Jaguars: 5 biggest draft busts of the Dave Caldwell era

No. 4 Jaguars biggest bust of the Dave Caldwell era – Luke Joeckel, LT

It’s always easy to pan past decisions with the benefit of hindsight but it’s kind of hard to blame the Jaguars for selecting left tackle Luke Joeckel with the second overall selection in the 2013 draft. The Kansas City Chiefs had just taken offensive tackle Eric Fisher with the top pick and without any enticing quarterback prospects on the board, Dave Calwell went with the ‘safe choice’ at No. 2.

The problem with the Joeckel pick was that instead of getting their left tackle for the next ten years, the Jaguars got a player that was overwhelmed in the pros and was a liability in pass protection. The fact that he struggled to stay healthy didn’t help matters.

The former Texas A&M Aggie suffered a high ankle fracture that forced him to sit out a good chunk of his rookie campaign. He went on to make 30 starts the next two seasons but got injured again in 2016. He then signed with the Seattle Seahawks and moved to guard. However, switching positions didn’t help him and he was out of the league the following year.

Looking back, the Jaguars could have drafted a franchise cornerstone in offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who went to the Eagles two picks later. The silver lining is that the 2013 draft was one of the worst ones when it came to talent at the top in recent years, and Jacksonville wasn’t the only team that selected a player that turned out to be a bust.