A sneaky pick that I think the Jacksonville Jaguars could make as high as the third round is running back. It’s an obvious need, even before Chris Ivory left. Corey Grant is largely a special teams player who found a niche in the first half of the AFC Championship and T.J. Yeldon is a good receiver out of the backfield, but who else is there? A legitimate change-of-pace running back is needed on this roster.
And the NFL Draft has a few players worth looking at early on Day 3.
In this series, I want to look at the Jaguars’ draft needs and try to find the “sweet spot” for those positions in the draft. I want to find the lowest round where I’ll still be able to pick a better-than-average player so that I can walk away from the draft with as much value as possible.
There are seven positions the Jaguars need — quarterback, offensive lineman, cornerback, tight end, running back, linebacker, and defensive end.
In Part 5 of my series, I’m looking over the running backs and to help me organize the players I’ve used Dane Brugler’s prospect rankings published at NFLDraftScout.com.
Running back
| DS Rank | Name | School | Proj. Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| DS Rank | Name | School | Proj. Round |
| 1 | *Saquon Barkley | Penn State | 1 |
| 32 | *Derrius Guice | LSU | 1-2 |
| 41 | Sony Michel | Georgia | 2 |
| 49 | *Ronald Jones II | Southern California | 2 |
| 53 | Nick Chubb | Georgia | 2 |
| 57 | *Kerryon Johnson | Auburn | 2 |
| 70 | Rashaad Penny | San Diego State | 2-3 |
| 87 | *Nyheim Hines | North Carolina State | 3 |
| 100 | Royce Freeman | Oregon | 4 |
| 113 | *Mark Walton | Miami (FL) | 4 |
| 124 | *John Kelly | Tennessee | 4 |
| 134 | Kalen Ballage | Arizona State | 5 |
| 150 | Darrel Williams | LSU | 5 |
| 163 | Justin Jackson | Northwestern | 5-6 |
| 176 | *Josh Adams | Notre Dame | 5-6 |
| 173 | *Bo Scarbrough | Alabama | 5-6 |
| 194 | Akrum Wadley | Iowa | 5-6 |
I think Royce Freeman is good. Mark Walton isn’t an every down back, but he does a lot of things well. John Kelly breaks tackles well. Hell, even Alfie likes Akrum Wadley and it could be for more than the fact he’s from Iowa.
Maybe.
The point is, there are good running backs in the middle rounds and if the Jaguars wait until the fourth or fifth round to grab someone, there should still be an expectation of them getting a good share of touches and performing well behind what will be a monster offensive line.
Sweet spot for Jaguars at RB: Round 4-5