of whom are largely expected to be first-round picks.
The duo or trio of prospects coveted by the Jaguars could be in that group. Regardless, it seems pass rushers and cornerbacks are at the top of the team’s list of priorities.
