JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A year ago the biggest question around the Jaguars was how would the trio of Tom Coughlin, Dave Caldwell and Doug Marrone work together? The end result was Jacksonville having its best season in a decade.
For the first time since 2007 the Jaguars won’t be picking in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. The front office staff will be spending a little longer than usual in the draft war room next Thursday night. Jacksonville has pick No. 29 in the 2018 Draft.
Their priority in the draft is to make sure the roster is built to compete in the present as well as in the future.
“We tried to be as proactive as we could and fill every need that we had in free agency so that when we got to this point at pick No. 29 we could take the best player available,” said Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell during Friday’s pre-draft media luncheon. “If there are three or four guys there we start to look at value of positions. What position is more valuable for us? Not only this year. But as a first round pick this is a guy you want to be here for six, seven, eight, nine or ten 10 years. We try to look at long term but it’s also important for that person to come in and make an impact right away.”
There’s an awful lot of attention paid to who is taken in the first round but the good teams in the NFL are able to find quality players in the later rounds. Myles Jack, Telvin Smith, Cam Robinson, Yannick Ngakoue and Brandon Linder are all examples of players the Jaguars have selected in the second round or lower.
“There’s no question that the best thing you can possibly do for your team is to match a need with quality,” said Jaguars executive VP of football operations Tom Coughlin. “You’re not going to reach for a player. If there’s an outstanding player at that position, whatever that position might be then that would be the individual that we would pick. The big issue of course is who’s going to be there.”
In terms of the draft Marrone is very upfront that he gladly defers to both Coughlin and Marrone.
“For us as coaches we can evaluate talent and where a player is but it’s very difficult for us because we’re not doing this [scouting/evaluating players] year round,” said Marrone. “We can’t say here are the 32 guys that are getting selected in the first round and here is who is going to drop but they maybe be talented. It’s very difficult for myself to get wrapped up around that.”
In year one that formula worked to the tune of winning the AFC South and earning a trip to the AFC Championship game. On defense Paul Posluszny and Aaron Colvin are the only two major contributors that are no longer on the roster. There are a few more defections on offense with Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, Marcedes Lewis and Patrick Omameh. But overall the Jaguars feel great about how their roster shapes up prior to the draft.
“I’m happy to say that we can go out and play,” said Marrone. “I’m happy about that. I feel good about the players we have right now. Whatever happens with the draft and whoever we acquire, we welcome them to our team and we hope that they can help us win.”