The Jacksonville Jaguars snapped up UCF quarterback Blake Bortles with the No. 3 overall pick. There was a lot of talk after Day 1 of the 2014 NFL Draft about how the Jaguars could/should have traded down, picked up some more draft picks, and still landed Bortles at No. 6 or No. 9 overall.
From listening to general manager Dave Caldwell speak on the pick, it's obvious the Jaguars didn't think Bortles would make it that far. It appears he almost didn't make it to No. 3 either, according to Tony Pauline.
The Texans held the first pick in the draft and there's was much intrigue right up until the final minutes. Houston seriously considered Blake Bortles with the initial selection and I'm told they had two cards filled out at their table. One had Bortles name on it while the other listed the team's eventual selection, Jadeveon Clowney. In the end Clowney was the smart pick and was made in large part based on fear; the team was afraid of passing up such a potentially dominant defender.
I did get a kick out of reading how the Jaguars "reached" on Blake Bortles in some of the post-draft grades, mostly because he was long mocked as the No. 1 overall pick by a lot of draft analysts. It also appears as though the Houston Texans gave serious thought to picking Bortles, like most thought they would before Jadeveon Clowney's pro-day.
Who do you think the Jaguars would have picked if Bortles was gone?