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Each year at SB Nation dot com we do a blogger mock draft, where each lead blogger at each team blog makes a pick in the draft, just like how the real NFL Draft works out. Over the years I've made some picks that a lot of people have simultaneously liked and hated, which means you know I made a good pick.
Last season I picked Jadeveon Clowney and Marcus Martin, which got the highest overall grade of any other blogger mock. The year before that I picked Geno Smith and Sio Moore.
This year, the first two players off the board were both quarterbacks with Jameis Winston going first overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Marcus Mariota going second overall to the Tennessee Titans. This meant that I had basically the pick of any player in the draft I wanted, so I decided to pick who I feel is the best pass rusher in the draft and fills the biggest need for the Jaguars, Clemson DE/LB Vic Beasley.
Here's Dan Kadar's reaction to my pick:
Dan Kadar, SBNation.com: Whichever pass rusher the Jaguars take here, they should find success. They can't really go wrong with Beasley, Fowler or Nebraska's Randy Gregory. Of those three, Beasley has the best first move, so it makes sense to take him here. His play against the run will have to improve, but he's certainly NFL ready as a pass rusher.
My line of thinking for making this pick was pretty simple. Leonard Williams being on the board is tempting, but with the team paying Jared Odrick big money in free agency, as well as signing Tyson Alualu to an extension, he seemed a bit redundant on the defensive line.
The biggest area the Jaguars lacked last season was putting consistent pressure on the quarterback and that was one area the team didn't really fully address in free agency. Sure, Dan Skuta offers some pass rush, as does Odrick, but they didn't have that pure edge rusher on the roster and Beasley fits that.
Some teams view Beasley as a 3-4 rush backer, but he seems to tick all of the boxes that the Jaguars seemingly look for in a LEO-end pass rusher.