Maybe suitable for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the 2022 Draft will be held in the Las Vegas strip casino scene. NFL Drafts has always been a high stakes poker table. Even with rookie pay scale contracts, drafting the wrong person is a million dollar mistake. There is a reason why gamblers who lose fall into debt and disciplined gamblers often win. Bad gamblers place riskier bets on bets where the house has the edge.
A glorious turnaround to the 2022 NFL Draft that lacks a top superstar in the top tier of prospects is that we get to watch some of the NFL’s worst general managers try to discern talent. Choosing prospects is like assessing talent as well as assessing risk. Jags General Manager, Trent Baalke, has about two weeks left to decide who he will pick in the first overall pick.
It looks like casino energy has triggered their worst tendencies, and Jaguar may be willing to risk it all with slim odds that Georgia’s defensive back end Travon Walker is the defensive game-changer that we’re talking about. they need. Last week, Shaq Griffin, the Jaguars cornerback, made a compelling case for igniting the engine on the hyped Travon Walker. Baalke may have listened.
Hypotheses have been raised for weeks that the Jags will solve their defensive troubles by picking Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson as the first pick. However, history shows that Baalke will look to Walker, champion combo. In 2011, as the GM of the 49ers, Baalke drafted Aldon Smith with the seventh pick, and he took down the seventh DeForest Buckner in 2016 after an odd combination. That history ignores that Aldon Smith is a proven passing athlete at Missouri while Buckner is Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Whatever Baalke’s instincts are telling him, he should do the opposite.
Picking Walker #1 feels like Baalke betting Jags’ handicap on a risky futures bet. What are they thinking? Sure, there’s a chance Walker could prove Baalke right, but why get so far with first pick when there are picks with better odds? Only nine Jacksonville first-round players got a second Jaguars contract, and the last player to return was Blake Bortles.
Last April, Baalke picked Trevor Lawrence with one of the easiest first overall picks in recent memory, then made the inexplicable decision to pick his Clemson teammate Travis Etienne with the 25th pick. Picking a first lap running back is an ironic draft strategy, but even more so when you have the presence of 2019 freedom gem James Robinson in the backyard.
Like Jake Locker and many others before him, Walker is this year’s unicorn whose output is less than his explosive hype. There have been flashes, but the number 1 choice is for superstars who can’t be missed. During Walker’s breakout season, he made a total of 37 tackles and six tackles in 15 league defense games. Could he be on the worst team in the NFL?
The clip of Walker’s chase down Alabama’s Agiye Hall during a National Championship game is the clip in which scouts were given a goosebumps. When Alabama took possession last in the first half, Bryce Young connected with Hall to get a short goal. However, after Georgia’s Kelee Ringo corner hit the ball, Hall sped across an open lane with a stopper ahead. Walker, who was near the edge of the script after catching Hall, ran onto the field to wrap Tide’s freshman head in and save a touchdown. Walker’s 6-foot-5, 271-pound measurements, along with 6.89 in a 3-cone drill and 4.51 40-yard dash, are a choice of physical skill.
However, in three seasons, he only scored 9.5 times in the net to pick up the ball. Last April, Pro Football Focus rated Jacksonville as the 29th worst team in drafting first-round picks since 2010. In drafts like this, mystery becomes an allure.
Baalke has made this mistake before, in 2020, when Jags selected LSU pass pusher K’Lavon Chaisson. Had a little more time to miss out on their 20th pick in defence. One of the few picks Jacksonville chose was Jalen Ramsey, with whom they traded with the Los Angeles Rams. There is no reason here.
In a draft where Kayvon Thibodeaux and Aidan Hutchinson are the top two passers, a brand that needs to stop bleeding shouldn’t be pursued for too long. If they want to gamble, shoot David Ojabo, the injured Michigan lineman in the second round.
There’s more at stake for Baalke than just the season. Baalke’s reputation is now in decline. He overpaid a bunch of veterans in the freelance company in the largest round of spending in league history. It is reported that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is interested in the job of head coach of Jags if Baalke is removed from his post. His career is on the rise. But Baalke has a gambling problem – metaphorically speaking. After a decade of bad bets, the double down and constantly hitting the fence with these get-rich-quick games is the worst possible move for a franchise to look for. the stability.
