Jacksonville Jaguars Winners and Losers of 2021 NFL Draft

By Liam Wirsansky on May 4, 2021

With the 2021 NFL Draft finally in the books, teams, fans, and media analysts can rest easy and reflect on the league’s offseason now that the biggest event as a preamble to training camp and beyond has been set. For many of the teams who recorded the worst win/loss record in the 2020 NFL season, the draft has given new hope and perhaps stabilized or pushed other teams to the next level in terms of status and competition. With five quarterbacks being selected in the first round, and three in the top-3, there was no shortage of storylines to follow on players who will have immediate impact for their respective new teams and across the entire league. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who had the first overall pick for the first time in franchise history, will now have high expectations after a slew of sweeping offseason change, including the hire of HC Urban Meyer. The Jaguars draft did not disappoint in terms of speculative interest, but many have argued as to what an accurate grade for this class would be. Regardless, the Jaguars added depth with a lot of potential and speed and should look to improve on their franchise worst 1-15 overall record following the 2020 NFL season. With so many players and personnel effected by the NFL draft, here are my Jacksonville Jaguars winners and losers from the draft.

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Winner: Trevor Lawrence, QB

While seemingly everyone in the sports world knew this was coming for months, Trevor Lawrence being selected as the first pick overall in the draft makes him an easy winner. Already signing several endorsements with companies, such as Adidas, Gatorade, Bose and Blackfolio, as well as breaking the Day 1 jersey sales record by twice as many sales for an NFL Draft selection held by Joe Burrow (#1 selection in the 2020 NFL Draft). As one of the most hyped and well-regarded prospects coming into the league since Andrew Luck, he already has a fanbase who is infatuated with him and wants to see him do well. If you do not believe it, just look at the wedding gifts that Jaguars fans donated to Lawrence and his wife for their wedding in the weeks leading up to the draft. Though he will have lofty expectations to live up to in order to succeed in this franchise, which has been historically deprived of winning, he will have more than an adequate support system to do so. HC Urban Meyer came to Jacksonville for the opportunity to coach Lawrence and has brought in the staff to best handle the job masterfully. Not only that, but the offense that he is coming into already boasts several high talented players, in both the receiving and offensive line units, as well as one of the league leading rushers in RB James Robinson. Tha Jaguars also drafted Lawrence’s college teammate, RB Travis Etienne out of Clemson in the first round to bring even more familiarity to the offense. Expect some growing pains, with some immediate success and an offense that should be special and fun to watch out of Jacksonville this upcoming season.

Losers: CJ Henderson, CB & James Robinson, RB

One of the Jaguars biggest critiques this draft was that drafted highly at positions they seemed to have solidified when there may have been more value elsewhere at bigger positions of need for the team. At the end of the first round, the Jaguars selected RB Travis Etienne, even though the team’s starting running back, James Robinson, is coming off an unprecedented rookie season, in which he shattered records for undrafted free agents, and gained 1,414 yards total and added 10 touchdowns on top of that as the workhorse of this offense. With the position being devalued in recent years and the consensus being that teams can find players of higher skill at the end of the draft (James Robinson being proof of that), the Jaguars could have possibly done something better with the selection to more immediately contribute to the team, and selected a compliment to James Robinson later on in the draft. Similarly, the selection of CB Tyson Campbell also raised some eyebrows after the team invested a first round selection in CB CJ Henderson last season and signed CBs Shaquill Griffin and Sidney Jones. Again, with a larger need at safety or along the defensive line, the Jaguars opted to select someone with speed to come into another already crowded unit. HC Urban Meyer justified both of the selections following the draft and explained how they would be utilized moving forward, but only time will tell if these players are truly able to contribute to the team’s efforts and how much they cut into the playing time of players like CJ Henderson or James Robinson, who are already quality starters on this team.

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Winner: Tim Tebow, TE?

Just when you think that the Tim Tebow conversations to the NFL have finally ended, the spark reemerged right before the draft began, with some of the more surprising news regarding Tebow and a workout that he had with the Jaguars as a Tight End. A historic player in college football, many teams asked and wanted Tebow to try switching positions, before he ultimately left and started playing baseball. Now 33 and living on the same street as HC Urban Meyer, the Jacksonville native is looking to resurrect his NFL career and possibly join the Jaguars. How tangible is this? Well on the surface it may not have seemed likely at first, but following the NFL draft, it is seemingly becoming more and more like a real possibility. After missing out on the top prospects in the draft and not firmly addressing the position in the offseason or through trade, the Jaguars are relatively thin at the tight end position, especially in terms of a reliable receiving threat. Tony Khan, the Chief Football Strategy Officer and son of Jaguars’ owner, Shad Khan, also solidified the Jaguars interest in Tebow in an interview with ‘Draft Wrap’, saying “Urban really believes he can help us” without fully indicating that the team intended to sign him. Just when you think it might be over, Tim Tebow to the NFL may actually happen this time.

Loser: Trent Baalke, GM

 

While many have praised this Jaguars draft class, it can sometimes be hard to criticize when a generational talent at the quarterback position falls right into your lap at the first overall pick. Despite selecting Trevor Lawrence, many fans and analysts alike have had a hard time pinning down what to make of this Jaguars draft class. While like most years this will have to be a wait and see type situation to truly evaluate the players that were selected, many are already worried about some of the selections that were made, which has created some scrutiny over the decisions made by Trent Baalke during the draft. As I have already mentioned previously in the case of the selections of RB Travis Etienne and CB Tyson Campbell, the Jaguars could have used these picks on more dire positions of need like DL or S, with players like Trevon Moehrig or Christian Barmore still available at both picks, as well as some of the top OL prospects. When the Jaguars finally did address these positions of needs with the next picks, they selected OT Walker Little and S Andre Cisco, who are both players that have as much potential as anybody in the draft at their respective positions, but who both have major injury concerns heading into the draft. Both of these selections are bog gambles and Baalke’s history with these type of moves has not always worked out the best in his previous stint as a GM in San Francisco. Regardless, these picks may very well pay off, especially if these players are all given the time that they need to comfortably recover, come in, and develop the skills they need to become elite at the next level playing professionally.

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