The entirety of the NFL season only lasts for 6 months. From September to February, there is all of this action and once the Lombardi gets lifted, it all comes to an end. Luckily for avid fans that want more, there is the offseason with all its trades and deals (Go read A RECAP OF THE NFL’S WILDEST OFFSEASON for the entire review of the current offseason) but none of that comes close to the NFL Draft.

Who Is Going First Overall?

For the second consecutive year, the Jacksonville Jaguars have the 1st overall pick in this year’s Draft. One may remember that last year, the Jaguars picked Clemson’s star quarterback Trevor Lawrence, which gave fans of the team tons of hope for their team’s future. However, the Jaguars’ 2021 season was not one that the fans want to remember. Drama revolving around the coach Urban Meyer amongst other factors led the Jags to a miserable 3-14 record, which led them straight back to the same place they were last year: The 1st overall pick. This year, Jacksonville is projected to go in the direction of a defender, such as Michigan standout DE Aiden Hutchinson. 

Not A Lot Of Quarterbacks

Last year’s draft was regarded as the year of the quarterbacks, with 3 of the first picks in that draft being QBs. This year’s QB class isn’t expected to live up to that same billing. Sure, Kenny Pickett, Malik Willis, and Desmond Ridder were all talented in college and could easily become NFL starters, but they aren’t seen as the type of talent that a team would pick early. One exception is the Seattle Seahawks at 9th overall, who recently traded away Russell Wilson and need their answer under center. They will probably draft Malik Willis if they decide to go the QB route.

Double The Chance

Both NYC teams, the Jets and the Giants, each have 2 picks in the top 10. Neither team has seen much success recently, so these multiple picks are crucial. One way each team could go about it is by taking advantage of their 2 early slots each and picking a top talent at whatever position they deem the one that needs help the most. Another option is to trade down in the draft because these 2 teams hogging almost half of the picks in the top 10 isn’t really that nice to anyone else.

iUP’s Selection

iUP Students took a poll asking who the Jaguars should take at #1 overall and they unanimously decided that Aiden Hutchinson should be the 1st to go off the board. Honestly, this result is not surprising at all. Hutchinson put on a show in college and his potential is through the roof. But if one really wants to know who will be picked by what team, those questions will be answered on the night of the draft.