By Jeff Moeller
This year, there won’t be any Trevor Lawrence.
This year, there won’t be any Travon Walker and Devin Lloyd either.
This year, there won’t be a franchise-turning moment.
This is what happens when your team wins the AFC South and wins a first-round playoff game. Welcome, Jaguars, to the next level. Your days of a two-, three-, four- or up to seven-win days are likely over. A low pick usually means you’re doing something right.
As a result, your draft pick Thursday night won’t be one that will draw the football world’s attention. Instead, it will be one that will figure as another piece of the living puzzle that is being pieced together toward a Super Bowl.
This year’s draft could be pivotal. Their free agency spending was limited, and the Jags did lose some starters that helped bring them out of mediocrity of the next level down.
This one won’t be as easy as the last three first-round picks either. Jacksonville will try to address one of three major issues- corner, guard, and edge rusher – with a low-round pick. Still, a low-round pick can be a good thing.
Jacksonville will have the 24th overall pick, and nine overall in the NFL draft that will begin their broadcast at 8 p.m. Thursday on ABC and ESPN. It likely will go deep into the second hour until the Jags have their selection.
Head coach Doug Pederson stated this week that the team wanted to add “talent, competition, and depth” to his team via the draft. Sounds simple and obvious, right? Well, that’s exactly what the Jags need right now.
With the development of quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne along with the maturation of the defense, expectations will be high on Florida’s north coast. It will begin with winning the division his year and then beyond.
That’s where we are with this team, and we can’t lower the bar. The Jags couldn’t flip open their checkbook this spring and were limited in acquiring some depth, but they did manage to keep their overall core intact.
So, who will it be? The early speculation has them drafting Alabama corner Brian Branch, who many believe will be available and their pick. It’s still the early choice, and many believe Branch would be the solution to the Jags’ ongoing problem at slot corner.
With his high pedigree, Branch could step into a starting role this fall, and even side over into a linebacker spot. He’s that talented and is the stop gap in the middle to plug opponent’s running game. It may be the selection process of taking the best available prospect on the board at the time.
There’s also growing speculation that the Jags will take home product Florida guard 6-5, 330-pound O’Cyrus Torrance to beef up the middle. Ben Bartch went down with a knee injury, the Jags turned to veteran Tyler Schatley, who got the job done. Torrance immediately will provide depth to the position and could win Bartch’s job with stable Brando Scherff on the other side.
Then there’s the pass-rush issue. Jacksonville does want to increase its sack total, and was impressed with last year’s signing of Arden Key, who unfortunately fell to the Super Bowl winning charms of the Kansas City Chiefs.
As a result, there has been some buzz about Georgia Tech’s Keion White, Iowa State’s Will McDonald, and Iowa’s Luke Van Ness, all of whom are a prototype of Key, highlighting his speed and quickness.
Whoever follows the proverbial drum roll at No. 24 will make an impact. There just won’t be fireworks and hysterical fans in Jacksonville last Thursday.
It will be a pick – true to Pederson’s words – that will add “talent, competition, and depth.”
There will be a slightly heightened reaction to the pick, but that’s what happens when you’re a better football team.
(Columnist Jeff Moeller writes for SportsDay and the Florida Sports Wire)
