Luke Joeckel – Syndication Server

5 best and 5 worst ever Jaguars first-round draft picks

Who stands out as the best first-round selections ever made by the Jaguars, and which players were the worst?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a far from stellar track record when it comes to the NFL draft. It hasn’t all been bad, though.

Nearly three decades into the franchise’s existence, there are a handful of players who stand out as spectacular first-round choices by the Jaguars. Of course, there are plenty who stand out as especially poor selections.

It’s a little premature to judge the picks made by general manager Trent Baalke, although the early returns on Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne sure look great. But for the sake of the exercise, we’ll exclude players picked in the last three years.

Here are the five best first-round picks ever made by the Jaguars and the five worst:

Luke Joeckel was the Jags’ worst draft pick since 2006, per PFF

The 2013 class was weak in general, but Joeckel still was a disappointment. He only lasted five years in the league, and he never developed into a capable starter.

Jacksonville’s 2013 draft class was one to forget. In fact, most Jaguars fans probably have. All eight players the team selected are long gone from the team, and none of them even remain in the league.

Following a 2-14 season, it wasn’t the draft former General Manager Dave Caldwell was looking for in his first offseason. A lot of those picks are questionable in hindsight, but none more so than the selection of offensive tackle Luke Joeckel with the second overall pick. Not only was that pick the worst of that draft, but it’s the worst the team has made in any draft since 2006, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Jaguars have a ton to choose from, but this was the most significant whiff we’ve seen from them. While 2013 was rough for many teams, that excuse falls a little flat when you realize Lane Johnson — arguably the best right tackle of this generation — went two picks later. Joeckel would never earn a pass-blocking grade over 63.1 in his career.

The 2013 class was weak in general, but Joeckel still was a disappointment. He only lasted five years in the league, and he never developed into a capable starter. Sandwiched between Pro Bowl tackles Eric Fisher and Johnson, this one was a painful miss for the Jags.

That first class proved to be a bad omen for Caldwell, who never achieved sustained success during his seven-year tenure despite taking the team to its first AFC Championship Game since 1999. Meanwhile, Joeckel remains one of the most disappointing picks the franchise has ever made.

The 9 worst free agent signings in the John Schneider era

The Seattle Seahawks have had a lot of success under general manager John Schneider, but he has made his fair share of mistakes as well.

The Seattle Seahawks, under general manager John Schneider, built a near-dynasty in the early part of the decade thanks to a handful of excellent, career-defining draft selections – including Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas – all who well outperformed their draft spot.

Schneider also proved capable of making excellent trades to help the team, including acquiring Marshawn Lynch back in 2010 and more recent trades for Jadeveon Clowney and Quandre Diggs.

Perhaps Schneider’s biggest area of weakness is on the free agent market. Despite excellent, under the radar signings like Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Bradley McDougald and the undrafted addition of Doug Baldwin, the Seahawks have also dished out a handful of ugly deals that, at times, hampered the franchise’s bottom line while hurting the product on the field.

Here is a look at the nine worst free agent signings during Schneider’s tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, starting with a few who just missed the cut:

CB Jamar Taylor (2019)

CB Byron Maxwell (2018)

K Sebastian Janikowski (2018)

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Offensive linemen and the curse of the No. 2 pick

Take a look at some offensive linemen who were selected second overall in the NFL draft but failed to live up to expectations.

The 2020 NFL draft will take place next week in a fully virtual format, meaning Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht will be conducting business from his home office (no word yet on if sweatpants will be part of his draft day attire).

The Bucs are already the big winners this offseason after signing quarterback Tom Brady, as well as retaining several key defensive players like Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett.

But the draft will provide them the opportunity to further improve their team, and fixing their offensive line is one of the biggest priorities now that Brady is under center. While the draft has several seemingly can’t-miss offensive linemen available, recent history has shown us that there is no such thing as a sure thing in the draft, especially for offensive tackles.

In fact, since 2004, offensive tackles who have been selected with the second overall pick have seemingly all failed to meet expectations. With that, let’s take a look at those tackles and the strange curse of being the No. 2 overall pick.

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Seahawks carousel of starters at left guard likely to continue

The Seattle Seahawks have had a new starter at left guard in each of the last six seasons, a streak that will likely continue in 2020.

Russell Wilson has been the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks since the 2012 season. Who has lined up in front of him, particularly at the left guard spot, has been new nearly every single year.

With Mike Iupati set to hit free agency, and seemingly an unlikely candidate to be re-signed, the Seahawks are almost certainly going to have a different starter at left guard for the seventh(!) consecutive year.

Since James Carpenter made 39 starts for the Seahawks from 2011-2014, most of them at left guard, the team has cycled through Justin Britt (2015) Mark Glowinski (2016) Luke Joeckel (2017) J.R. Sweezy (2018) and now Iupati (2019).

Wilson will never talk badly about anyone or any situation he is faced with, but considering how often he has stressed the importance of continuity along the offensive line, this has to be a source of chagrin for the franchise quarterback.

The streak likely won’t end in 2020, unless the team re-signs Iupati, but there is hope that it won’t extend beyond that.

Assuming Iupati is not retained, the Seahawks could look to replace him with one of the many young, internal options they have been collecting over the past few years.

Jamarco Jones, originally drafted as a right tackle, filled in for Iupati and Fluker a handful of times this year, and looked really good as a potential NFL guard. Considering how much he struggled when he was asked to play tackle, his future may be on the interior, and he seems like a prime candidate to challenge for a starting job next season.

He’ll have to compete with 2019 rookie Phil Haynes, who thanks to a sports hernia only managed to play in two games last year. He looked pretty good in the second half against Green Bay however, and is primed to take over a bigger role in 2020.

Haynes and Jones are the primary competitors, but Ethan Pocic could be in the mix if he is not handed the starting center job by virtue of Britt’s release. Jordan Simmons and Demetrius Knox missed the entire season with injuries, but Simmons in particular looked good as a fill-in in 2018 and could be in the mix as well – and of course Seattle could use an early pick in the 2020 NFL draft to bring in some starting competition.

Seattle will almost certainly have a new starter at left guard again in 2020, but Wilson and the fans can hope whoever it is ends up sticking around for a while, creating continuity up front for a team that sorely needs it.

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