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The Jacksonville Jaguars are sitting in some prime real estate with the first pick of the second round of the NFL Draft which is scheduled to kick off Friday night.
After drafting the top player on their draft board, Luke Joeckel, in a very crazy first round that saw only one quarterback taken, the Jaguars are now in a position to sit and listen to offers for teams looking to get one of the guys that fell out of the first round. Whatever the Jaguars do with their second round pick tonight, however, do not expect them to take one of the remaining quarterbacks.
As we found out last night, new Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell has been very honest about his intentions in the draft. One of the things Caldwell has said is that he wants to make sure the players he drafts in the first two rounds are going to be definite starters. All of the quarterbacks still available fell to the second round because they have flaws in their games and none would be a guaranteed starter for the Jaguars in 2013.
If the Joeckel selection is any sort of indication, Caldwell and the Jaguars front office are more than comfortable with giving Blaine Gabbert a final chance to show he is capable of being a franchise quarterback. With the offensive line that the Jaguars are going to field next year and a healthy Maurice Jones-Drew in the backfield, there should be no more excuses for Gabbert moving forward.
With the Jaguars looking for an immediate starter in the second round, I would expect them to look towards the defensive side of the ball tonight. Guys with first round grades like safety Johnathan Cyprien, linebacker Arthur Brown and defensive end Tank Carradine would all fill needs for the Jaguars. The Jaguars should be able to move down a couple of spots tonight and still get one of the defensive players they are targeting.
