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The 2020 NFL Draft is nearly here, and in around 12 hours the Jaguars will likely have selected their first player in the first round, having two total heading into today.
With that said, the NFL Draft is going to be a bit different this year. Due to the on-going pandemic caused by the coronavirus, all 32 NFL teams, personnel, and players will be locked down at their homes during the draft, making the selections virtually.
The team’s Director of Public Relations, Tad Dickman, shared head coach Doug Marrone’s draft-day set up, at his home in San Marco, and general manager Dave Caldwell’s at his home in Ponte Vedra. All of the team’s personnel will be separated, at their respective homes during the draft.
At HC Doug Marrone's house in San Marco:
— Tad Dickman (@TDickman89) April 22, 2020
1 laptop, 4 @surface tablets, 3 monitors/TVs, 3 external speakerphones (2 mobile, 1 hard line), 2 @Bose headsets, 1 iPad, 1 light kit, 1 UPS for all essential equipment, 1 backup generator. pic.twitter.com/hwQ6votLVU
While these setups aren’t as exquisite as the team has had in year’s past at the TIAA Bank Field headquarters, it’s not a bad look for the Jaguars general manager, who will have a full allotment of picks (12) tomorrow to rebuild the team’s roster, something Caldwell said was “huge”, the most picks the team has had during his tenure with the team dating back to 2013.
“We need to hit on all 12, and that’s our philosophy and our thought process,” said Caldwell during the team’s virtual press conference last week. “We want to make every one of them count. If we can use one of those to trade up and get a guy that we want in a select round, we’ll do that too. You never know. We may acquire some more throughout the draft.”
The Jaguars have been a hot-market team for the 9th overall selection due to being in a prime position to select not only some of the best wide receivers in the draft, but also most likely at least one or two of the top offensive tackles, something team’s are clamoring for in this deep draft of receivers and linemen.
The Jaguars possess plenty of draft capital in this year’s draft to orchestrate a trade up, too. While some have speculated the team could trade up for a quarterback, the most likely target would be former Ohio State Buckeyes cornerback Jefferey Okudah.
The Jaguars have been heavily linked with Okudah along with former Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson, who is slated to be the second cornerback off the board.
Whichever the way the chips may fall, the team will be selecting at least one player who will bring confidence to the team starting tomorrow. They have to.