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Jacksonville traded up to land Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon.
Cleveland swapped picks with Minnesota to draft Alabama running back Trent Richardson third, but stayed put to select OSU quarterback Brandon Weeden with the 22nd pick.
For the second time in three years, two Cowboys were selected in the NFL Draft’s first round. In 2010, Seattle took Poke offensive lineman Russell Okung with the sixth pick and the Dallas Cowboys traded up to select wide receiver Dez Bryant at No. 24.
Jacksonville coveted Blackmon, and swapped picks with Tampa Bay to get him.
Blackmon, the fifth player selected in Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, should provide an immediate boost to the NFL’s most anemic offense.
Mock drafts had Blackmon going everywhere but Jacksonville.
“It just goes to show you that anything can happen,” Blackmon said. “It’s a dream come true.”
Jacksonville (5-11) compiled an NFL-worst 4,149 yards on offense in the 2011 season.
Blackmon should fuel a wide receiver resurgence at Jacksonville. The two-time Biletnikoff winner caught 122 passes for 1,782 yards and 18 touchdowns as the Cowboys won their first Big 12 championship and first BCS-bowl, and finished No. 3 in the polls with a 12-1 record.
He is second all-time at OSU with 253 catches, 40 touchdowns and 3,564 receiving yards.
Blackmon’s work ethic made Oklahoma State a better team and will do the same for Jacksonville, OSU coach Mike Gundy said.
“Justin was our best practice player and set the tone for our team by his work ethic and buying into what we were trying to accomplish as a program,” Gundy said. “He will have a lasting impact at Oklahoma State.”
The Jaguars also added free agent receivers Laurent Robinson and Lee Evans to improve the receiving corp.
Weeden, the best quarterback in OSU history, will challenge former Texas quarterback Colt McCoy for the Browns’ starting quarterback slot.
McCoy struggled in his second year as the Browns quarterback. He completed 57.2 percent of his passes and threw for 2,733 yards. He tossed 14 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. He missed the final three games in the 2011 season with a concussion.
Gundy called Weeden the “biggest sleeper” of the 2012 draft.
“There’s some concern about his age, but his body is the same as a 22-year-old. I think his performance speaks for itself,” Gundy said.
It’s more than statistics, Gundy said. Weeden wins games.
“In the head-to-head battles with all these other quarterbacks in the draft, he made plays and won those games,” Gundy said.
Weeden owns nearly every major passing record at Oklahoma State. He turned in 12 of the top 16 passing games in school history. He completed 766 of 1,102 passes for 9,260 yards and 75 touchdowns at OSU.
Weeden thanked the OSU coaching staff and his teammates.
“There were so many people along the way that I can’t name them all. It’s taken a lot of hard work and a lot of support from the people around me. I’m very thankful for that,” Weeden said.
Five Oklahoma State players could be drafted in the next two days. Offensive linemen Grant Garner and Levy Adcock, safety Markelle Martin, receiver Josh Cooper and defensive end Jamie Blatnick could be selected.
Five Big 12 players were selected in the first round.
Baylor joined OSU with two players selected. The Washington Redskins took Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III with the second pick and his go-to receiver Kendall Wright was pick No. 20 by the Tennessee Titans.
Miami used the eighth pick to take Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
The University of Oklahoma didn’t have any players drafted in the first round.
