It's becoming more and more obvious the token 2011 NFL Draft pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars is Purdue defensive end Ryan Kerrigan. Shane wrote a little story about Kerrigan earlier in the week, and it seems like nearly every mock draft has him pegged to the Jaguars. He dined with the Jaguars after his Pro Day and was even run through defensive end and linebacker drills by defensive line coach Joe Cullen. Heck, even Ryan Robinson (@jaguarsinsider) tweeted about Ryan Kerrigan's Pro Day yesterday.
So, it's pretty obvious the Jaguars are infatuated with Ryan Kerrigan, correct?
Wrong.
I don't have anything definitive to say it's wrong, it's just my logical explanation for all of the blatant interest.
Think about it. When was the last time you saw a team draft a player in the first round they were so publicly interested? I can't think of one, especially not with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Possibly safety Reggie Nelson, but they also traded down twice before drafting him. I mean, you've got the team's official twitter account tweeting about him. I don't buy that it was because Joe Cullen ran the workouts, because he also ran the workouts for the two Arizona defensive ends, Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed.
I keep a list of players the Jacksonville Jaguars have shown interest in, be it at Pro Days or with private workouts, etc., but it's mostly for something to keep track of and talk about during the draft season. Truth be told, it doesn't really have any weight on who they will draft. Sure, it will likely come from the compiled list but not always. Last year, the Jaguars signed 10 rookies out of 11 we had tracked. The one rookie they drafted that wasn't on the list? Tyson Alualu, the first round pick.
The Jaguars have been so over the top with the interest known in Kerrigan that is just screams smokescreen to me.
Though, I did find it rather curious the Jaguars twitter account tweeted a link to the Purdue Pro Day, and said "Iowa".
NFL's Gil Brandt writes about Iowa's Pro Day. http://bit.ly/hLNVRH
I corrected Ryan, but that's not going to stop my super conspiracy theory hat from working.
Lol good catch Alfie had the school on tip of my tongue RT @AlfieBCC: @jaguarsinsideryou mean Purdue? I won't tell Aaron [Kampman] on you.
Now to me, it's rather difficult to just mix up Iowa and Purdue, but it's possible Ryan had Iowa on the brain because so many people compare Ryan Kerrigan to Aaron Kampman, who is an Iowa Hawkeye. Or was it a Freudian slip, and the Jaguars really aren't interested in Ryan Kerrigan... but one of the Iowa defensive lineman, Adrian Clayborn and Christian Ballard?
Hey, just sayin'.