4 first-round mistakes that continue to haunt the Jacksonville Jaguars
No NFL team has a perfect track record in the draft but the best ones have a bigger success rate. Conversely, clubs that have more misses struggle to win football games. For instance, look at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Only twice in the last ten years, they haven't had a pick in the top 10. You would think that they would be a powerhouse by now based on the chances they have had a shot at landing a franchise player. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
Sure, the Jags found a franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence in 2021. Right tackle Anton Harrison looks like a keeper while Travon Walker is trending in the right direction. There's also Josh Allen, who's developed into the team's best defensive player.
However, the rest of Jacksonville's first-round picks the last ten years don't look that great. In fact, some of them were so bad that their impact can still be felt. More specifically, these four first-round picks are still haunting the Jaguars in one way or another.
4. CB C.J. Henderson, 9th overall pick in 2020
The Jaguars thought they had found a replacement for Jalen Ramsey, who bolted to the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 when they drafted C.J. Henderson. Sadly, things didn't work out the way they expected. Henderson was pressed onto the field in his rookie campaign and flashed a bit before a groin injury forced him to miss the second half. He then underwent labrum surgery the following offseason and missed a considerable portion of training camp with COVID-19.
Three games into the 2021 season, the Jags had seen enough of Henderson and traded him to the Carolina Panthers for a third-round pick and tight end Dan Arnold, putting an end to his uneventful stint in Jacksonville.
In total, the Jags only got 10 games out of the former Florida Gator, and the third-round pick they got resulted in linebacker Chad Muma. However you look at it, that's not a great return on their investment, especially when you take into account that Muma hasn't done much of note the past two years.