Jacksonville’s 37-7 loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, which dropped the team to 2-10 on the season, seems to mark as good a time as any to turn our attention to where the Jaguars could be selecting in the upcoming 2022 NFL draft.
The Jags and the Houston Texans both lost Sunday and share identical records of 2-10. They also have identical strength of schedule figures (167). However, the Jags get the advantage in a the next tiebreaker scenario (based on division wins) as Houston has a record of 2-2 in the AFC South. Meanwhile, the Jags are winless in the division. As a result, Tankathon has the Jags down for the No. 2 spot in the draft order.
While it didn’t look like the top pick would be in play for the Jags, they have a good chance at becoming the first team to pick first overall in back-to-back drafts since the Cleveland Browns in 2017 and 2018. The previously winless Detroit Lions finally got a victory under their belt on Sunday by defeating the Minnesota Vikings and now sit at 1-10-1. If the Lions can win again, the Jags would be in a position to pick first as a result of Detroit’s tie with Pittsburgh.
This means that Jacksonville could have the opportunity to draft either of the elite edge rushing prospects in this draft, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux and Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson. Both have been commonly projected to go first and second, and though Thibodeaux has been considered the No. 1 pick all year, Hutchinson, whose Wolverines team is in the College Football Playoff, is quickly gaining draft stock.
However, the Jags still have at least two winnable games left on the schedule, contests against the Texans and the New York Jets. Winning both of those games would likely take the team out of position to pick in the top two, though a top-five pick still seems like an inevitability this season.
Regardless, the Jaguars will almost certainly have the opportunity to draft an elite prospect this spring that the franchise can build around in the coming years.
