Final Jaguars Mock Draft: Trade down? Trade down.

We have finally reached draft week! All of the terrible takes, overthinking of little things, and the endless mountains of mock drafts will come to an end for about two weeks. The Jaguars have been on the clock since the Jets-Rams game, and we all know who’s going to be picked there, but where do the Jaguars go from there? With ten picks they have ample capital to trade up or down in the draft and build the team in Urban Meyer’s image.

So with that being said, this mock draft was made with The Draft Network’s Mock Draft Machine. Shoutout to their network and all of the great work they’ve done this year.

Round 1, Pick 1: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson

We bought him a toaster. ‘Nuff said.

Round 1, Pick 25: Christian Barmore, DT, Alabama

This pick gets tricky for me to predict, because ultimately I don’t think Jacksonville stays here. They have ample draft capital and salary cap space to move up or down the draft and get the guys they want. If they do stand pat here, there were two interesting options here: Barmore and Notre Dame LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Koramoah would be a great fit in terms of speed and physicality, but with as much as Urban Meyer has spoken about building up the defensive line. I wrote about Barmore for SB Nation here, but I think he can be a great fit in a defense that will show hybrid looks and play Barmore to his best ability.

Alright so we’re going to take a quick pit stop here because WE HAVE A TRADE! The Philadelphia Eagles offered us their second round pick (37), two of their third round picks (70 and 84), and their fifth round pick (150) for Jacksonville’s two second round picks (33 and 45). Given Jaguars GM Trent Baalke’s history of trading down (Sports Illustrated Jaguars’ John Shipley wrote about it), I think this would be an ample haul for the Jaguars to load up on value.

Round 2, Pick 37: Carlos Basham Jr, EDGE, Wake Forest

If you’re looking for a quintessential Ravens-type of EDGE defender, Carlos Basham might be your pick. He’s a powerful EDGE rusher who plays with an extremely high motor. For his size, he also flashes some twitchiness for being listed at 274 pounds. In a way, he reminds me of a player Joe Cullen coached in Baltimore, who I think Basham’s floor could be: Ravens EDGE Pernell McPhee. Both are big and strong players, who are stout against the run and can cause havoc in the pass game as well. Adding Basham to this defense will give the Jagaurs a different type of pass rusher while also adding depth, and Basham could be an impact player right away.

Round 3, Pick 65: Tommy Tremble, TE, Notre Dame

This is a pick I had in my latest mock draft before this one, and I still think it fits. Tremble is a great blocker in the run game, and has yet to reach his potential. I worry a bit about the arm length, but I think Tremble will be a great fit for what the Jaguars want to do in the run game, and will have the ability to grow into a receiving threat. P.S. I REALLY wanted Penn State TE Pat Freiermuth to fall to 65, but alas.

Round 3, Pick 70: Richie Grant, S, UCF

The UCF-to-Jacksonville pipeline is strong, as Grant pairs with his former teammate Shaquill Griffin in the revamped Jacksonville secondary. Grant is a fast playmaker in the secondary who can play the deep safety in single high coverage, or cover slot receivers in zero coverage. Baltimore played a lot of man coverage, and a lot of one and zero man coverage at that. Grant gives the back half of the defense a playmaker who has good ball skills as well.

Round 3, Pick 84: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, USC

I struggled with this pick, honestly. I feel like Jacksonville is going to add another playmaker to this receiving corps, but at this point in the draft I was choosing between St. Brown, Western Michigan’s Dwayne Eskridge, and Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace. I chose St. Brown because he’s a smooth operator from the slot who can win underneath and over the middle. He might not be a burner, but he’s a darn good football player who will round out this offense and give Trevor Lawrence another safety valve over the middle or on third down.

Round 4, Pick 106: Walker Little, OT, Stanford

Both Meyer and Baalke have spoken at length about their comfort with the offensive line going into next year, and I believe them. The line didn’t play horribly, and with a new QB coming in blowing up the line entirely isn’t the greatest option. In addition, the line was under new offensive line coach George Warhop, who was one of the only position coaches retained from the previous year. However, Cam Robinson is on the franchise tag, meaning he could be on his way out after this upcoming year. Walker Little is a great athlete at tackle who showed potential as a blind side blocker at Stanford, but dealt with injuries and opted out of the 2020 football season. Little doesn’t have to start right away, and in the event that Robinson does leave, he can step in as the left tackle.

Round 4, Pick 130: Shaun Wade, CB, Ohio State

Jacksonville native? Check. Recruited and played under Urban Meyer? Check. Shaun Wade had a rough 2020, but he might have been playing out of position, as a boundary cornerback. Where Wade excels the most is on the inside, as a slot corner where he can trigger on the ball. Jacksonville is losing DJ Hayden to free agency, leaving a hole at the nickel corner spot. Adding Wade to a room that would have CJ Henderson, Shaquill Griffin, and Sidney Jones would give the Jaguars a good young group of corners who are versatile.

Round 5, Pick 145: Ihmir Smith-Marsette, WR, Iowa

If “4-to-6, A-to-B” were a person, it would be Smith-Marsette. Although he only ran a 4.5 40 yard dash at his pro day, his ten yard split ranked in the top percentile, as did his vertical and broad jumps. He’s an explosive player with the ball in his hands. He didn’t see much action in college due to the Iowa offense being Iowa, but he could ultimately be a better pro than college player. Jacksonville adds the speed they need to the offense, while also getting a Keelan Cole replacement in the return game (Cole is also a pretty interesting comparison to Smith-Marsette. Around the same build and speed, but super quick and shifty).

Round 5, Pick 150: Kylin Hill, RB, Mississippi State

As much as Jaguars RB James Robinson shocked the NFL world with his play last year, he carried the ball a lot. Reducing the wear and tear on Robinson is important, so he can continue to be a focal point of the offense, and Kylin Hill can be a very good RB2. Hill has good vision and can catch the ball out of the backfield, and he’s also a very smart RB who will take what the defense gives him. Adding Hill gives the Jaguars another RB to take the load off of Robinson, while not dropping off a cliff entirely.

Round 5, Pick 170: Jonathon Cooper, EDGE, Ohio State

The Jaguars go back to the EDGE well with another former Meyer player at Ohio State. Cooper might not be the most explosive athletically, but he’s agile and aggressive on the edge of a defense. He converts speed to power easily and has one of the best bull rushes of any pass rusher I’ve seen this year. Coming from the defensive line factory that is Ohio State, Cooper will be ready to play immediately in a rotation on the defensive line, and can contribute right away in Jacksonville.

Round 7, Pick 249: Luke Farrell, TE, Ohio State

Rounding out this final mock draft is another Meyer-Ohio State connection. Farrell doesn’t exactly move the needle as a pass catcher, but he can block very well. Farrell does have the potential to develop into a pass catcher, but he’s at his best in line as a blocker. The Jaguars TE room needed a huge facelift, and after adding Farrell and Tommy Tremble, they get two young, physical players at the position.

We’ll see how the picks play out come Thursday, but if this is how the draft shakes out for the Jaguars, I wouldn’t hate it at all.