ESPN analyst declares who the Jaguars should take at No. 1 overall
The Jacksonville Jaguars got the best of both worlds to close out the 2021 NFL season. They took down the Indianapolis Colts to knock their rivals out of the postseason and still clinched the top overall spot in the 2022 NFL Draft.
That gives the Jaguars back-to-back No. 1 overall picks. Snagging Trevor Lawrence last year looks like a great move, even if he showed struggles as a rookie. Playing under Urban Meyer for most of the season did him no favors.
But the focus now turns to who Jacksonville can take at No. 1 overall in 2022. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. provided his take on who should go to Jacksonville.
The Jaguars are on the clock for the 2022 NFL Draft. @MelKiperESPN breaks down the top player on his board right now: Michigan DE Aidan Hutchinson. https://t.co/N89kopHkqU
"Aidan Hutchinson," Kiper declared, "the defensive end for Michigan. I think the body of work, the production, that Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa mentality in the Big 10. The Bosas played at Ohio State obviously; Aidan at Michigan, what he, the Wolverines and Jim Harbaugh were able to do this year. I thought that the intensity, the consistency, being disruptive against the pass, getting after the quarterback in the run game as well. Being a great leader setting a great tone for that defense, that guy that's kinda the tone setter for what that defensive was able to accomplish."
Kiper believes Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is the best player available. Given the Jaguars already have their quarterback in place, they can now focus on the best talent on the board.
Jacksonville Jaguars have a clear choice at No. 1 overall
So why is Hutchinson seen as the top prospect? The defensive end slowly began his rise in 2019 with 4.5 sacks before an injury ended his 2020 season early.
Yet that did not slow him down this past year as he finished with 14 sacks. He nearly won the Heisman Trophy and did win the Ted Hendricks Award as the best defensive end in college football.
Hutchinson stands 6-foot-6 and has proved that he can take on some of the best offensive linemen in the nation within the Big Ten. He even forced two fumbles during the 2021 season.
Taking a defensive end at No. 1 overall has some precedent. Myles Garrett most recently achieved the feat back in 2017, and Jadeveon Clowney came before him in 2014. Mario Williams and Courtney Brown are the other two former defensive ends to be taken at No. 1 overall.
The trend in recent years has been to go after quarterbacks with the first overall pick. And if a team already has a signal-caller, they can trade down and gain a ton of draft capital. The problem this year is that the quarterback class is not as strong as in the recent past, so a team may not want to trade up to No. 1 for that very reason.
The Jaguars can also just take the best player available and not worry about any added draft capital. For now, that player is Hutchinson. He stood out as the nation's top defensive end and fits a need in Jacksonville.
Selecting him would give the Jaguars a franchise quarterback and a franchise defensive end, at least on paper. That is hard for any team to achieve and creates a great blueprint for success in Jacksonville.