JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The NFL draft is just about two weeks away and the Jaguars don’t have a first-round pick for the first time in franchise history. What are the team’s biggest needs and what should they do? News4JAX sports reporters Justin Barney and Jamal St. Cyr answer some questions as the draft looms.
Q: Let’s start off, how many picks do the Jaguars have?
Recommended Videos
A: The Jaguars have 11 selections in the draft. No. 56 (Round 2), Nos. 81, 88 and 100 (all Round 3), No. 124 (Round 4), Nos. 164 and 166 (Round 5), No. 203 (Round 6) and Nos. 233, 240 and 245 (Round 7). If general manager James Gladstone wants to trade up, he certainly has the cache to do so.
Q: Why don’t they have a first-round pick?
A: The Jaguars sent this year’s first-rounder to the Browns as part of the trade for Travis Hunter. It’s the first time in the franchise’s 32-year history that it enters the draft without a pick in the opening round.
Q: After free agency, what position is Jacksonville’s biggest need entering the draft?
JB: It absolutely remains the defensive front, but I could see linebacker as need 1B. Devin Lloyd is gone. Ventrell Miller hasn’t established himself as a starter. Last year’s draft picks (Jack Kiser, Jalen McLeod) are still unknown, so linebacker is certainly in play. But I’m going say it is defensive line in some capacity. In our initial News4JAGs podcast, I had Jacksonville going edge (Keyron Crawford, Auburn), linebacker (Anthony Hill Jr., Texas) and defensive line (Rayshaun Benny, Michigan). I don’t think Florida DT Caleb Banks or Clemson DT Peter Woods are available if the Jaguars stay put at 56, but those two would be much-needed talent at that position. If Banks’ foot issues check out, he’d be in the range of where Jacksonville picks at 56.
JSC: No question. Defensive tackle. The Jags interior pass rush needs some juice. Right now, the defensive tackle room even on paper just looks meh. There is a part of me that thinks they will build off what we saw late last season, moving Travon Walker inside on passing down to create matchups. That would boost the defensive tackle rotation some, but then makes the need for a third edge player that much greater. I agree with Justin. Linebacker is also firmly on the radar. Since he covered that base, let me point out the unpopular spot — offensive line. Liam Coen said during the NFL owners meeting in an interview that winning masked the issues in the running game. Well, the best way to improve the running game is to improve the offensive line. Guys like Emmanuel Pregnon and Keylan Rutledge won’t be popular picks, but they could help solve the problem.
Q: If the Jaguars are trading up, who would you target for them?
JB: Two thoughts here. Jacksonville has the number of picks where it could get into the back half of the first round. In my Tuesday mock, there were two options I saw for that. The Browns at No. 24 (Jacksonville’s original first-round pick) and the Texans at No. 28. Cleveland drafted Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald (pictured below), and the Texans picked Peter Woods. Those are two players I’d like to have. To get up there, Jacksonville would need to send pick Nos. 56, 81, 88 and likely a fifth-rounder. My second thought would be a smaller move, from 56 into the 30s. In my mock, I sent pick Nos. 56, 100, 240 and a 2027 fourth-rounder to the Texans to move up to No. 38 (and get pick No. 240). I used that second rounder to get DT Christen Miller of Georgia. I’d lean towards a smaller move up than a major one.
JSC: Now we talkin. The Jags have 11 draft picks in their pocket right now. I’d bet the house that they don’t make all 11 of those picks. I expect a trade-up on day 2. Getting into the first round might be just a little too expensive. But a move into the early second round is well within their price range. Since we are throwing out trade-up targets, how about a guy that I have long thought would check boxes as a Jags-type of draft pick. The issue has been he was trending too high in most mocks for the move, but it looks like his stock is settling down a bit. Also, he isn’t at a position that the Jags “need” to address ... Unless they actually do. So last season, the Jags had Dawuane Smoot and Emmanuel Ogbah play significant snaps. The third edge could use an upgrade, especially if I’m right about Walker being used as a defensive tackle more on passing downs. A trade-up for Akheem Mesidor would be perfect. He is a wrecking crew off the edge. When you look at the Rams draft history. Two things pop up often. Guys who have elite production levels and older prospects. He checks both of those boxes. The league is knocking Mesidor for being a 25-year-old rookie. That just means he is ready to contribute early. I think he is the perfect guy to trade up for to really add some juice to the Jags defense.
Q: What about a pre-draft trade for someone like Dexter Lawrence?
JB: There were reports last year about the Jaguars making a push for the Jets’ Quinnen Williams at the trade deadline last year (he ultimately went to the Cowboys), and that they were interested in Raiders’ edge Maxx Crosby this cycle. Lawrence has reportedly requested a trade from the Giants. Lawrence has an average salary of right at $22 million a year, and would almost certainly want a new deal with a new team. Jacksonville would likely need to ship out its second-rounder and a handful of other picks (along with perhaps a player) to have a shot at Lawrence. He would fill the team’s biggest hole, but also be costly and would turn 29 during the season. A trade like one the Bleacher Report suggested (Arik Armstead and pick No. 56) for Lawrence seems like a huge win for the Jaguars, and I’m not optimistic the Giants would do it for that type of return. Plus, there’s the salary implications of paying three huge deals to defensive linemen (Travon Walker, Josh Hines-Allen, Lawrence). That type of deal would go against typical Jaguars history, but align with something like the Rams would do under Les Snead (draft pick for a veteran).
JSC: Get on the phone and do the deal. Lawrence is a defense-changing type of player. The combo of Lawrence, Walker and Hines-Allen would be one of the best trios in the league. That is the sort of move contenders make. I’d be willing to give up this year’s second-round pick, two of this years third-round picks and maybe next year’s second to try and get the deal done.
Q: Who’s a sleeper pick you’d like to see the Jaguars take?
JB: Baylor tight end Michael Trigg. Granted, he’s a top-four round prospect so not necessarily a deep sleeper pick, but I would like to see him here. He’s more of an Evan Engram-type of player than Brenton Strange. He’d be the perfect complement to Strange in 12 personnel, and an upgrade over Johnny Mundt (now on the Eagles), Hunter Long and Quintin Morris.
JSC: Is there where I get to drop “my guys” for this years draft class? Bet!
Billy Schrauth, Notre Dame, guard
Quenton Nelson’s pass-pro polish, but on running downs, he forgets the playbook. His tape is clean, but he does have injury concerns. He screams Steal to me.
Bishop Fitzgerald, USC, safety
Minkah Fitzpatrick ball skills and playmaking in run support that looks like he’s still reading the playbook from JUCO. Fitzgerald (pictured below) doesn’t have elite athletic traits, but he has elite ball skills. I’m willing to bet on the ball skills.
Terion Stewart, Virginia Tech, running back
He is kind of a diet Maurice Jones-Drew. He has MoJO’s contact balance, but he has the vision of a guy who only sees the hole after it’s already closed. His missed tackle numbers are out of this world.
Riley Nowakowski, Indiana, tight end
He is a tight end in the body of a former linebacker who looks like he’s one pancake block away from demanding a fullback helmet again. Riley can do it all and will be a glue guy on an NFL roster.
Kaleb Proctor, SE Louisiana, defensive tackle
Elite quickness and suddenness … But he’s been hiding at SE Louisiana like Shrek in his swamp. Just need Donkey to pull up and take him to his NFL home. He racked up three sacks against LSU, playing on an FCS team.
Jordan Van Den Berg, Georgia Tech, defensive tackle
Freak athleticism at 310 pounds with a RAS score so stupid he seems like Captain America … which makes you wonder why he looked like a human at Georgia Tech. (It is because they played him out of position.)