2023 NFL Draft: Jaguars, Trent Baalke draft history by the numbers

The 2023 NFL Draft is nearly upon us with the Jacksonville Jaguars set to make their first-round selection a couple of hours after the start of the three-day event on Thursday at 8 p.m.

Jacksonville currently holds the No. 24 pick in this week's draft after winning the AFC South and advancing to the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs.

This will be the Jaguars' first draft since 2019 where they aren't picking in the top 10. In the 2018 draft they had the 29th pick.

More Jaguars draft coverage:

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Times-Union 2023 NFL mock draft 2.0: Jacksonville Jaguars go big early and often

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Jacksonville has had four first-round picks in the last two years, selecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence (2021, 1st), running back Travis Etienne (25th), outside linebacker Travon Walker (1st) and linebacker Devin Lloyd (27th).

Ahead of the draft, we break down the numbers to take a look at what Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke and the team have done in past drafts and how it might tell a tale of what they'll be doing during the three-day frenzy.

5: Trent Baalke has always had a love for trenches, Clemson

Baalke has always had an affinity for big, athletic players.

Since being a general manager with the San Francisco 49ers (2011-16) and in Jacksonville (2021-present), Baalke has selected five players in the first round on either side of the trenches, offensive or defensive line.

Here are the selections (in chronological order):

• Defensive end Aldon Smith (Round 1, Pick 7, 2011)

• Defensive tackle Arik Armstead (Round 1, Pick 17, 2015)

• DE DeForest Buckner (Round 1, Pick 7, 2016)

• Guard Joshua Garnett (Round 1, Pick 28, 2016)

• OLB Travon Walker (Round 1, Pick 1, 2021)

The majority of the first-round selections are defensive linemen, making up nearly 50 percent of Baalke's first-round picks with 11 selections in eight drafts as a general manager.

Baalke has also selected five players from Clemson during his draft history — the most among any college Baalke's teams have drafted from, tied with South Carolina. The team's most recent Clemson selections are Lawrence and Etienne.

Baalke's affinity for the state of South Carolina is intriguing with Clemson DL Bryan Breese slated to be picked within Jacksonville's range in the first round.

The Jaguars have drafted 12 players from the University of Florida, the most among any school the team has selected.

The Jaguars have selected 42 defensive linemen in their 232 all-time draft choices, the most among any position group.

Baalke has selected 10 defensive ends, the most he's selected among any position group.

11: Jaguars will be out of their comfort zone selecting in the 20s

There's no question Jacksonville will be picking from different vantage points this year.

Though they've made selections in the 20s over the past three years, those picks were acquired via trade, not original draft selections. This year's original draft selections for Jacksonville will mostly be in the latter half of each round (six of nine selections), starting with their first-round pick at No. 24.

Since 1995, Jacksonville has made just 11 selections with the 20th pick or greater.

The last time the Jaguars selected in the 20s with their original pick in round one was in 2018 (Taven Bryan, pick No. 29).

The Jaguars have made 14 top-10 picks since 2008. They've made just one pick in the late 20s using their original draft selection (2018, Bryan) since 2008 and have made three other "20-plus" picks in that span as well with picks acquired via trade.

Jacksonville traded into the top 10 twice during that span (2011, from 16th to 10th) and in 2008 (from 26th to eighth).

174: Jaguars bingo includes the lightest draft pick and more

A few interesting tidbits about the Jaguars' draft history include its lightest players ever selected at 174 pounds, cornerbacks Fernando Bryant (1999) and Scott Starks (2005).

This note will be intriguing to watch if Jacksonville selects Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes, who weighed in at 166 pounds at the NFL Combine this year.

Here are a few more superlatives about the Jaguars' draft history:

• Lowest Jaguars selection (No. 253, WR Tiquan Underwood (2009)

• Tallest Jaguars player drafted: 6-7, seven players, most recently: OLB Jordan Smith (2021)

• Shortest Jaguars player drafted: 5-7, four players, most recently: WR/return specialist Ace Sanders (2013)

• Heaviest player drafted (335 pounds, DT John Henderson)

20: SEC reigns supreme in Jaguars, Baalke draft history

As pointed out by the times-Union's Gene Frenette, the Jaguars have made 33 first-round selections since entering the league in 1995 and 15 have come from the SEC, the highest total among any NFL franchise.

The same goes for Baalke's history. During his years as a G.M., Baalke has made 20 picks from the SEC, the most of any conference he's selected from out of his 76 total draft selections.

Among the top names connected to the Jaguars in terms of mock drafts, analysis and more within the SEC are: O'Cyrus Torrence (guard, Florida), Darnell Wright (tackle, Tennessee), Broderick Jones (tackle, Georgia), Kelee Ringo (cornerback, Georgia), Cam Smith (cornerback, South Carolina), Brian Branch (safety, Alabama), Emmanuel Forbes (cornerback, Mississippi State) and Nolan Smith (edge rusher, Georgia).

The Jaguars spent last year's first-overall pick on a player from the SEC, Travon Walker.

18: Baalke doesn't shy away from smaller schools

Every year players from all conferences, big or small, are selected in the NFL Draft.

Some general managers tend to stay away from non-Power 5 players in early rounds, or in general.

For Baalke, he's selected 18 players out of non-Power 5 schools out of 16 conferences he's selected from in eight drafts as a G.M.

He's taken four players from non-Power 5 schools in the first two rounds, including safety Jimmie Ward (Northern Illinois, 2014) in the first round and tight end Vance McDonald (Rice, 2013), quarterback Colin Kaepernick (Nevada, 2011) and S Jaquiski Tartt (Samford, 2015) in the second round of their respective drafts.

Most recently, Baalke selected LB Chad Muma out of Wyoming in the third round and Gergory Junior out of Ouachita Baptist in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Here is the list of non-Power 5 schools and players Baalke has selected from since 2011:

• Ouachita Baptist (CB Gregory Junior, Round 6, 2022)

• UAB (DL/OLB Jordan Smith, Round 4, 2021)

• Louisiana Tech (QB Jeff Driskel, Round 6, 2016 and WR Quinton Patton, Round 4, 2013)

• Florida A&M (DB Curtis Holcomb, Round 7, 2011)

• UCF (DE Bruce Miller, Round 7, 2011)

• Nevada (QB Colin Kaepernick, Round 2, 2011)

• Western Oregon (OL Jason Slowey, Round 6, 2012)

• Samford (S Jaquiski Tartt, Round 2, 2015)

• Rice (TE Vance McDonald, Round 2, 2013)

• South Florida (QB B.J. Daniels, Round 7, 2013)

• Appalachian State (DE, Ronald Blair, Round 5, 2016)

• Florida Atlantic (CB Keith Reaser, Round 5, 2014)

• Northern Illinois (DB Jimmie Ward, Round 1, 2014)

• Southern (CB Kenneth Acker, Round 6, 2014)

• Wyoming (Chad Muma, Round 3, 2022)

• Montana State (G Michael Person, Round 7, 2011)

9: Jaguars seldom invest draft capital in TE position

This is a factoid that is certain to change after this coming weekend.

The Jaguars have selected just nine tight ends in history, including, most recently, picking TE Luke Farrell in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

It is the position Jacksonville has invested least in during the draft outside of punters and kickers.

This year, the team is almost certain to address the position given the state of the unit. The Jaguars currently have just three tight ends on its roster, including Farrell, Evan Engram (on the franchise tag) and Gerrit Prince.

This year's draft class is loaded with tight ends and Jacksonville is very likely to be in the market for one.

9: Plenty of ammo; here are the Jaguars' 2023 NFL Draft picks

This year, the Jaguars have nine draft selections, including one pick in rounds one, two, three and five, along with two selections in the fourth round and three selections in the sixth round.

Jacksonville does not have a pick in the fifth round.

Here are Jacksonville's 2023 NFL draft picks (pick in round):

• Round 1, 24th overall (Pick 24)

• Round 2, 56th overall (Pick 25)

• Round 3, 88th overall (Pick 25)

• Round 4, 121st overall (Pick 19)

• Round 4, 127th overall (Pick 25)

• Round 6, 185th overall (Pick eight)

• Round 6, 202nd overall (Pick 25)

• Round 6, 208th overall (Pick 31)

• Round 7, 226th overall (Pick nine)

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 2023 NFL Draft: Jaguars, Trent Baalke draft history by the numbers