Never forget Jaguars had Justin Jefferson on silver platter in 2020

First-round picks are seen as a premium asset among NFL teams. The Jacksonville Jaguars had two in the 2020 draft. With the first one, they chose cornerback C.J. Henderson. They used the second one on K'Lavon Chaisson. Neither selection panned out. This is even more frustrating when you take into account that the Jags had two chances to take star receiver Justin Jefferson and opted not to.

Jefferson has been in the news because he recently became the highest paid receiver in the NFL. Drafted just two pick later after Chaisson, the three-time Pro Bowl nod got a four-year deal worth $140 million from the Minnesota Vikings.

In Jacksonville's defense, the success rate in the draft is pretty low and it decreases with each round. Having said that, they had Jefferson on a silver plate but opted to go in a different route. All things considered, this wouldn't have been an issue if Chaisson had turned into a premier pass rusher but he didn't.

While Jefferson has gone on to shatter the Vikings' record for yards in a season (previosly held by Randy Moss) and catches in a season (originally set by Cris Carter), Chaisson has logged five career sacks. To nobody's surprise, Jacksonville let him walk in the free agency and he's now looking for a fresh start with the Carolina Panthers.

You could make the case that Jacksonville wasn't the only team that passed on Jefferson and you would be right. The Las Vegas Raiders, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Denver Broncos also had a chance to land the former LSU Tiger but opted not to. The difference is that most of these clubs, with the exception of the Raiders and the Eagles, came out of the draft with a playmaker.

And that's the thing, wide receiver was a need for the Jaguars in 2020 but they waited until the second round to take Laviska Shenault Jr. Although Viska showed promise in his rookie campaign, he was underwhelming the following year. Jacksonville had seen enough by 2022 and they traded him to the Panthers before the start of the season.

Drafting Justin Jefferson might've changed the Jaguars' fortunes

It's hard to tell if Justin Jefferson would've become the player he is if he had been drafted with the Jaguars. But it would've most certainly had a ripple effect. By taking the former LSU at No. 20 instead of K'Lavon Chaisson, Jacksonville wouldn't have probably selected Laviska Shenault in the second round. Players such as Jaylon Johnson, safety Anton Winfield Jr., and tight end Cole Kmet were still on the board.

It's fair to say that all of them would've been much better picks than Shenault. It's also worth noting that if Jefferson had landed with the Jaguars, maybe they wouldn't have signed Zay Jones in 2022.

On the other hand, if the Jags hadn't drafted Chaisson, they might have been less inclined to trade either Calais Campbell or Yannick Ngakoue before the start of the 2020 season. Even if the Jags still finished 1-15, like they did, they would have gone into 2021 with a more talented core in place.

In the end, there's not much there Jaguars can do now. Still, it's intersting to think how things could've turned out if they had gone with Justin Jefferson in 2020.

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