The Jacksonville Jaguars ended the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 23, the same exact way they started it: Without a pick.
For the first time in franchise history, the Jaguars didn’t make an opening-round selection, a result of last year’s trade to move up for cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter.
But that didn’t stop us from huffing it to Jaguars headquarters to monitor the first round, timeline-style:
8:04 p.m.: And we’re off!
Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to make sure he wasn’t booed so he introduces multiple Pittsburgh Steelers alumni, including quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw.
I miss the old days of the draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York when the fans would yell “What?” after every Goodell sentence just like WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did during his glory years.
8:07 p.m.: The loud noises that can be heard inside the Jaguars’ facility? Night-time stadium construction.
8:13 p.m.: Las Vegas selects Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza first overall.
Mendoza chose to watch the draft with family and friends in the Miami area. How desperate was the NFL to have Mendoza in Pittsburgh? The league enlisted Peyton Manning to pitch Mendoza on the merit of attending. No dice.
8:26 p.m.: I will never understand taking a running back in the top five, but Arizona used the No. 3 pick on Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love. He is the highest running back drafted since Saquon Barkley went second to the New York Giants in 2018. Barkley won a Super Bowl … with Philadelphia.
8:38 p.m.: Our first curveball when Tennessee drafts Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate instead of a pass rusher. “No wonder the Titans are bad,” my buddy Sean texts me.
8:40 p.m.: The media room’s discussion about New England coach Mike Vrabel and ex-reporter Dianna Russini reaches a second hour. Some think Vrabel is done as the Patriots’ coach (I’m not there quite yet) and everybody thinks Russini’s career is over (she deleted her X account as the draft was starting).
8:49 p.m.: Nothing makes less sense than rolling out Pittsburgh greats Lynn Swann and Jerome Bettis … for Washington’s pick of Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. Our pal, ESPN’s Louis Riddick, compares Styles to Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher.
8:57 p.m.: On NFL Network, Rich Eisen said Nos. 8, 9 and 10 have been made yet we’re just getting the eighth pick announced. I get the advertising commitments, but there should be a better flow to this. New Orleans takes Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson, whose bio line on the television screen includes a torn ACL … and MCL … and PCL. Yeah, he’ll have fun on that Superdome turf.
9:09 p.m.: Safety Caleb Downs, probably the best player in the draft, sees his wait end by going to Dallas at No. 11. The Cowboys traded up one spot with Miami. Downs is the fourth Ohio State player to be taken. Again, how did they not win the national title?
9:28 p.m.: The Rams draft Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. This was the pick acquired from Atlanta last year so the Falcons could draft edge rusher James Pearce. An interesting move by the Rams, drafting the eventual successor to reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford. Simpson going off the board so early means teams in the range of Nos. 28-32 won’t be able to trade out of the first round to a team who wants Simpson.
9:39 p.m.: Want to see a drafted player with the look of motivation already on his face? We present you Miami edge rusher Reuben Bain, who went No. 15 to Tampa Bay. “This is going to be Warren Sapp 2.0.,” a media member says. The NFC South should be concerned.
9:41 p.m.: The stadium construction continues.
9:44 p.m.: The New York Jets complete their work with top tight end Keynon Sadiq of Oregon at No. 16. Had Sadiq tumbled into the 20s, he’s the one player I would have liked the Jaguars make a play to move up for. Alas, not even close to being possible. On the telecast, Sadiq was compared to tight end Dustin Keller, whose five-year career ended in 2012.
9:53 p.m.: The first Florida Gator comes off the board as defensive tackle Caleb Banks goes No. 18 to Minnesota. I generally shy away from ex-Gators, but Banks should buck that trend mostly because he didn’t spend his entire career in Gainesville (started at Louisville). The Vikings were clearly enthused by the reported clean bill of health for Banks (foot).
10 p.m.: A trade between rivals Philadelphia and Dallas. The Eagles traded up three spots and gave the Cowboys No. 23, two fourth-rounders and a seventh to draft USC receiver Makai Lemon. If this doesn’t mean the Eagles are planning to trade A.J. Brown to New England after June 1, nothing will.
10:25 p.m.: Cleveland stays at No. 24 and drafts Texas A&M receiver KC Concepcion. That closes the book on the Jaguars-Browns trade from last year’s first round.
The Jaguars flipped No. 5 (defensive tackle Mason Graham), No. 36 (running back Quinshon Judkins) and No. 126 (running back Dylan Sampson) to the Jaguars for No. 2 (Hunter), No. 104 (running back Bhayshul Tuten) and No. 200 (safety Rayuan Lane).
Jaguars fans on X got their underpants in a knot because I simply said the final tote board was Hunter for Graham, Judkins and Concepcion and left out Tuten and Lane. Whatever. This was about the premium parts of the trade. We’ll see if Hunter can show this year if the trade was a smart one for the Jaguars.
10:43 p.m.: Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane must have really hated this first round. Beane made three trades to move from No. 26 and out of the first round to No. 35. The Bills finish the night with one second, one third and three fourths among their nine picks. A nice haul for Beane.
11:05 p.m.: Seattle wanted to move out of the first round, but found no takers and ended up with Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price. A nice landing spot for Price, who will help replace Kenneth Walker III.
11:11 p.m.: Jaguars general manager James Gladstone drops by the media room and said he didn’t come close to moving up at least 24 points to make a pick.
11:47 p.m.: The stadium construction continues.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: NFL Draft lacked drama, saw some trades, ended on ho-hum note
Reporting by Ryan O’Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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