Mia’s Mock Draft Mondays 2.0

Mia O’Brien’s Mock Draft Mondays are powered each Monday in the month of April by Play It Again Sports. 

You want trades?

Let’s get weird. 

After a “no trades” rule as we began this season’s Mia’s Mock Draft Monday’s series, we lean into the “Trader Trent [Baalke]” moniker in Mock Draft 2.0. 

Some feedback from fans last week (which is always most appreciated on X, Facebook, Instagram and beyond) stressed the need to also include “interior defensive line” among the priorities for the Jaguars in the 2024 NFL Draft – beyond the more glaring holes at cornerback, wide receiver and Edge. I think those of you in that “Let’s Get Physical and Beefy” Camp will enjoy this week’s set of selections. 

Round 1, Pick 26

(TRADE, Bucs: No. 17 and No. 153 for No. 26, No. 89 and No. 92)

Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama

Fine, I’ll take the bait and drink the Kool-aid, too. I can confirm the Jaguars did indeed meet with the Alabama defensive back duo of McKinstry and Terrion “Ghost” Arnold at the NFL Combine in February. McKinstry also had a Top-30 visit in Jacksonville last week. Given how much press-man coverage Nick Saban & Co. have run in Tuscaloosa over the years (and the long-standing Alabama DB pipeline to the NFL), I wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan Nielsen opts for the pedigree and proven track record of either Crimson Tide defensive back. It’s most likely that Arnold is gone at No. 17, and, just like last year, in this scenario, Trent Baalke hedges his bet that his preferred target (McKinstry) is available later in the first-round. 

While McKinstry is known far more for his coverage than stuffing the stat sheet (two interceptions in 42 career games), he checks every box athletically – including running a 4.47 40-yard dash despite a Jones fracture in his foot at Alabama’s Pro Day. McKinstry gave up just 19 receptions on 39 targets for 205 yards his final season in college. He did have 15 pass break-up’s in 2022 and another seven in 2023, and he had a pair of sacks in each of the last two seasons. Kool-Aid McKinstry won’t be the physical presence in run support some corners are, but his active hands while following the route and plus-football IQ give defensive coordinators the opportunity to leave him on an island. He also has worked at punt returner and shown willingness to play Special Teams at the next level.

McKinstry would start Day 1 opposite Tyson Campbell. While not as physical as Campbell, his ball skills would be further along than Campbell’s when he entered the league in 2021. 

Round 2, Pick 48

Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida 

For a second straight year, Trent Baalke goes back down SR-301 to add to his Draft haul. Except, unlike 2023 fourth-rounder Ventrell Miller, Pearsall will be expected to contribute to the Jaguars early and often – even if he isn’t Trevor Lawrence’s go-to-guy until later in his rookie contract.

Baalke was a late-scratch at UF’s Pro Day in March, which many linked to the news that Pearsall wouldn’t be an on-field participant. Pearsall’s rise this NFL Draft Season has been among the most meteoric of any player. While he predominantly played out of the slot at Florida (a spot primarily occupied in Jacksonville by Christian Kirk), Pearsall showcased at the Reese’s Senior Bowl his inside-outside versatility and elite command of the route tree. Many Draft pundits will classify him as a “crafty route runner,” something many also said about now-former Jaguars WR Calvin Ridley. It was also noted that Ridley is at his best when he lines up in the slot on slant routes… something he barely did in Jacksonville. Can the Jaguars learn from their mistakes with Ridley and create a system that allows Pearsall to do what he does best? It should also be noted: Pearsall is being considered among the most high-football IQ receivers in this year’s class (a fact that Florida Gators fans are all too familiar with, given how Pearsall was still able to carve out over 900 receiving yards in 2023 despite all the inconsistencies with Florida’s operation).

At 6’1’’, 189 lbs (30 ⅞’’ arms), Pearsall will never be a quote-un-quote “big Red-zone target.” It’s been widely discussed that that’s the type of wide receiver the Jaguars need. But the tape doesn’t lie: Pearsall caught 97% (65 of 67) catchable passes in 2023, including multiple, eye-popping one-handed grabs. He’s also proven as a ball-carrier/gadget player (don’t forget, the Jaguars said goodbye to No. 4 WR Jamal Agnew, even if they also signed Devin Duvernay), while also providing Special Teams value as a return-man. Is Perasall too similar of a player to Christian Kirk? Perhaps. But more than one host at this radio station regarded the tandem of Kirk/Zay Jones/Marvin Jones as “slot, slot, slot” – and all that trio did was account for 2,460 receiving yards and lead the Jaguars to the AFC Divisional Round in 2022. The Jaguars need high-IQ wide receivers with versatility. Pearsall provides that. 

Round 3, Pick 75

(TRADE, Bears: No. 89, No. 114, No. 212 for No. 75)

Austin Booker, Edge, Kansas

One of the “traitsiest” players in the 2024 NFL Draft cycle, Jacksonville would be an ideal landing spot for Booker to learn and grow after playing just 18 total games in college, with one start. Despite that limited sample size, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein’s comp for Booker is… All-Pro Maxx Crosby. Huh?

Story time: Booker transferred to Kansas after redshirting his freshman year at Minnesota and appearing in just six games (with two tackles) in his second season. He’s the son of two former collegiate athletes. He’s 6’4 ½’’ with 33 ⅞’’ arms (third-best at the Combine), ran a 4.79 40-yard dash, and armed with more pass rush moves than former No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker had by the end of his rookie year. At 240 lbs, yes: Booker needs to hit the weight room. Having Walker and Josh Allen (not to mention veteran Trevis Gipson) in the OLB Room – and an experienced coach who has brought Walker along in Bill Shuey – will afford Booker the opportunity to learn on the job while also growing for the future. He’ll start as a designated pass rusher in certain sub-packages but could grow into much more. Unlike the last third-round, situational pass rusher the Jaguars drafted (Yannick Ngakoue), Booker has the frame to add the weight needed to be an every-down Edge rusher in the NFL. 

If Booker is still there in the 70’s, Trent Baalke will do whatever it takes to get his hands on one of the biggest “could-be’s” in this year’s Draft class. 

Round 3, Pick 92

Mekhi Wingo, DT, LSU

Another fascinating “could-be” project in this year’s Draft class. Mekhi Wingo has drawn some comparisons to another undersized defensive lineman in Atlanta’s Grady Jarrett… a player Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen is quite familiar with. While Jacksonville invested heavily in Arik Armstead in free agency,  Wingo wouldn’t be a plug-and-play 3-tech — but he could develop into a full-time starter while spelling Armstead, Roy Robertson-Harris, and the rest of the Jaguars veteran defensive linemen in Year 1. For a team that lacked “interior push” in 2023, signing Armstead and drafting Wingo would signal the Jaguars’ intentional focus to fortify and “get physical” in the trenches. 

At the NFL Combine, Wingo showcased his elusive first step (second-fastest 10-yard split of any defensive lineman at 1.64). Turn on the tape, and you’ll see the pass rush moves typically reserved for Edge rushers on a 6’0’’, 284 lb “bull in the China shop.” His 84.9 Run Defensive Grade (PFF) was first among all SEC Defensive Tackles the past two seasons combined. Oh, and his former defensive coordinator at LSU, Matt House, is now on the Jaguars staff (more on that in a second).

Wingo’s Draft stock will be a fascinating case study of a player who, if only because of injury history and a lack of major sack production, may very well fall into a very-lucky team’s lap in the third-round. 

Round 4, Pick 111

(TRADE, Jets: No. 96 for No. 111, No. 134)

Zak Zinter, OL, Michigan

In my honest opinion and after multiple conversations with members of the Jaguars’ front office and staff: don’t expect them to draft an offensive lineman until Round 5.*

*Unless a premier talent falls to them in the first or second round. Or unless Zinter is still here in the fourth-round.

The former-Michigan captain maintains he will be ready for Training Camp after suffering a broken tibia and fibula in November. If he is ready, tremendous: perhaps that means Zinter becomes great depth while he waits his turn behind either Brandon Scherff or Ezra Cleveland, perhaps it means this frees up the Jaguars to trade Cam Robinson to an OT-needy team to create room for Zinter on the 53-man roster. If he’s not ready, Zinter, much like Ventrell Miller and Cooper Hodges a year ago (after both suffered season-ending injuries in Camp), is essentially “drafted and stashed” for a year – even if, like Hodges, he could play later in the season. 

A four-year starter who never missed time until his unfortunate injury in November, Zinter allowed nine pressures on 389 pass-blocking snaps last season, to go along with his ability to smoothly get to the second-level in the run-game. Comb through any Draft analysis of Zinter (shameless plug for the 1010XL Draft Guide) and the biggest (and often, only major) knock is the injury. While not an elite athlete, Zinter has the physicality, size, and experience to play guard at the next level, having gone against a Top-3 defense in Michigan’s the past three seasons. 

Plug-and-play guards like Zinter don’t magically appear at Pick No. 111 each year. If he’s there: just take him. “Best Player Available,” right?

Round 4, Pick 116

Jordan Jefferson, NT, LSU

(Remember when I said to “file away” that former LSU DC Matt House is now the Jaguars’ ILB Coach?)

Let’s double-dip from the Tiger Well. 

Jefferson is a mammoth of a man at 6’3’’, 313 lbs (33 ⅛’’ arms). He put up the most reps on the bench press of any defensive lineman at the NFL Combine (34). If Trent Baalke is serious about “changing the Jaguars identity” to be more physical and with an added emphasis on the weight room, the West Virginia-turned-LSU transfer would be a big addition (yes, pun intended). Jefferson would offer an immediate understudy to DaVon Hamilton at the nose tackle position, and his first-step quickness can’t be taught. 

Some believe he still needs to hit the weight room a bit himself as he carves out exactly what type of player he’ll be at the NFL-level. And yet, he was one of Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks,” squatting 695 lbs, power-cleaning 395 lbs, benching 495 lbs, and vertical jumping 34 ½ inches. At 316 lbs, he ran a 4.91 40-yard dash at his Pro Day (Hamilton ran a 5.14 at 320 lbs, for context). Simply put: there’s not a lot of human beings with those sort of measurables and testing numbers walking around the planet.  

Round 4, Pick 134

Cam Little, K, Arkansas

Ah yes! For a second straight Mock Draft Monday, I do have the Jaguars going the Kicker Route for all the same reasons I outlined last week when Will Reichard (Alabama) was the pick. 

Like Reichard, Little would offer consistency, even if his leg strength (career high of 56 yards) isn’t eye-popping. He has the highest field goal percentage in Arkansas history (82.8%), having converted on 53 of his 64 career field goal attempts. Little also never missed an extra point in his collegiate career (129 XPTs) and was a First-Team All-SEC and First-Team Freshman All American performer. He also has been extremely active off-the-field, working with the Down Syndrome Connection of Northwest Arkansas, which led to an appearance on Good Morning America (another high-character, “Eagle Scout” selection by Trent Baalke?!)

Also, let’s be real: I want to be able to say the Jaguars have two “Walker’s” (Walker Little and Travon Walker) and two “Little’s” (Walker Little and… Cam Little). 

Round 7, Pick 236

Nick Gargiulo, OL, South Carolina (Yale)

A fascinating developmental project who can play all five positions along the offensive line and would essentially be a replacement to the veteran Blake Hance. Gargiulo was a captain and All-Ivy League performer at Yale before spending his final collegiate season at South Carolina. While his athleticism won’t overpower the opposition, his body control, balance, and high IQ enhance Gargiulo’s athletic profile. He played tackle and center at Yale before splitting his time at guard and center in Columbia. At both stops, Gargiulo showcased consistent footwork, an athletic talent for lead pulling and blocking, and great hand-eye coordination. At 6’5’’, 318 lbs, Gargiulo ran a 5.25 at the NFL Combine, to go along with 28 reps on the bench press and above-average length (33 ⅞’’). 

Given the Jaguars’ steadfastnesses in keeping their offensive line unit together while also still preparing for the future: a versatile, older rookie like Gargiulo offers utmost value to Trent Baalke, OL Coach Phil Rauscher, and the Jaguars OL Room.