I have to admit Im not a huge fan of the Jaguars first day picks. On the jaguars message board, i voted it as a 'C' grade. Here are my opinions on each pick.
1)Marcedes Lewis - Pros: Tall, has good hands, can make difficult catches, has the body to put on more weight, while blocking may be one of his biggest weaknesses, that can be taught. Cons: isnt a great blocker, isnt very quick, is slow off the snap, didnt get much separation in college, not sure he will ever be good enough to warrant a first round pick.
I dont really think he adds anything different to our passing attack. Going into next year, he will be just another big, slow receiver. He doesnt have the body to be a TE. He is very lanky and looks like a receiver. It may take a couple years before he has the size and strength to be an every downs TE. He isnt very explosive. He isnt going to get many YAC yards. He looks like a catch and go down kind of player. We already have three receivers like that. What our passing attack is missing is the quick receiver who can make things happen in the open field. Lewis doesnt really add anything we dont already have. But my biggest concern with him is his production in big games. UCLA didnt have to play Oregon last year so their big two conference games were USC and CAL. Against USC Lewis only had 3 catches for 30 yards. Against CAL he only had 1 catch for 6 yards. And in their bowl game against Northwestern he didnt have any catches except for a two point conversion! That doesnt instill me with much confidence. Heath Miller and Todd Heap were drafted late in the first round the past few years and I think both had higher grades than Lewis. Im worried he wont be worth the first round pick we spent on him. Reminds me too much of Reggie Williams. Good stats in the PAC10, big frame, 40 times were alright, but not very quick.
2) Maurice Drew - Pros: very fast, quick, great return man, can catch out of the backfield, tough, low center of gravity, hard to tackle. Cons: 5'6.
If he were 4 inches taller, he'd be a top 10 pick. But as it is, he is only 5'6. Can a guy that is 5'6 be a fulltime starter at RB in the NFL? If not, is it worth it to use a 2nd round pick on a guy that can never be a starter? He might be able to start for a team like the Colts or Eagles, but with the philosophy our offense supposedly has, he wont be a starter for us. too small. a guy like him physically can not run the ball up the middle 25 times a game, 16 games a week. just wont happen. be that as it is, was it smart to use a 2nd round pick on a guy who is going to be a 3rd down back and return man? Im not sure it is. I think every guy you draft in the first round should have the potential to be a starter. I quite frankly I dont think thats the case with Drew. I will admit I am excited at the idea of him as a return man. According to what I read in the Dallas Morning News, he averaged close to 25 yards a kickoff return and punt return for his career in college. Thats pretty amazing. And Im fully expecting him to win both jobs for the Jaguars next year. I think Chad Owens has no chance of making this team. And I think Alvin Pearman has to be worried. Drew does everything he does, but a little better. But again, is a good return man worth a 2nd round pick? eh...
3)Clint Ingram - I have to admit I dont know a whole lot about him and there are a lot of different opinions about him. sportingnews mag ive got says he is a 7th rounder. pro football weekly has him as 3rd-4th rounder. It looks like he has pretty good size. has good but not great speed. wasnt very productive until his senior year where he had 60 tackles, 5 sacks, and 5 picks. the generall consensus I get on him though is that he lacks instincts and is a better athlete than football player. he is an all or nothing player. from the front office's remarks about him, they say he'll come in vying for the starting job right away.
Im a little disappointed in the player because it sounds like we reached a little but the thing Im most unhappy about is the fact we traded up in the 3rd and gave up our 4th rounder to get him! An earlier trade had been made in the day where a team moved up 5 spots in the 3rd round and only gave up a 7th. We move up 12 spots later in the 3rd round and give up a 4th. The market for moving up in the 3rd had clearly been set and we gave up more than we should have. At most we should have given up our 5th. But most likely, with such varied opinions on Ingram, we could have stayed put and still got him.
So overall I think we got three players that will compete for positions of need. But I dont think we necessarily got great value with each pick. Although I dont think they addressed the biggest need which was offensive line.
Now on to my picks. The trading up really threw me but i might have ended up with the same the three picks.
1)D'Qwell Jackson - LB - Maryland. ACC defensive player of the year. Very productive. can play inside or weakside. good tackler. hard worker. very competitive. from the Tampa area. only negative is he is undersized and doesnt have elite 40 time. looking back at recent drafts, size has proven not to be a big deal and Jackson may not have done well in the 40 time but did in the short area quickness drills. (might have taken deangelo williams had carolina not grabbed him the pick before)
2)Eric Winston - OT - Miami. Did not go into the draft expecting to take him. But he fell to our 2nd round pick. Would have been a top 10 pick last year had he not blown out his knee. came back and struggled early. but was playing better late in the year. injury usually takes players two years to come back from. probably a right tackle if he never fully heals. but if he does come back 100%, he could be the steal of the draft and a very good left tackle. (might have taken richard marshall had carolina not grabbed him the pick before)
3)Max Jean-Gilles - OG - Georgia. This pick kind of threw me for a loop. did not expect us to trade up. even if we hadnt, im not sure who else i would have taken. Early in the draft process, this guy was considered a late first. No idea why he is dropping but I think he could come in and start for a team that emphasizes the run. I probably would have taken him with the 92nd pick had we stayed put but I would have felt better about taking a second lineman on day 1 if we had our fourth rounder(had no idea until a half hour later thats what we traded away... slow getting news of trade on internet)
I think I got really good value because all three of these guys had late 1st round value at some point in this draft process. I personally felt going into the offseason the biggest need was offensive line and when Ayodele left, linebacker. I think Jean-Gilles could threaten Manuwai for the LG spot. And depending on how Mo Williams comes back from injury, Winston could threaten him. And at worst, we'd have much better depth.
Looking towards the second day, Im bummed we wont be picking again until the late 5th. My draft could use a TE. I like Jeff King from Virginia Tech. While WR isnt a big need, I really like David Anderson from Colorado St. He'd probably be a 6th rounder. Demario Minter of Georgia has dropped farther than I thought he would. Early on he was considered a 2nd round pick. If we had a 4th rounder, I think he'd be good value there. But as it is...
