(02-14-2023, 03:05 PM)NYC4jags Wrote:

(02-14-2023, 02:22 PM)IKhan't Wrote: Last year we had the #1 overall pick and ignored CB, because we thought Shaquill Griffin and Tyson Campbell would be lock down CB's for years to come. It wasn't a position of need. "Sauce Gardner" was without question, the top player in the draft, imo. It really wasn't even close. He had size, speed, he was a consensus All-American and he had not given up a touchdown during 1000+ snaps in his college career. He also only allowed 13 receptions for 117 total yards, his last season at Cincinnati. Those were unbelievable achievements, that were unmatched by every other player at every position in the draft. If I were to draft any other way, but taking the BAP, I would have chosen someone else, but sticking to the BAP formula, I wanted Gardner. Wouldn't it have been nice if we had drafted Gardner? Taking the BAP works. I don't see why anyone would think it was weird.

Sauce Gardner would have been a good pick. Many of us clamored for it.  Many of us knew Griffin was not it. 
But the Jags needed a nickel and they just didn't know it yet. 
They thought Williams had the skill set and he didn't. He actually played really well outside though. And Campbell's CB stats are eerily similar to Gardners in several categories.  I don't think outside CB is a need until 2024. Would Gardner be nice to have?  - sure, but I'll wait to see what Walker turns into before declaring Gardner a better pick. 
He simply had a more productive rookie year at this point.  Wouldn't have altered the ultimate outcome of our 2022 season IMO. 

I choose value over some utopian idea of BAP every day and twice on Sundays. 
If two prospects have a minuscule difference in grade on my board and one fits my need - I'm taking the player I need whether he's on the high side or low side of that equation. 

Just don't reach too far down your list  - and then taking the needed/value player is wiser IMO.
 Unless your roster is just stacked everywhere. 
I also believe that 100% of GMs do indeed make these kind of value decisions multiple times in every single draft. And they do it more often in the early rounds.

If we would've drafted Gardner, we wouldn't have had to sign Williams to a 3yr/$30 million deal. His cap number this season is $12.5 million. We could certainly use that now. Imagine having Campbell and Gardner on the outside and having Williams' $12.5 million salary off the books this season. We could use that savings to find the Nickle corner we need. I'm always taking BAP, unless it's a QB. Having Gardner wouldn't have changed the outcome of this season, true, but I believe it would've set us up way better for the future. 

You can say that we need to wait and see if Gardner ends of being a better pick than Walker, but that is painfully obvious right now. 

Again, everyone has different ideas of which way is best. I take BAP and you take what you consider value. Ultimately, it doesn't matter which way either one of us would go, because neither of us are running the Jaguars. Our team believes in drafting for need and taking potential over production. We just have to sit back and deal with who ever they choose.

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