2022 NFL Draft: Jaguars Secure a Top Pick With 26-21 Loss to Jets

In what has quickly become a Jacksonville Jaguars tradition, a late-December game resulted in more implications for the upcoming NFL Draft as opposed to any postseason runs. And once again, a late-December loss means the Jaguars have only entrenched themselves at the top of the draft order.

With Sunday's 26-21 loss to the New York Jets, the 2-13 Jaguars have made it even more likely that they will finish the season with the No. 1 overall pick. And even if they don't enter April with the top pick, Sunday's loss ensured they will at the very least finish with a top-3 selection after the 4-11 Jets and 4-11 Houston Texans both won in Week 16.

The Jaguars' recent seven-game losing streak has helped ensure the Jaguars will have a chance at earning the No. 1 overall pick for the second year in a row after 25 years of never once picking No. 1. The Jaguars have lost to both the Texans and Jets in recent weeks, accounting for almost half of the team's eight combined wins this season if you go back to Week 1's loss vs. the Texans.

In short, the Jaguars can in no way finish better than 4-13, with 2-15 instead looking like the likely end result to what has been a nightmarish season. Even with two wins over the next two weeks, the Jaguars would finish the season with the same number of wins as the Texans and Jets if each goes winless to close the season.

The Jaguars' margin at the top of the draft has essentially made it to where the next two weeks are merely a staring contest of whether the Lions or Jaguars can luck into a win. While the Jaguars could still pick No. 2 overall, it has become tough to see a scenario in which the Jaguars don't at the very least select in the top-2 after taking Trevor Lawrence at No. 1 overall last season.

The latest team to have back-to-back No. 1 overall picks is the Cleveland Browns, who held the top pick in 1999 and 2000, then again in 2017 and '18. The former occurrence saw them shoot their shot with quarterback Tim Couch—who eventually led them to a playoff appearance—and Courtney Brown, who was plagued with injuries.

In 2017, the Browns took defensive end Myles Garrett before taking quarterback Baker Mayfield the next season.

The NFL has held 86 drafts and in that span, there have only seven occurrences of the same team having back-to-back No. 1 picks. The first time it happened was in the first two years of the draft with the Philadelphia Eagles holding the honor.

In 1939 and 1940, the Chicago Cardinals drafted first overall in two straight years as a part of a 10-year streak of losing seasons. In 1976 and 1977, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the No. 1 pick, drafting Lee Roy Selmon and Ricky Bell.

Tampa Bay received back-to-back No. 1 picks again a decade later in 1986 and 1987, while the Cincinnati Bengals selected Dan Wilkinson first overall in 1994 and Ki-Juna Carter first overall a year later.

The Jaguars currently look to be favorites to follow the Browns' strategy, though in reverse order. The Jaguars took Trevor Lawrence at No. 1 overall last April while the consensus top-two players in the 2022 NFL Draft so far are Oregon edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux and Michigan edge defender Aidan Hutchinson.

Other options in the top-2 would include Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal, LSU cornerback Derek Stingley, and potentially even Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton as the Jaguars continue to look for playmakers on both sides of the ball.

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