Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew (32) runs for 56 yards as he breaks the team's single season rushing yard record just over 5 minutes into the third quarter against the Indianapolis Colts on January 1, 2012. It was also the final game for the former owners of the Jaguars Wayne Weaver and Delores Barr Weaver. [Kelly Jordan/Florida Times-Union] Spt 04jagscoltskj010 Kelly Jordan/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

UCLA Bruins Debated in 2006 NFL Redraft

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI | By Brock Vierra | Last updated May 6, 2025 1:56 PM ET

Three UCLA Bruins were selected in the 2006 NFL Draft, with two of them being selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In order to test the success of certain draft formulas and analysis, Pro Football Focus' Max Chadwick, Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema selected the 2006 draft to apply their grades to the prospects, using the grades to redraft to see if the grades are a good indicator of NFL talent.

"The NFL draft is a crapshoot," the PFF article read. "While NFL teams do their best to forecast which prospects will translate best to the next level, the reality is that franchises rarely get a pick exactly right."

"But what would a draft look like if teams had the benefit of hindsight? PFF has world-class data for every player on every play in every NFL game, dating back to the 2006 season. Knowing what we know now, here is how the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft could have looked."

In 2006, the Jaguars selected tight end Marcedes Lewis out of UCLA with the 28th overall selection. In the redraft, PFF stated the Jaguars should have selected Maurice Jones-Drew instead.

"The Jaguars originally drafted Marcedes Lewis, who went 22nd overall to the Broncos in this redraft," the article read. "Jacksonville instead adds another former UCLA Bruin to its offense in Jones-Drew, whom the team actually selected in the second round.

"MJD is the franchise’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (68), and his 8,071 rushing yards are second only to Fred Taylor. Jones-Drew made three Pro Bowls and was a two-time first-team All-Pro in his NFL career."

In real life, the Jaguars ended up selecting Jones-Drew in the second round. So, that begs the question: Was PFF correct in their analysis that the Jaguars should have selected Jones-Drew over Lewis? Yes.

Jones-Drew led a seamless transition from Fred Taylor, and for a franchise as young as Jacksonville's, that's not exactly the easiest thing to do.

While Lewis has been a model of health, considering he's still playing, he's never had more than 700 receiving yards in a season, and that was with David Garrard as his quarterback.

Perhaps the two Bruins could be a foundational piece for PFF's grading becoming a standardized part in draft evaluations.