When the 2022 NFL Draft kicks off this Thursday in Las Vegas, the Jacksonville Jaguars will once again have the No. 1 overall pick.
This time last year, the Jags of course spent their No. 1 overall draft choice on former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who struggled at times during his rookie campaign and certainly had to deal with adversity as the Jags were embroiled in controversy during Urban Meyer’s 2-11 stint with the team during which there was plenty of drama and incidents on and off the field before he was fired last December.
Lawrence ended up completing 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,641 yards and 12 touchdowns with 17 interceptions in his first NFL season.
It remains to be seen who the Jags will take with the No. 1 overall pick this year — if they decide to go with an offensive player, the choice could be an offensive tackle in NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu or Alabama’s Evan Neal, while defensively, the choices could be Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson or Georgia lineman Travon Walker.
“Well I’m sure whoever it is, once he gets here, I can help him a little bit,” Lawrence said recently, via Yahoo Sports. “Obviously, I had a lot of (adversity). I don’t know if you could come up with more challenges besides getting injured your rookie year than we had, so I’m sure I could give a little bit of advice.”
Regardless of which direction the Jags go in the draft, what advice would Lawrence have for the Jags’ new No. 1 overall pick, given his own experiences as a rookie No. 1 overall pick last year?
“I think just coming in and some of the stuff, like I said, when I got here last year was just coming in earning the respect of your teammates,” he said. “That’s stuff you can do that it doesn’t take any talent, it doesn’t take any skill. You just come in and do things the right way, treat people right. I think that’s going to be big and then really just buy into what we’re trying to make the culture here. I think coach (Doug) Pederson has a clear vision of that, the whole staff does. Now it’s getting all of the players on board and we’re going to do that.
“Last year we bought in, too. So, it’s having the right guys in place and all of us buying in, that’s what it takes and I’m confident we’re going to do that. So, whoever it is, that’s truly all you have to do. Your play on the field is going to speak for itself and obviously you have to perform. It’s about performance. Same thing for me, I have to play better next year. ”
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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