The Jaguars have the first pick in the draft for the second straight year and there’s a lot more intrigue about their plans than there was at this time last year.
Everyone knew the Jags would take quarterback Trevor Lawrence last year, but this year offers more options for who to take. Some of those options are offensive tackles and many saw the Jaguars’ decision to franchise tag left tackle Cam Robinson as a signal that they plan to go with an edge rusher like Aidan Hutchinson in April.
That may be the case, but head coach Doug Pederson is doing his part to make sure all options remain on the table for the next few weeks.
“To bring great guys back like Cam is to protect your quarterback,” Pederson said, via John Reid of the Florida Times-Union. “We want the offensive line to be solidified. We want guys up there that have been around. Cam is a big part of that, so we’re excited obviously to retain him. Hopefully, we will work out a long-term deal with him, so he’s around more than a year. But as it pertains to the draft, that’s kind of its own separate deal right now. I’m sure we’re going to have more depth at that position. You can never have enough offensive linemen.”
The Jaguars have 2021 second-rounder Walker Little and 2019 second-rounder Jawaan Taylor as options at right tackle and they signed Brandon Scherff to solidify the interior of the offensive line, so they’ve allocated a lot of resources to that area of the team. That may not mean Hutchinson winds up as the pick, but the defensive front is shaping up as a more immediate need than another offensive lineman.