Ranking the Jacksonville Jaguars last 5 first-round picks

Hitting on your early-round draft picks more often than not is a good way to ensure your roster is constantly replenished. Similarly, missing out on premium selections will force you to resort to signing players in free agency more than you should. Guess which category the Jacksonville Jaguars fall into?

The Jags haven’t had a good track record of acquiring talent in the first round (or any other round for that matter) over the last ten years. Nevertheless, they have had a few hits and those can’t be overlooked. After all, all victories should be celebrated, even the small ones, right? Without further ado, here’s a ranking of the Jaguars’ last five first-round picks.

5. Jaguars 1st round pick in 2020, 9th overall – C.J. Henderson.

You could make the case cornerback C.J. Henderson should rank higher on this list but there are several reasons why he popped up in the cellar. For starters, he’s no longer a member of the Jags, having been traded to the Carolina Panthers for tight end Dan Arnold and a 2022 third-round selection last year. Also, the former Gator never managed to stay healthy through his short stint in Jacksonville.

Henderson was a starter from Day 1 and while it took him a few games to find his footing in the pros, he showed progress throughout his rookie campaign. However, a hamstring injury put an end to it and things didn’t get much better in training camp. He missed time recovering from said injury and later had to sit out an early portion of training camp after being placed on the COVID-19 protocols.

The fact that Henderson didn’t show much improvement in Carolina goes on to show that moving on from him was the right call. Then again, the Jaguars shouldn’t have drafted him ninth overall in 2020, to begin with.