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Sheldon Day the biggest steal of the NFL Draft

By Daniel Lago

Nov 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Sheldon Day (91) breaks off of the line of scrimmage against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. Notre Dame won 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Sheldon Day (91) breaks off of the line of scrimmage against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the fourth quarter at Heinz Field. Notre Dame won 42-30. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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Myles Jack was a steal at the top of the second round, but is he even the biggest draft steal on the Jaguars?

When Myles Jack started falling down the board after the Jacksonville Jaguars opted for Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey with the 5th overall pick of the 2016 NFL Drat, it seemed crazy even then to think the UCLA start would make it back around to the Jaguars in the 2nd round.

Then he did.

The Jaguars have almost unanimously received praise for “stealing” Myles Jack in the second round, but he might not even be the biggest steal in the team’s draft class.

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Before the pre-draft process started, Sheldon Day of Notre Dame was considered almost a lock to go in the late first round. The undersized defensive tackle showed a penchant for consistently providing an interior pass rush, a quality coveted highly in today’s NFL. When the Jaguars saw him still on the board in the 4th round, they decided to ignore the depth in their interior defensive line rotation and take Day.

Dieter Kurtenbach over Fox Sports thinks he might be the biggest steal of the whole draft.

"How Day fell to the fourth round is a question that will be asked for years. Day had a highly productive college career at Notre Dame (alleviating any concerns about competition level) because of his explosiveness, technique and athleticism. He’s had injury concerns, sure, and he’s not exactly a prototype size and shape, but you know who his NFL comparison is? Aaron Donald. The Jaguars didn’t overthink it and continued their winning draft by getting the second-best defensive tackle in the class."

The Jaguars certainly didn’t need another 3-technique defensive tackle, but if Day ever develops into anything resembling Aaron Donald then this is a home run pick. This was a stacked class in terms of interior defensive lineman, so it’s incredibly high praise to say he was the second best of the bunch.

Day now joins a rotation with Malik Jackson, Sen’Derrick Marks, and Michael Bennett. That’s a solid set of defensive tackles.

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