Jaguars: How does the AFC South look after Day 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft?

It’s been an eventful day leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft and the draft did not fail to bring some excitement itself.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made the expected decision in selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence at number one overall. Following that, we didn’t get a glimpse of another AFC South team until the Indianapolis Colts made a selection at 21st overall.

Headed into the draft, the AFC South teams had four picks altogether. The Jaguars held the 1st and 25th overall selections, the Colts had the 21st overall pick, and the Tennessee Titans had the 22nd overall pick.

This is a competitive division and has only become tougher following Day 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft.

*The Houston Texans did not hold a first-round draft pick this year.

How do the Jaguars compare to the rest of the AFC South?

The Jaguars took a dive into Clemson’s prospect pool and came out with a franchise quarterback and powerhouse running back. They got two really good players in the first round and considering how the rest of the first round resulted, the Jags have the chance to get another really solid player at 33rd overall.

As for the Colts, they addressed an area of need early on and drafted Michigan edge rusher Kwity Paye with the 21st pick. The Colts are fairly solid all around but they needed just the right edge disruptor to add to the mix. Whether or not Paye will be the guy is to be determined. He’s a tremendous athlete but is still considered a very raw prospect who needs to be coached up.

The Titans decided to follow in the Colts’ footsteps and target a defensive player. They ended up snagging cornerback Caleb Farley before any other late-round team could. Farley is a very talented cornerback but offers high risk, high reward for Tennessee. His draft stock took a bit of a hit following the news of his back surgery but if he can show off the same production as college and come out healthy, he will create some problems for the Jaguars.

Before the draft, I ranked the AFC South teams as such:

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. Tennessee Titans
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Houston Texans

Following Day 1 of the draft, it feels too soon to make any drastic changes to these rankings. However, after Day 2 of the draft, the Jaguars could be very well on the move up.