INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – DECEMBER 04: Aidan Hutchinson #97 of the Michigan Wolverines lines up for a play in the first quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 04, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
The Jaguars are ready to restart their rebuild without the specter of Urban Meyer looming over them. Here’s how they will execute their 2022 NFL Draft plan.
The less said about Urban Meyer’s tenure as the Jaguars’ head coach the better. Everyone in Jacksonville is anxious to start over again with Doug Pederson at the helm. He should give Trevor Lawrence and the team’s young corps a fresh start heading into the 2022 season.
That doesn’t mean serious roster work isn’t going to be required. The Jaguars earned the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft by being a listless team for much of the 2021 season. Lawrence might be the face of the franchise, but the Jags have serious work to do to surround him with enough roster talent to succeed.
This team has more roster holes to fill than one draft can accommodate. That gives the Jaguars a real freedom in that they can go for the best player available over need with almost all of their selections. Fortunately, the No. 1 overall pick can fill a big void for the Jacksonville defense.
Round 1: Aidan Hutchinson
Kayvon Thibodeaux may have more upside, but Hutchinson is the right choice at No. 1 overall for a franchise that can’t afford to miss out on a high-level player. Hutchinson has elite talent and a work rate to match. That’s why he’s going to go No. 1 overall to Jacksonville. The Jaguars can count on him to combine with Josh Allen to terrorize quarterbacks from their edge positions for years to come.