One of the more shocking picks in the draft’s first round came at No. 3 overall when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected UCF quarterback Blake Bortles. But while the pick was surprising, it was apparently going to happen no matter what picks preceded it.
According to ESPN’s Britt McHenry, the Jacksonville Jaguars would have taken Blake Bortles with the No. 3 overall pick even if Jadeveon Clowney had some how slid to them at that position.
This is a bit of an interesting tidbit as it was long rumored that the one player the Jaguars coveted over all others was Clowney as he provided them with the massive edge rushing presence they’ve been looking for. There was also no way that Clowney was going to fall to No. 3 overall so that could be factoring into the Jaguars saying they’d have taken Bortles no matter what, as that delivers a certain amount of confidence in Bortles.
It also puts a lot of pressure on Bortles, so only time will tell how this revelation affects his play in 2014.