2022 NFL Mock Draft: Malik Willis in the top 5, Cowboys get elite EDGE
By Randy Gurzi
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. OT. Evan Neal. Alabama. 3. player. 52
3. Jacksonville Jaguars: Evan Neal, OT, Alabama
Travis Etienne was lost for the season which is quite the blow to the Jacksonville Jaguars 2021 campaign. But if we are being honest, they weren’t likely to make much noise at all this season — even with all that great team-building Troy Aikman claimed Tim Tebow did during his brief pit stop with the team.
Jacksonville is still missing a lot of pieces and we don’t know if Urban Meyer can do it at the pro level — or if he will quit for health reasons suddenly as he’s had to do at just about every other stop. That’s not to make light of any issues he may have but the stress of the NFL game isn’t going to be any kinder to him than the NCAA was.
What they do have though is the right quarterback. It might be hard to say Trevor Lawrence is the real deal just after the preseason but watching what he did for years at Clemson is enough. This is the guy to turn this team around, but they need to build around him. And with that in mind, the No. 3 pick in this draft is used to add Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal who will help keep Lawrence clean in the pocket for the next 10-plus seasons.
Standing in at 6-foot-7 and 350-pounds, Neal looks like a player who was created in Madden and looks massively oversized compared to the players around him. Naturally, we all know a 350-pound tackle would be spinning in circles trying to keep up with the much quicker defensive ends lined up across from him.
With Neal, this isn’t the case. He defies all laws of physics and is incredibly athletic and unbelievably explosive off the snap. He’s going to be the perfect building block for this line and his aggressiveness will set the tone.