2012 NFL Draft Results: Winner, Loser From AFC South
Another edition of the NFL Draft has come and gone and now it is time to assess which teams did the best job at improving their roster and which teams made some head scratching decisions.
The four teams of the AFC South all had clear needs entering the draft, but which team did the best job and the worst job at addressing those needs?
Here is a look at the winner and loser from the past weekend’s NFL Draft from the AFC South.
AFC South Winner: Indianapolis Colts
This was a no-brainer.
The Colts used the top pick in the draft on quarterback Andrew Luck, who some scouts consider the best prospect to be drafted over the past 10 years. While the Colts are in a full rebuilding mode going into the 2012 season, they did an excellent job giving Luck a bunch of young weapons that he can grow with as the Colts look to return to division dominance.
The Colts struck gold again when Luck’s favorite college target, tight end Coby Fleener, fell to them at the top of the second round. Fleener will provide Luck with a sense of comfort as he makes his transition to the NFL.
They also got two late round wide receivers in T.Y. Hilton and LaVon Brazill who have the potential to develop into more effective weapons for Luck.
The only knock on the Colts is that they did not address all of the needs they had on the defensive side of the ball, but they had only so many picks to work with.
The Colts certainly won’t be playoff contenders next season, but they started off the Andrew Luck era with a bang.
AFC South Loser: Jacksonville Jaguars
This was tougher to decide as any of the other three teams in the AFC South could have filled this spot.
The Jaguars take the prize though with some of their extremely questionable late round decisions.
After addressing their two biggest needs in the first two round with wide receiver Justin Blackmon and defensive end Andre Branch, the Jaguars made perhaps the worst decision any team made this past weekend.
By far the biggest shock of this year’s draft was when the Jaguars took punter Bryan Anger in the third-round. There is absolutely no excuse for a team with as many needs as the Jaguars have to take a punter with such a high selection. Taking a punter at any point in the draft is a luxury pick, and the Jags roster is not good enough to be using luxury picks.
Even later in the draft the Jaguars again reached on linebacker Brandon Marshall and made another questionable selection in the seventh round with defensive tackle Jeris Pendleton.
The Jaguars also failed to fill perhaps their third biggest need entering the draft by neglecting to select an offensive tackle. The team may be confident in Eben Britton‘s health, but they needed to pick up somebody to compete with Guy Whimper for the reserve tackle spot in the case that Britton gets injured for the third consecutive season.
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