"It&39;s not often that a club has the opportunity to draft the consensus top-rated quarterback with the 10th pick in the draft, but that is exactly what the Jaguars did and all it cost them was a second-rounder. In starter David Garrard, the Jags have a guy who can build a bridge to Blaine Gabbert with minimal pressure being placed on the rookie to contribute right away. Bottom line: the Jaguars had not drafted a QB since 2003 and a better opportunity was not going to present itself anytime soon. Yet another pleasant surprise from GM Gene Smith."
Pro Football Weekly's Arthur Arkush on the trade for Blaine Gabbert in the first round
"I like this fit for Gabbert because of starter David Garrard and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. Gabbert won't be rushed onto the field. When you can do that for a quarterback, you have a much better chance of success."
Pat Kirwan, NFL.com writer and NFL Sirius Radio host
"Shorts dominated against lesser competition in college and has the football smarts and craftiness to convert his small-school production to the NFL level. The Jaguars have done a fine job of hitting on small-school talent in the past and could wind up with another find in Shorts, who has great work habits and intangibles and will work very hard at his craft."
Nolan Nawrocki, Pro Football Weekly, on the selection of wide receiver Cecil Shorts III
"If you need a quarterback and see one that you like as a value, I say go get him. I don't know if Gabbert's going to be a great quarterback for Jacksonville. There is built-in risk with any quarterback in the draft. But I like how the Jaguars believed Gabbert was a value at No. 10 and did what they needed to do to move up from No. 16 to get him. I never would have predicted a trade up."
ESPN.com AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky of the move to trade for Blaine Gabbert
"The Jaguars needed another quarterback, and they didn&39;t have to give up much to get Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert is the best QB in the draft and he won&39;t have a whole lot of pressure on him in Jacksonville, allowing him to develop behind Garrard."
*Pro Football Weekly's Associate Editor Kevin Fishbain on the trade for Blaine Gabbert
"Things have slowed down, but you've got to understand I have tremendous continuity on the player personnel staff and some guys with tremendous passion for their profession. Guys who work very hard at it, some very experienced talent evaluators and I'd like to say the value is in the evaluator. The one thing I can never forget, I've said this a lot, regardless of whatever my title ever is, I can't forget that I'm a scout. That's something that I put a lot of value in. Sometimes people work their way up and what got them there, they quit doing. I will always be a scout as long as I'm in the NFL on the player personnel side."
Jaguars general manager Gene Smith on finishing his third draft
"We really look at everything case by case individually. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel. If the guy's a good player and we think he fits with what we're doing and the value is appropriate, we're going to pick the guy. And we're not going to worry about what perception is. Now we've had some success doing that the last couple of years and it's worked, and we understand if it doesn't work and the guy's not a player, we're going to hear it. I said it a couple years ago when we took (Terrance) Knighton and (Derek) Cox, my exact quote in this room was if these guys can't play you'll be talking to somebody else up here in a couple of years. So luckily we're still here."
Jaguars director of personnel Terry McDonough on drafting players from non-BCS schools
"He went to the same school that Pierre Garcon went to. He was a productive player in college. We watched him live at the East-West Shrine practices. We feel like he's a guy that can come in and potentially be our third wide receiver this year. You play so many three receiver sets, we're looking for that third guy. We feel really good about (Jason) Hill and (Mike) Thomas being one and two, in no particular order there, but being two guys that we can count on to play at this level, and we need that third guy to emerge. We think he'll be in the mix for that."
Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio on wide receiver Cecil Shorts III
"Yes, he carries that well. He's a thickly built player, big legs, good lower body strength. He's good looking, he looks right and he works very hard in the weight room with his conditioning. He's the kind of guy that I think when you give him something to go with, he takes it to the nth degree. A highly dedicated young man."
Jaguars offensive line coach Andy Heck on if 310 pounds is a good weight for G/C Will Rackley
"The biggest thing for any rookie player is you've got to come in and earn your spot on this football team. You've got to come in and put your time in the weight room, the film room and earn the trust of the other players. You can't come in being the vocal leader because you're not credible at that point in time. You've got to put in your work before people start to trust you."
Quarterback Blaine Gabbert on being a rookie
"I got a great deal of confidence that I can come in and play on that level, and play early. I want to get into that starting nickel role, but it is going to take time, on special teams, it's going to take watching film, getting graded and kind of just sitting back and taking advice from guys like Rashean Mathis. Listening to the veteran leadership and things like that and just hard work and dedication."
Cornerback Rod Issac on if he can make transition to NFL from Middle Tennessee State
"My dad told me since I was six years old to have dog confidence. You've got to have confidence in yourself. It doesn't mean be cocky or be arrogant. I'm not that type of guy, but I am a confident guy. I'm confident in my abilities and I can't wait to go out there on the field."
Wide receiver Cecil Shorts III on where his confidence comes from
"I felt good about my visit. I got to sit down with Coach Del Rio, the GM and some of the position coaches and special teams coaches. I think it went real well. I enjoyed everything about it out there just the organization and how it is run, the facilities and everything. I knew I had a chance to possibly go there and play and it is a dream come true."
Safety Chris Prosinski on his visit to Jacksonville prior to the draft
"It's one of those things that's hard to explain. You literally go from your bowl game to train wherever for your Combine and pro day, and you're there for 10, 11, 12 weeks working your tail off. Especially being a quarterback doing drops, getting with receivers, getting your timing down, working on all your 40s, getting your strength up if you're working on your 225 rep test. And then you go to pro day and knock that out and then the interview process and the visits start, and then now I'm standing here. So it's definitely been a whirlwind but it's been a great process and I've said all along I'm just having fun. It's a dream come true and I'm just trying to do my best at it."
Quarterback Blaine Gabbert on the process leading up to the draft