There was no drama or second guessing when the Jaguars had the first pick in the draft last year.
The Jaguars had an easy choice because Trevor Lawrence was on top of virtually every draft board and was considered to be a generational quarterback.
And while Lawrence struggled in his first season on a bad team with poor coaching, the Jaguars still hope he will become a franchise quarterback who can lead to Super Bowl titles in the future.
But this year, it is a different story. There is no consensus top pick, and the Jaguars face a difficult decision. Do they go for an edge rusher like Aidan Hutchinson or Travon Walker, or do they go for an offensive tackle like Evan Neal?
And with no quarterback at the top of the draft, they probably can’t make a lucrative deal to trade down for extra picks.
Complicating things was a MMQB report that general manager Trent Baalke isn’t high on any of the projected top picks but can’t get a king’s ramsom for the top pick this year and worries he will be roasted if he doesn’t take Hutchinson. But it makes no sense to take him if Baalke isn’t sold on him.
If he takes Hutchinson, we may not know if he is really high on him but didn’t want to make a pick that that is considered risky. And another complication was a report that coach Doug Pederson prefers an offensive player.
Of course, there are no guarantees with the top pick. For every Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and John Elway, there’s a JaMarcus Russell, Courtney Brown and Aundrey Bruce.
When the Jaguars make the top selection, they will close ranks and talk about how much they like the pick.
They can only hope he is an impact player.
If he isn’t, it will be fascinating to see if someone leaks the real story behind the pick.