I had the luxury of being the Jaguars rep in this draft. Coughlin made me show up for this event 5 minutes early, so he's laying down the law already.
The Jaguars, despite adding a lot of talent in last year's draft, had an awful season. Much of it had to do with the complete regression of Blake Bortles. Bortles decision making, which was at best average going into the season, was especially bad, and mechanically, he was a mess. Despite having a terrific young receiving corps in Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, Marqise Lee and Rashad Greene, coupled with a good receiving TE in Julius Thomas (who had a poor season), his production wasn't up to snuff. A good deal of it was on him, but the run game didn't produce as expected and the offensive line was very leaky (LT Kelvin Beachum was especially bad). With the investment in Bortles, and the lack of a real replacement option in this draft, a goal was to improve what was around him on the offensive line. With this draft not especially flush in good offensive line prospects, it removed this from being an option with #4 overall.
The Jaguars had also made some recent roster moves that put a focus on the team's direction. Beachum was released after a poor season in Jacksonville, leaving a hole at LT. There are reports that they are looking to do a trade with the Dolphins, moving another FA disappointment, Thomas, in exchange for Branden Albert, who could fill the vacancy at LT. The Jaguars also resigned FA DT Abry Jones to a four year deal, keeping the run stopper with the team. They also released another FA bust in Jared Odrick yesterday, opening up a need on the defensive line. Their defense, despite having good young talent like Jalen Ramsey, Dante Fowler, Jonathan Cyprien and Telvin Smith, and a big FA signing in Malik Jackson, didn't create turnovers at all. The Jaguars were 30th in the league in turnover differential, generating only 13 turnovers.
To me, this was the biggest need - adding playmakers on defense. Couple that with improving the OL, and possibly looking at a TE or RB prospect were my goals coming into this exercise.
1(4) Malik Hooker S Ohio St. - When looking at this draft class, when you think of playmakers, they don't look much better than Hooker. Despite only starting for a year, Hooker had seven interceptions at safety, and showed exceptional instincts against the pass. In many ways, he reminds me of Ed Reed in terms of his ball hawking skills. Adding him to a secondary with Ramsey, a combo of Cyprien (provided he comes back as a FA) and Tashaun Gipson and Davon House/Aaron Colvin at corner, and the Jaguars secondary is looking much better. He can stand to improve in tackling, but to me, there wasn't a better playmaker available at #4. He was the third ranked player on my board behind Myles Garrett and Jonathan Allen, and I figured that I would end up selecting him with this pick before the draft began. Couldn't be happier.
2(35) Forrest Lamp G Western Kentucky - As mentioned above, fixing the offensive line was a priority going in, and in terms of value, this area of the draft presented some interesting options. I was keeping an eye on Garett Bolles as a potential steal if he slipped, but he went at #25. With other options such as Christian McCaffrey and Jarrod Davis, I had to balance the need vs. value debate. I had all three in the same tier of prospects, so I went with Lamp. Lamp was a LT for all but three games of his Western Kentucky career, and was a terrific player. He held up well when blocking Tim Williams and Jonathan Allen when WKU played Alabama. Lamp has very good feet, is a real technician, and is very smart. He's somewhat similar to Zack Martin in that he's a college LT whose arm length lends itself to playing inside. Lamp has short arms, but he has huge hands, and is a plug and play player at LG from day one. With Luke Joeckel likely to leave, he walks in as a starter at LG.
3(68) Chris Wormley DT Michigan - I held my breath that he would be available when I selected, as I had my eyes on him from the moment that my selection of Lamp happened. Wormley was the #42 guy on my board, so he was tremendous value, but he also fills a hole. I envision him as being a base LDE on run downs, similar to how the Seahawks used Red Bryant a few years ago, with the ability to kick inside on pass downs. Wormley is a powerful man who really shined last season in Michigan. He's another guy that I think walks in as a starter, replacing Odrick, and will provide needed interior heft against the run games of the Titans and Texans.
4(99) Kevin King CB Washington - I was keeping my eye on Bucky Hodges as he was dropping through the third round, and held out hope that he would drop to my pick here in the fourth round. Unfortunately, the 49ers stole him out from under me three picks before my selection. For this pick, after Hodges was picked, I was looking at both King and Brad Kaaya, who I had as the 79th and 80th players on my board, respectively. Kaaya was taken right before my selection, making my decision to take King a no brainer (I was going to do this anyway). I think that King is a very undervalued player in this draft, and will end up as a steal when this is done for real. King has been overshadowed by Sidney Jones and Budda Baker in the Washington secondary, but I love his length, ability to play press, and his hands (6 INT the last two seasons). Putting him opposite Jalen Ramsey gives the Jaguars two long levered, press corners who will make life difficult for opposing WRs. King will struggle a bit with smaller guys such as T.Y. Hilton, but against #2 guys like Donte Moncrief or Rishard Matthews, he matches up well. Being able to move Davon House to a nickel corner, and having Aaron Colvin available in the dime makes the Jaguars secondary far improved, and much better at playmaking than they were in 2016.
I was happy with my haul. Looking ahead to the fifth round, I was looking at guys like Tyler Orlosky to continue to solidify the offensive line, and then look to follow up with a TE like Michael Roberts or Eric Saubert, and look for a running back like Jamaal Williams or Corey Clement to add a potential weapon on offense.
I thought that the 49ers, the Cowboys, the Lions and the Steelers had very good efforts in this.
Great job as always by Risen Star in running this. Lots of fun, as always.
