It has been way too long since the Jaguars drafted this low in the first round. Understandably, at this very early stage of the off season it's been more difficult to project what the Jaguars might do. We haven't even had the scouting combine or free agency yet. We've had a do over in Indy, where it has been assumed for weeks that Josh McDaniels would take over as head Coach, only for word to come out yesterday that he changed his mind and is staying in New England. The Indy coaching search starts all over again.
Nevertheless, none of this have stopped the draftniks and armchair GMs among us from attempting mock drafts or at least thinking about what the Jaguars might do at 29. Based upon team needs, a lot of the speculation surrounds a G, where UTEPs Will Hernandez and Isaiah Wynn from Georgia are among the leading candidates at that position to be the pick at 29. Another need the Jaguars might address at the bottom of the first is MLB, where Poz is up in age.
However, perhaps the most tempting positional target for many would be TE, where the Jaguars historically have been lacking at the position. Although this TE class is not considered at this point to be as talented or deep as last year's class, there are a lot of good players at the position that may help this team and who theoretically might be a fit at 29, including Dallas Goedert, Hayden Hurst or Mark Andrews. Any one of those guys would give Bortles another much needed target.
But is TE a likely target for the team in the first?
Depending upon how much sway TC has, I'd say no. An examination of TC's drafting history, going back to his first stint with the Jaguars, shows he has never drafted a TE in the first round. In fairness, this could be attributable to any number of reasons. It's entirely possible that at each point in the draft each year, TE didn't make sense. In 1995, when building the Jaguars, it didn't make any sense for the Jaguars to go TE in the first round. No TE in that draft was worth a top 2 pick, much less a pick worth more than Boselli, who played a premium position. Still trying to simply stock the roster, TC went RB at 19 that year. He may have felt Kyle Brady was worth a first round pick that year. In fact, when Brady became a free agent in 1999, TC signed him. But the fact is he didn't draft him-or any TE-with the Jaguars in the first round. Circumstances possibly dictated TC stay away from TE in the first round with the Giants. When TC arrived with the Giants in 2004, he already had Jeremy Shockey, who was drafted in the first round in 2002.
Naturally, being a needs drafter, it would make sense that circumstances would dictate draft strategy for TC. But perhaps something else factored into his draft decisions. Perhaps his draft philosophy precludes him from taking a TE in the first round. Even when he arguably needed a TE, either in Jacksonville or New York, he never spent higher than a 3rd round pick on the position. Maybe he thinks TE is one of those positions you can adequately stock in the mid rounds, if not address during free agency.
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
