JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars stayed active in trading down, then focused on tight end in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday night, picking Penn State’s Brenton Strange.
Jacksonville had significant ammo to make a trade up, but instead, elected to move down for the third time in two rounds. It sent the No. 56 pick to the Bears and moved down five spots to pick Strange at No. 61. The Jaguars added pick No. 136 with the deal.
At 6-4, 253 pounds, Strange is a larger body with the ability to surprise teams as a pass catcher. He had 32 receptions for 362 yards and five touchdowns as a redshirt junior. Strange finished his career with 70 catches for 755 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Numerous targets of potential interest came off the board quickly in the second round. The run on tight ends came over nine picks to start Friday night, with Sam LaPorta (34th to the Lions), Michael Mayer (35th to the Raiders) and Luke Musgrave (42nd to the Packers) going quickly.
Other players who slipped in the first round were scooped up quickly, including cornerback Joey Porter Jr. as the first pick of the second round to his father’s longtime team, the Steelers. Another corner, South Carolina’s Cam Smith, went to the Dolphins five spots before the Jaguars were on the clock.
The Jaguars added three additional picks in the draft with some deft trades on Thursday night. General manager Trent Baalke moved down twice and parlayed those into three additional picks Day 3 picks. But Baalke didn’t package any of those to move up in the second round.