Jacksonville Jaguars

Jaguars thrilled to add pass-rushing dynamo Dante Fowler Jr.

Published Apr. 30, 2015 8:29 p.m. ET

foxsports

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Before the NFL draft started Thursday night in Chicago, Dante Fowler Jr. created a stir by showing up in a resplendent white suit with gold shoes.

The Jacksonville Jaguars made it clear that they valued his substance over his style by taking the edge rusher from Florida with the third overall pick.

.@dantefowler knew to wear #Jaguars gold tonight. #JAXDraft15 Central: http://t.co/sihorLOhxc pic.twitter.com/hptmR2j1Mv
— #JAXDraft15 (@Jaguars) May 1, 2015

The 6-foot-3, 264-pound native of St. Petersburg went on record at the Gators' pro day three weeks ago as saying the Jaguars would be an ideal fit for him. General manager Dave Caldwell came to the same conclusion, deciding in a meeting Friday afternoon with coach Gus Bradley and their scouting staff to choose Fowler over USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams or Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.

"For us, it came down to need," Caldwell said. "Leonard is a good player and will be a good player. But we signed Jared Odrick in the offseason, and he had a similar skill set. Young edge rushers are hard to find."

"You can never have enough rushers," Bradley said. "I did learn that over the last couple of years, being a defensive coordinator and now a head coach. Anytime you can get a rush, get rushers."

Fowler had 8.5 sacks last season for the Gators, including three in their Birmingham Bowl victory over East Carolina, and established himself as a disruptive force behind the line of scrimmage with a total of 15 tackles for losses. While the Jaguars finished 2014 with 45 sacks, which tied for the sixth-highest total in the league, their top pass-rushing defensive end is 33-year-old Chris Clemons.

"Even if they wouldn't have taken me, I wouldn't have been surprised," he said. "There were a lot of great guys and great players in that draft. For them to choose me and have confidence and faith in me to do what I'm supposed to do, I'm going to show those guys that I can."

With defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks having undergone major knee surgery four months ago, Fowler has enough size to be moved to an inside position by the Jaguars if necessary but is primarily a defensive end or a 3-4 outside linebacker.

"He affects games," Caldwell said. "You watch the Georgia game. You watch some of the games. When he arrives on a tackle, it's with bad intentions."

"He practices hard. He plays hard. How he practices is how he plays," Bradley said.

One of Fowler's best games last season came in Jacksonville when he had a season-high 2.5 tackles for losses in a 38-20 upset of Georgia. But his performance in Florida's bowl game sold Caldwell on Fowler as much as anything.

"Here's a guy that knew he was coming out, had nothing to play for, and he had three sacks and played as physical as could be," Caldwell said. "Those are some things that really impressed us."

"I couldn't just sit out and not have fun out there and do what I wanted to do," Fowler said. "That's something I wanted to do, and I'm glad that I did it."

Fowler is the first defensive player to be taken by the Jaguars in the first round since Tyson Alualu in 2010. Caldwell said his plan when he was hired by the Jaguars was to build around a left tackle, a quarterback and a defensive end, and he now has that in place with his last three first-round picks -- Luke Joeckel (2013), Blake Bortles (2014) and Fowler.

Fowler and Jaguars free safety Josh Evans were teammates at Florida in 2012 when Fowler was a freshman and Evans was a senior. He also mentioned Fred Taylor, the leading rusher in Jaguars history and a former Gator, as someone who has served as a mentor to him.

"Just being able to stay home and having Gator Nation still supporting me and being close to me -- it doesn't get better than that," he said.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jaguars have the fourth pick of the second round (36th overall) and third pick of the third round (67th overall) Friday. A year ago, all four of their selections in the first two days of the draft were offensive players (Bortles, Marqise Lee, Allen Robinson, Brandon Linder). Could a run on defensive players be forthcoming, or will they add another wide receiver or perhaps a running back?

You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.