Jaguars must avoid media trap in 2023 NFL Draft
To give Trevor Lawrence another wide receiver or not do it? That seems to be one of the biggest questions the Jacksonville Jaguars front office has to answer ahead of the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, particularly in the first round. It's clear the team has other, more pressing needs to address, of course. But when […]
To give Trevor Lawrence another wide receiver or not do it?
That seems to be one of the biggest questions the Jacksonville Jaguars front office has to answer ahead of the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, particularly in the first round. It's clear the team has other, more pressing needs to address, of course.
But when you have a quarterback of the magnitude of Lawrence, everything you do should be about maximizing his play. But the question the Jaguars face might not be as tough as first meets the eye.
Why? The wide receivers they find when they're on the clock might not be that high on their board in the first place.
According to The Senior Bowl's executive director Jim Nagy, NFL teams are lower on this wide receiver class than the media is. According to Nagy, "numerous teams" have Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the only WR with a first-round grade.
And yet, many people are mocking a wide receiver to the Jags in the first round. Grinding the Mocks, a website that attempts to predict the NFL Draft using thousands of mocks and data science, has WR Jordan Addison (USC) projected to go 24th overall.
Based on Nagy's insight, that could be perceived as a reach.
However, here's where things get tricky: Not because there are 32 picks in the first round (or 31 as is the case this year) it means that there are 32 first-round prospects. Many analysts estimate that there are fewer such prospects every year. Instead, teams who draft late in the first round are taking guys with second-round grades on them.
But if the Jaguars have a first-round graded player on the board, they should probably lean that way instead of reaching for a wide receiver. At least according to Nagy's tweet, that is.
Ultimately, if they pass on a wide receiver, the offense should be just fine. Lawrence is already working with Ridley as the veteran is set to join a group that includes Zay Jones, Christian Kirk, and even Evan Engram as a tight end.
The 24th overall pick might be better used elsewhere.
