The Jaguars took their quarterback last year.
But they’re scouting this year’s class, just in case anyone else wants to.
Jaguars General Manager Dave Caldwell told Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union that he was making sure to do a thorough evaluation of both Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, in case either of them falls to the third overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
“We grade them and evaluate them all, just as if we would need one,” Caldwell said. “You want to be prepared because, going forward, we’re going to be playing against a lot of these guys, and it’s good to have some background on them.”
“It gives you an idea of what their value is. You don’t always know how other teams value them. But if you like a guy a lot, and people in your building like a guy a lot, you figure that people in other buildings like him a lot, too.”
Of course, the Jaguars took Blake Bortles last year with the third pick, keeping their interest in him under their hats the whole time.
So now, they’re evaluating with an eye toward trading if it comes up, since there are more teams looking for quarterbacks than quarterbacks available.
The Jags also pick 36th overall in the second round, which might be a good spot to try to parlay to the teams who miss out on the top two, but might be interested in a Brett Hundley, for instance. With the Jets, Washington and the Bears immediately behind them in the second round (and with the Rams and Browns not far behind), there could be a market.