Draft fallout: Projecting Jaguars 53-man roster

By Hays Carlyon

The largest Jaguars draft class in franchise history will shortly make its way to Jacksonville.

A whopping 13 players were selected by general manager Trent Baalke and coach Doug Pederson. The team entered the draft with nine picks but traded back four times, netting another four selections.

For fun, let’s project what the Jaguars 53-man roster looks now with the draft class if every pick makes the team. Yes, not all of these picks – especially the trio of seventh rounders – will likely make the initial 53. That’s not stopping us.

As always, we’re keeping the traditional 25 on offense, 25 on defense and three specialists.

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks (2)

Who: Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Beathard.

The buzz: None. The Jaguars are set here and didn’t address the position in the draft.

Running backs (5)

Who: Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby (third round), JaMycal Hasty, D’Ernest Johnson and fullback Derek Parish (seventh round).

Notable player on notice: Snoop Conner.

The buzz: Bigsby is a lock to make the 53 and probably will ultimately spell the end for Conner, a fifth-round pick last year who never made an impact. We will see how Pederson deploys Parish in training camp, as fullbacks are almost extinct in the NFL.

Wide receivers (5)

Who: Christian Kirk, Calvin Ridley, Zay Jones, Jamal Agnew and Parker Washington (sixth round).

Notable player on notice: Tim Jones.

The buzz: The Jaguars needed to draft a receiver and there is a lot to like about Washington’s game. Jones played more offensive snaps than Agnew last season (145), but will likely need an injury to strike the position to crack the top five.

Tight ends (3)

Who: Evan Engram, Brenton Strange (second round) and Luke Farrell.

The buzz: Strange will be fun to watch in training camp. He got lost in a deep group of tight ends, but obviously was a high priority for Pederson. The Jaguars keep only three tight ends by having a fullback in Parish in this exercise.

Offensive line (10)

Who: Cam Robinson, Walker Little, Luke Fortner, Brandon Scherff, Anton Harrison (first round), Ben Bartch, Tyler Shatley, Chandler Brewer, Josh Wells and Cooper Hodges (seventh round).

The buzz: Harrison was a terrific pick to replace Jawaan Taylor. He should start at right tackle, while Little mans the left side if Robinson’s reported suspension holds up. When everyone is available, Little could play left guard.

DEFENSE

Defensive line (8)

Who: Roy Robertson-Harris, DaVon Hamilton, Foley Fatukasi, Tyler Lacy (fourth round), Adam Gotsis, Michael Dogbe, Henry Mondeaux and Raymond Vohasek (seventh round).

The buzz: The 6-foot-4, 279-pound Lacy is a big body that should help replace Dawuane Smoot (still an available free agent). He had 30 tackles for loss and 11 ½ sacks at Oklahoma State.

Outside linebacker (4)

Who: Travon Walker, Josh Allen, Yasir Abdullah (fifth round) and K’Lavon Chaisson.

Notable player on notice: Jordan Smith.

The buzz: Smith will be a story to monitor. The fourth-round pick in 2021 missed all of last season after suffering a knee injury last June. Could he push Chaisson? A free-agent veteran will almost certainly be added between now and training camp to amp the pressure up further.

Inside linebacker (4)

Who: Foye Oluokun, Devin Lloyd, Chad Muma and Ventrell Miller (fourth round).

Notable player on notice: Shaq Quarterman.

The buzz: Miller is almost a carbon copy of Quarterman, providing a difficult challenge for the veteran entering the last year of his rookie deal.

Cornerbacks (4)

Who: Tyson Campbell, Darious Williams, Tre Herndon and Christian Braswell (sixth round).

Notable players on notice: Chris Claybrooks, Montaric Brown and Gregory Junior.

The buzz: The Jaguars will keep more than four corners, but to fit in all 13 draft picks the number is four. Claybrooks is entering the final year of his rookie contract, while Brown and Junior were late-round picks last year.

Safeties (5)

Who: Rayshawn Jenkins, Andre Cisco, Andrew Wingard, Antonio Johnson (fifth round) and Erick Hallett (sixth round).

Notable player on notice: Daniel Thomas.

The buzz: Johnson was the best value pick of the 13 selections. He could be a starter in 2024. Hallett has the potential to play nickel as well. Thomas is entering the final year of his rookie contract and now has an up-hill battle to make the team.

Specialists (3)

Who: Logan Cooke (punter), Ross Matiscik (long snapper) and Riley Patterson (kicker).

The buzz: Patterson could face a serious camp challenge if a veteran kicker is signed. Cooke and Matiscik are entrenched.

Conclusion

The Jaguars drafted 13 players that will be on inexpensive contracts for the next four years. That will serve the team well as they handle the massive contract extension Lawrence is likely to receive in 2024 or 2025. The picks were also balanced with seven on the defensive side and six on offense.

For a team that won the AFC South and a playoff game and brought much of its nucleus back, there actually could be a massive transition now in the bottom half of the roster. If all the free-agent additions and draft picks make the team, that would be 19 new players. Again, there is balance with 10 on offense and nine on defense. That’s 35.8 percent of the roster being new, but again the vast majority of standout players and starters all returned.

A draft can be viewed as successful if at least four players become quality contributors. With this many darts thrown at the board, it will be disappointing if this 13-player glut doesn’t reach that mark.

The Jaguars look to be in great shape in the 2024 draft as well. They will have at least 10 picks, even with the trade for Ridley. We know of eight already and they should get at least two compensatory picks.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @HaysCarlyon).