With Fred Taylor recovering from offseason knee surgery and not likely to practice with the team this spring, the Jaguars turned to running back with their first pick of the second day of the draft.
The Jaguars selected Virginia's Alvin Pearman, 5-9, 208, with the 127th overall pick of the draft. Pearman rushed for 1,037 yards and caught 29 passes for 402 yards last season.
"Very versatile; catches the ball extremely well," coach Jack Del Rio said of Pearman.
The Jaguars made the pick after trading with the Jets to move down four spots in the fourth round and also acquire the Jets' pick in the sixth round (185th).
"He does not have home run speed but he's a very good runner. The one thing that allowed us to get him is that he does not have home run speed," Del Rio said. "Would we like Ronnie Brown? Sure, but he's not available."
It was a foregone conclusion the Jaguars would pick a running back. Popular opinion was the Jaguars would draft a runner as early as the second round and local product Ciatrick Fason was mentioned often as that prospect, but Fason was selected by Minnesota in the fourth round ahead of the Jaguars' pick.
A couple of other running backs – West Virginia's Kay-Jay Harris and North Carolina State's T.A. McLendon – were available when the Jaguars picked Pearman. "We feel like this is a better fit," Del Rio said.
Taylor will be in attendance but will not participate in on-the-field drills during next weekend's mini-camp at Alltel Stadium. "The rehab is going according to schedule. We don't intend to have him out there with the team until later in June. We expect him to be 100 percent for training camp," Del Rio said.
Those remarks, however, would clearly indicate a need for insurance at the position. Pearman joins LaBrandon Toefield, Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Greg Jones, David Allen and Rich Alexis as candidates to provide that insurance.
