Momentum is building for former Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson to be a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft this coming Thursday. One team that could potentially be in the market for a signal caller late in the first round are the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jacksonville did sign Blake Bortles to a contract extension back in March. But said deal gives the team an out following the 2018 season. Should things align perfectly for Jacksonville in the draft, it’s possible the team could go quarterback on Day 1.
In talking about Jackson, it also seems that the Jaguars’ brass is extremely high on the signal caller.
“He’s a rare athlete. As a quarterback, he’s a good player. He won a lot of games at that position. (Drafting him) depends what your scheme is, what you want to do and how you want to play and how he fits,” GM Dave Caldwell said recently, via The Florida Times-Union. “I can’t say he’s the prototypical pocket passer, but you can win games with a guy like him.”
That’s some mighty high praise to throw in the direction of what has become an increasingly divisive quarterback prospect. But it didn’t stop there. Jaguars VP of Operations Tom Coughlin added more fuel to the fire.
“I think he’s an outstanding young man,” Coughlin noted. “I think he’s an extremely talented athlete.”
It seems that both Caldwell and Coughlin are in lockstep with their praise for Jackson. Whether that means Jacksonville will exhaust its first round pick on the former Heisman winner remains to be seen. Heck, it’s not yet known whether Jackson will be available when the Jaguars pick 29th overall Thursday night.