NFL draft: Fins take Fournette, McCown with 1st pick
FOUR FALLS, Mont.
— It was a perfect day for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The team landed their first first selection in the NFL draft, selecting Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley with the fourth pick in the first round.
But there was one player in particular that was missing.
The Jaguars missed on cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Ramsey was the third cornerback taken by the Jaguars with the fifth pick in this year’s draft, the Jaguars taking North Carolina’s Jalen Collins.
But it didn’t matter.
The draft ended up being a disaster.
Jaguars GM David Caldwell said it was a “complete waste” of the franchise’s draft pick.
It’s hard to be disappointed when your pick is a bad one.
But with the Jaguars coming off of their worst season since 1995, the franchise had to take a gamble on a player that was the consensus No. 1 cornerback in this class.
The first pick in his class is expected to be Florida State cornerback Jalill Adams.
But he wasn’t the only player that Jacksonville was missing out on.
The fourth pick is expected at No. 4 overall to be Notre Dame linebacker Da’Norris Searcy.
But the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Searcy didn’t even have a chance.
The fifth pick is the third overall pick to the New York Giants.
The Giants have a strong need at linebacker.
They need to add a pass rusher, and they need to improve at linebacker this year.
And the fifth overall pick in 2017 is Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland.
So the Giants are going to have to go with someone like Ragland if they want to draft the best player available.
The NFL Draft is a tough job.
There are a lot of teams that are better than you.
And if you miss on one of those players, there’s a good chance your team doesn’t make the playoffs this year or next year.
The biggest question mark heading into the draft was whether the Jaguars would draft a player who would help them win in the playoffs.
But they did it.
They drafted a player whose game would help the team win games.
And now he’s going to help them this year in a bigger way than anyone anticipated.
The Jags had the third-best defense in the league last season, allowing just 11.5 points per game.
They finished the year ranked third in the AFC South, ahead of the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots.
But Jacksonville also was the worst defensive team in the NFC, giving up the third most points per play.
But when the Jags were able to keep defenses honest, they were able, in turn, to win more games.
With the Jaguars defense, they went 9-7.
And with the offense, they had the fifth-best offense in the Super Bowl era.
That’s a lot to go through for a team that went 10-6 and had a winning record in five of the last six years.
They made the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
They had the sixth-best record in the division.
And their biggest problem was getting a quarterback.
Quarterback Cam Newton was their starting quarterback last season.
And he struggled.
The Falcons drafted Georgia’s Matt Ryan with the sixth overall pick, which will be the fourth overall pick this year, but it didn.
The Titans took quarterback Blake Bortles with the second overall pick.
But Bortls went to the Eagles, where he went 6-8.
But New York is going to be a different team without Newton.
They have some question marks on the offensive line, too.
But that’s the difference this year: They had to have a quarterback and a defensive lineman and two tight ends.
The quarterback is now Jacoby Brissett, who was taken with the ninth overall pick last year.
He’s a physical, pocket passer who is capable of throwing to receivers and running back.
He’ll be able to make the most of what the Jals have.
But even if he does, there is a question mark at running back and wide receiver.
Quarterbacks are usually the No. 2 and 3 picks in this draft.
But in 2017, the Jays were able by virtue of their quarterback, Brisset, to pick a player in the third round, Alabama running back Derrick Henry.
But after the Jaguars drafted Alabama receiver Amari Cooper with the seventh overall pick two weeks ago, they decided to move up in the draft.
They picked Clemson wide receiver Marqise Lee with the 28th overall pick on Thursday.
Lee has some potential, but he’s a little undersized at 6-5 and 210 pounds.
But Lee has all the makings of being a great player.
He could be a dynamic playmaker, a good receiver, and a really good runner.
But his biggest thing is his athleticism.
The only way he can succeed is if he can run the ball well.
He had a really big year last season in which he averaged a little over 5 yards per carry. But
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