Jacksonville Jaguars: Grading the Team's First Round of 2012 NFL Draft

Finally, Shad Khan made a splash just like he promised.

When the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars bought the team, he said was committed to bring a winning franchise back to the state and that the Jaguars would compete for a Super Bowl title.

He whiffed on bringing in hometown hero Tim Tebow, signed a few "nice" free agents in this year's signing period and was looking at tonight's NFL draft needing to find someone who would create a stir and get the fanbase excited.

Khan, general manger Gene Smith and the organization did that in moving up to draft Justin Blackmon.

At 6'1" and 207 pounds, Blackmon, the consensus best receiver in the draft by everyone, just gave the Jaguars the best wideout the team has had since the days of Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell. And with the addition of Laurent Robinson and Lee Evans in free agency, what looked like a real weak area for the team will now look a lot better.

Blackmon played in a high-powered offense at Oklahoma State where he and Brandon Weeden hooked up on many a pass play. Hopefully second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert can have that kind of relationship with his newest toy on the offensive side of the ball.

According to sidelinescouting.com, Blackmon "compares to current Baltimore Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin (and) has put up bigger numbers than former Oklahoma State wideout Dez Bryant, who transitioned well to the NFL."

The Jaguars need that kind of production. The team was last in total offense last season in the NFL, and the team's running back, Maurice Jones-Drew, led the league in rushing and amounted for over 46 percent of the team's offensive output.

I love the pick, personally. For years, the team, especially team general manger Gene Smith, had taken heat for poor drafts and not bringing in BSC-type talent. Receivers like Jarret Dillard, Tiquan Underwood and most recently Cecil Shorts have all failed to make an impact.

Overall Grade: A+