Ranking the Jacksonville Jaguars last 5 first-round picks

6. Jaguars 1st round pick in 2018, 28th overall – Taven Bryan, DT.

Hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to talk about how good (or bad) a pick is two years after it was made. Back when the Jaguars selected Taven Bryan 29th overall in the 2018 draft, they got positive reviews but it was a big miss in retrospect. Jacksonville was coming off an AFC Championship appearance the season before and needed a playmaker that would help them make another run. Instead, they got 25 quarterback hits, one forced fumble, and 5.5 sacks during his four-year stint in Jacksonville.

Bryan wasn’t the sole reason the Jags went 6-10 in 2019 but he never develop into the game wrecker the Jags expected. Back in 2020, he was benched and replaced by then-rookie Doug Costin. The defensive tackle returned to the Jags’ starting lineup when Costin suffered a concussion but once again failed to make an impact.

The Jaguars put Bryan on notice last offseason when they opted not to exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie year. While he made a few solid plays throughout the 2021 season and had a breakout game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 9, he wasn’t much of a factor the rest of the year. The former Gator became a free agent this offseason and the Jaguars’ brass didn’t make a meaningful effort to retain him. Instead, he went on to sign a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns, where he will have a chance to show the Jags, not him, were the issue.