Who Is the Best Jaguars Draft Pick of All Time?

The best ever.

It is a lofty title. One that is always preceded by history-changing players who left impacts on their franchises that are still felt to this day.

Those are the types of players at the focus of Sports Illustrated's list of each team's best-ever draft picks. No matter the history of any team, there is one draft pick for each franchise that can reign supreme over all others.

For SI's Matt Verderame, the selection for the Jacksonville Jaguars came down to the very start of their draft roots: Tony Boselli, the first-ever draft pick in franchise history.

"The first pick in Jaguars history, Boselli was bedeviled by knee injuries that ended his great career after seven seasons. Still, nobody has ever been more dominant for Jacksonville," Verderame said.

"A five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro, Boselli is a 1990s All-Decade Team member and helped Jacksonville to a pair of AFC championship game appearances in the ’90s. Despite a brief career, Boselli earned enshrinement into the Hall of Fame in 2022."

Boselli has long been considered the greatest Jaguar of all-time. The first-ever draft pick in Jaguars history, the Jaguars took a young Boselli out of USC at No. 2 overall in the 1995 NFL Draft and proceeded to build around him under head coach Tom Coughlin.

And it didn't take long for Boselli or the Jaguars to make a name for themselves. Boselli was named a Pro Bowler in 1996, the same year the Jaguars went 9-7 and advanced all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

Boselli would go on to become arguably the most decorated player in franchise history, earning five Pro Bowl nods, making the All-Pro First-Team three straight years from 1997-99 and being named to the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. In what is widely seen has the golden era of left tackle play in the NFL, Boselli stood out time and time again.

It is tough to argue against Boselli since he is the Jaguars' first and only Hall of Fame player. But that doesn't mean there aren't other options as well, chiefly running back Fred Taylor.

The Jaguars took Taylor with the No. 9 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. Taylor was actually the second back taken, with Curtis Ennis going No. 5 to the Chicago Bears. The Jaguars struck gold with Taylor, who was the epitome of consistency during his career, recording 13,632 total yards and 70 touchdowns, with the vast majority of those coming with Jacksonville. He is the all-time leading rusher in franchise history with 11,271 yards, more than 3,000 more than the back behind him.

In terms of Career Approximate Value, Taylor is No. 2 in Jaguars history, behind only Jimmy Smith.

Other draft picks who one could debate for are center Brad Meester, a second-round pick in 2000 who went on to start for 14 seasons; running back Maurice Jones-Drew, a second-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft who led the NFL in rushing at his peak; Rashean Mathis, a second-round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft who started for 10 years at cornerback; and Daryl Smith, a second-round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft who started at linebacker for nine years.