With Jets Win, the Jaguars Officially Lock Up No. 1 Pick In 2021 Draft
The cards continued to fall in place for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the potential to receive the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Sunday, culminating in a historic day for the franchise.
The Jaguars lost their Week 16 game against the Chicago Bears, 41-17 on Sunday. The franchise then needed a New York Jets to win to effectively lock up the No. 1 pick ... and that's what the Jets delivered on Sunday, defeating the Cleveland Browns 23-16.
Essentially at this point, no matter what happens next week, Jacksonville will have that pick. Even if the Jaguars win and the Jets lose in Week 17, both teams would then end 2-14 and with the worst strength of schedule, Jacksonville would still be picking first in April. The Jaguars have a .549 strength of schedule, compared to the Jets .595.
This will be the first time in Jaguars history they have the No. 1 overall pick.
So as the Jaguars game wrapped up in Jacksonville, all eyes turned to the northeast where the New York Jets were facing the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns were looking for a win to clinch a playoff berth. The Jets were chasing pride. After starting 0-13 before winning their first in Week 15, New York is guaranteed the No. 2 pick in the draft. So today was about proving what they could still do as a team.
With just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Jets were leading 20-3. Baker Mayfield and the Browns put together back-to-back scoring drives to make it 20-16. New York added a 34-yard field goal with just under three minutes remaining to make it 23-16.
Mayfield and the Browns put together a drive after the two-minute warning to work down into the red zone before stalling. On 4th and 1 from the Jets 16-yard line, Mayfield fumbled during a handoff. Kareem Hunt recovered the loose ball but since the game was within two-minutes, only the fumbler can advance the ball.
Essentially, since Mayfield didn’t recover his own fumble, the Browns had a turnover on downs. All Sam Darnold had to do at that point was kneel it out in victory formation.
And that victory was felt all the way to the First Coast.
The race for No. 1 was essentially a race for Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawerence. There is more for Lawrence on offense in Jacksonville.
Despite the Jags' enduring a franchise-record losing streak this season, linebacker Myles Jack insisted for the players on the field that for them, there is no intention of “tanking."
"I deleted my Instagram and Twitter [but] I still have my Facebook and I still see it from fans," Jack revealed to local reporters on Thursday.
"[Some media] and a lot of fans, they’re definitely [saying that]. You hear it, you can’t run from it. Even when you go out to the gas station and you run into somebody there talking about [Clemson QB] Trevor Lawrence or [Ohio State QB] Justin Fields or the tight end from Florida [Kyle Pitts], all those guys. You can’t run from it. It is what it is and if you turn on ESPN, you’re going to see it too.
"Obviously for me, I’m like, ‘Heck no, I want to win these three, four games’ and blow all that but I get it from a fan perspective. But we’re still out there fighting for our jobs, fighting for our livelihoods. At the end of the day, the NFL doesn’t pay losers, they pay winners. You win, you get rewarded. You lose, it gets kind of ugly. So, from our perspective, we’re like, ‘No, we’re not going out there tanking.’ If anybody’s thinking that, we’re not doing that. I promise you. If it was up to me, we’d be 16-0 right now, but that’s just how it goes. We’re not trying to tank, so [I’ll] throw that out there.”
The 2021 NFL Draft will begin on April 29 in Cleveland, Ohio.
