Dawuane Smoot a ‘B’ pick for the Jaguars in the 3rd round

After going offense in the first two rounds, the Jacksonville Jaguars opted to add another pass rusher in Illinois defensive end Dawuane Smoot.

The Jacksonville Jaguars went into the 2017 NFL Draft with a list of needs and they are apparently very determined to address every bullet point.

Running back? Hello Leonard Fournette.

Offensive Line? Come on over to Jacksonville Cam Robinson.

Pass rush? Let’s grab Dawuane Smoot from Illinois

I’ll be honest – I watched a very limited amount of Illinois games in 2016, so I went to a scouting report from Pro Football Focus:

"Player comparison: Robert Quinn, Los Angeles RamsSmoot doesn’t have anywhere near the bend that Quinn does, but they win in the same ways as pass-rushers. Smoot loves to get to the edge and turn the corner, but his lack of top-tier explosiveness might make that more difficult at the next level.Bottom line:Smoot has two years of top-notch production for the Fighting Illini as a pass-rusher and a fairly solid athletic profile for his size. He’s not an elite athlete, though, and therein lies the issue. Smoot loves to win either via the rip or the bull, and both require high-end athleticism to execute at the NFL level. That might limit his ceiling, but there are still more than enough traits present to be a plus pass-rusher at the next level."

If Smoot is anywhere near the producer at defensive end that Robert Quinn is, this is a home run pick. The Jaguars nailed the third round last year by taking Yannick Ngakoue, so maybe they have a knack for finding pass rushers in the middle rounds.

Still, it’s a bit weird to hear the Jaguars expect him to bulk up and be the backup to Calais Campbell at strong side end.

This pick gets a ‘B’ from me for now, just because I’m not convinced Smoot is the explosive edge rushing presence the Jaguars need.

What do you think?