Mel Kiper Jr. sends the Jacksonville Jaguars a tight end in 2.0 mock draft
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a few areas they can upgrade in the draft, and Mel Kiper Jr. targeted a big need in his latest mock draft.
Picking much later in the first round then they are accustomed to, the Jacksonville Jaguars can utilize a new strategy in the 2018 NFL Draft – wait and see.
Unless they love one of the quarterbacks and are willing to sell the farm for him, I expect the Jaguars to stand pat and wait for the best player available to fall to them at 29. Luckily, they are in a good spot for value to meet some of their needs if mock drafts are any indication.
NFL Draft “guru” Mel Kiper just released his second mock draft of the offseason and he decided to give the Jaguars a dynamic option in the passing game.
"29. Jacksonville JaguarsDallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota StateI’m giving the Jags a different tight end here after going with Oklahoma’s Mark Andrews in my Mock Draft 1.0. Former first-round pick Marcedes Lewis has had a great career, but he’s turning 34 this year and isn’t much of a receiving threat. I have compared Goedert to Todd Heap and Zach Ertz, two guys who can catch passes and also block. Goedert has a tremendous catch radius at 6-4, 260. He suffered a hamstring injury at the first Senior Bowl practice but should be fine to work out at the combine."
The Jaguars picked up Lewis’ options so he’ll be back, but the Jaguars need a mismatch threat at tight end. Goedert could be that guy, but it’s always a risk picking a player from a smaller school. That being said, Goedert seems to be a great athlete and projects to be at the very least a good pass catching tight end.
In this mock, both Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph are both available – the Jaguars should think long and hard before passing on those guys. In this scenario, they could even trade back a few spots and still nab one of those passers.
What do you think? Is tight end the way to go here, or should the Jaguars target a passer to serve as a developmental option and a backup to Blake Bortles in 2018?