By Hays Carlyon
Let the debate begin: Kayvon Thibodeaux or Aidan Hutchinson?
Yes, the Jaguars currently hold the No. 1 pick in the next NFL Draft.
Again.
The Jaguars were lousy in all three phases of the game in Sunday’s 30-16 loss to lowly Houston at TIAA Bank Field. So much for these guys playing well now that Urban Meyer has been fired.
I won’t waste your time with the grim details of the game.
The interesting aspect Sunday was the result in Detroit. The Lions thumped Arizona 30-12 to move to 2-11-1 on the season. That’s behind the 2-12 Jaguars.
Detroit’s win, and Houston moving to 3-11, solidified the Jaguars, as of now, as the worst team in the NFL.
Congratulations, fellas.
If the Jaguars don’t win again – at the Jets (3-11), at New England (9-5) and vs. Indianapolis (8-6) – they will own the top pick.
The draft’s biggest storyline will be the battle between the country’s top pass rushers, Oregon’s Thibodeaux and Michigan’s Hutchinson, to be the first pick. The draft lacks a quarterback worthy of the spot.
The Jaguars are woeful on offense, but are in great need of a consistent presence off the edge.
Outside linebacker Josh Allen continues his slump. The third-year veteran has been quiet during this six-game losing streak after being dominant in a 9-6 win over Buffalo on Nov. 7. He doesn’t have a sack in that span and has recorded one tackle for a loss.
Allen has 5 ½ sacks this season, which ranked in a seven-way tie for 40th in the NFL entering Sunday. So that ranking will continue to drop.
That’s not nearly good enough for a player selected seventh overall in the 2019 draft. For comparison, former Jaguar Yannick Ngakoue ranks in a tie for 14thin the league with nine sacks for Las Vegas.
Allen might not be the budding star we thought when he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie with 10 ½ sacks. He has eight sacks in his last 22 games. He could still be a great compliment, but might need an alpha like Thibodeaux or Hutchinson to be the opponent’s primary focus.
Obviously, another first-round pick, K’Lavon Chaisson, shows no signs he will become a disruptive force. He has two sacks in his Jaguars career.
The Jaguars will need Thibodeaux or Hutchinson to give them the kind of immediate impact they were hoping to get from rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence, this year’s top pick.
The promising news for the Jaguars is the NFL’s top sack specialists this season all have first-round pedigrees. Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt (16 sacks), Cleveland’s Myles Garrett (15 sacks), Chicago’s Robert Quinn (14 sacks) and San Francisco’s Nick Bosa (14 sacks) all were first-round picks. Garrett went first overall in 2019, followed by Bosa at two.
The Jaguars are three losses away.
Might as well lose out now, boys.
The Jaguars will have a new head coach and will own the top pick.
What could go wrong?
(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @HaysCarlyon).
