Will the Jaguars go quarterback in the first round?

With the first round of the NFL draft closing in, final mocks are hitting the internet and some with interesting observations on who the Jacksonville Jaguars are considering with picks 9 and 20.

Some of the more popular selections focus on areas of need, such as defensive tackle, wide receiver, offensive tackle, or corner back. Respective to those positions are familiar names: Auburn’s Derrick Brown, Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy, Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, and Florida’s CJ Henderson.

However, going with a quarterback has been gaining speed in spite of the Jaguars appearing to give the vote of confidence to second year quarterback Gardner Minshew. While the bane of the Jaguars existence has been the lack of competition at quarterback, using a first round pick on said position could be seen as a no confidence vote in Minshew.

Mocks over at NFL-dot-com are an example of the quarterback focused thought process for Jacksonville.

Daniel Jeremiah

Pick 9 - Daniel has the Jaguars trading with the Atlanta Falcons, moving this pick to 16. In his mind, the Falcons take Derrick Brown and the Jaguars also go DT with Javon Kinlaw from South Carolina.

Pick 20 - Jaguars take K’Lavon Chaisson, DE out of LSU.

Peter Schrager

Pick 9 - Schrager also sees a trade here, with Jacksonville’s partner also being the Falcons. CB CJ Henderson is the selection with the Jaguars taking Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at 16.

Pick 20 - Jaguars take AJ Terrell, CB out of Clemson.

Charley Casserly

Pick 9 - Casserly is another one with an eye for a trade at 9. Tampa is the partner, and the Jaguars let them grab Tristan Wirfs while they CJ Henderson at 14.

Pick 20 - It one of the more interesting projections, indicating present starting running back Leonard Fournette is dealt, Charley sees the Jaguars taking Georgia RB D’Andre Swift.

Charles Davis

Pick 9 - Charles lets Jacksonville stay put, and with Brown and Clemson LB/S Isiah Simmons going 7 and 8, Jacksonville grabs Kinlaw.

Pick 20 - Davis has the Jaguars staying defensive, filling the CB need with Clemson’ AJ Terrell.

Bucky Brooks

Pick 9 - Jaguars don’t have to move to grab their QB of the future in Tua.

Pick 20 - Foregoing LSU alums in CB Kristian Fulton and WR Justin Jefferson, Brooks has the Jaguars going to Iowa DE A.J. Espenesa.

Rhett Lewis

Pick 9 - Also a fan of the QB for Jacksonville, Lewis has the Jaguars taking the 2nd best QB on the board in Oregon’s Justin Herbert.

Pick 20 - With Kinlaw going just before the Jaguars pick, Rhett has Dave and company filling the CB need with Utah’s Jaylon Johnson.

Chad Reuter

Pick 9 - Reuter refuses to deviate from the norm, allowing the Jaguars to remain at 9 to take CJ Henderson.

Pick 20 - However, with both Jeudy and Jefferson still on the board, Jacksonville stays on the defensive side of the ball to grab Alabama DE Terrell Lewis.

As always, it is hard to really ingest a mock draft simply by looking at the player projected to a team. To really understand the logic one would need to understand how the “mocker” rates the players, how they fit within a team’s scheme, and what they know about how said team thinks about available players. That said, some of the selections appear to be real head scratchers when looking at what Jacksonville needs and what is still on the board.

Let us know your thoughts. Which mocks do you like, and which completely miss the target? You can see the whole of each persons draft here.