Jaguars’ GM Trent Baalke: ‘We Were Thinking Potentially Defense’ in 2nd Round

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke gave some insight into which direction the Jaguars were initially looking during the second round.

Most were surprised when the Jacksonville Jaguars opted for an offensive player in the second round of April's NFL Draft. 

Turns out, evidence keeps stacking that skipping on picking a defender until Day 3 wasn't the Jaguars' initial direction.

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke hinted after the second night of the draft -- when the Jaguars selected Penn State tight end Brenton Strange at No. 62 and Auburn running back Tank Bigsby at No. 88 -- that they went with offensive picks in their first three selections because of how the board fell.

Then during Thursday's release of the Jaguars' video series 'The Hunt', Baalke went more in depth with the Jaguars' initial thinking in the second round. 

"The board fell like we thought it was going to fall. And there were some things that happened leading up to the second round pick. We were thinking potentially defense at that spot," Baalke said during the video. 

"Some things took place, and we transitioned and pivoted to Brenton, who was a target of ours as well. So the players that we got we are very happy with, at all levels of the draft."

Considering the Jaguars were picking near the very bottom of each round after being one of the NFL's final eight teams in 2022, it isn't surprising that some players they were potentially targeting during the draft went before they were on the clock. 

And that isn't to say that they aren't thrilled with the Strange selection -- because all indications are that he has been even better than they thought thus far. But it is interesting to consider what directions they would have potentially went instead, especially considering these are the 14 players who went off the board before No. 61: 

• CB Joey Porter Jr.
• EDGE Derick Hall
• EDGE Isaiah Foskey
• EDGE B.J. Ojulari
• CB Julius Brents
• DB Brian Branch
• DL Keion White
• DB Jartavius Martin 
• DL Keeanu Benton
• CB Cam Smith
• DL Gervon Dexter
• EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu 
• CB Tyrique Stevenson
• CB D.J. Turner II

"Well, the board fell the way it fell. When you're picking where we're picking, there's a lot of good players that are going to go off the board," Baalke said after Day 2. 

"You try to make some trades at times to do some things. It takes two to tango. Sometimes you can make a move, sometimes you can't. At the end of the day we stayed true to the board. Feel really good about the value we got. We got two really good football players at key positions that add a lot of depth and versatility to what we want to do offensively."

As it would play out, the Jaguars went with their first defensive selection at No. 121, selecting Florida linebacker Ventrell Miller.