Tristan Schaar’s Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 Draft Recap
Seven rounds and 257 picks later, the NFL Draft has officially concluded.
That said, let’s take a deeper dive into the nine draftees that make up the Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 Draft Class.
Heading into the first night of the draft, Jaguars GM Trent Baalke had one job, and he aced it!
Baalke and the Jacksonville front office were able to trade back in the first round and still get their guy in Brian Thomas Jr. who had an electrifying 1,100+ yard and 17 touchdown season at LSU in 2023.
There’s absolutely nothing bad to say about this pick, Jacksonville got themselves an elite receiver and an “A” on this draft pick.
At first, this selection confused me, and then after some thinking, it confused me even more.
Reports claimed that the Jaguars did indeed attempt to trade up in the second round for what I assume would’ve been Alabama’s cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.
However, after failing to do so, Jacksonville decided to stay put at pick 48 and select defensive tackle Maason Smith.
Don’t get me wrong, Smith is a great player who’s got a very high ceiling, but cornerback has been and was the biggest need which is why this pick receives a “C+”.
Jaguars fans rejoice! With the 96th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select… Jarrian Jones, cornerback from FSU!
Finally, the Jaguars addressed their biggest need in the draft.
Jones, who has the ability to play as an inside-outside corner is a great fit for this Jaguars secondary which needs a lot of fixing after last season’s collapse.
Jacksonville started day three of the draft with a great pick in Javon Foster out of Mizzou.
The 6’5, 319-pound offensive tackle only allowed 9 sacks on 1,477 pass-blocking snaps in his career at Missouri. This is great to hear for Jaguars fans who had to watch Trevor Lawrence get sacked 35 times last season.
Although he won’t start right away, current starting offensive tackle Cam Robinson is due for a new contract after next season and could be on his way out if Foster exceeds expectations.
Not a fan of the Jaguars’ use of their final pick in the fourth round here on Jordan Jefferson.
Jefferson’s build will have him as more of an NT than a DT at the NFL level and he will likely backup Davon Hamilton and receive second or even third-team reps.
Was hoping Jacksonville focused on adding another cornerback here as TJ Tampa and Kris Abram’s-Draine were still on the board at pick 116.
Unfortunately, Tampa and Abram’s-Draine were gone by pick 153 but Deantre Prince out of Ole Miss will definitely do!
Prince logged over 2,500 snaps on defense during his time in the SEC and was pretty efficient when doing so.
The 6’0 corner is as aggressive as it gets and should be a solid addition to the cornerback room in Jacksonville.
Once again, the Jacksonville Jaguars add another running back in the draft.
However, this time it’s Keilan Robinson out of Texas who will most likely be used as a specialist with the new kickoff rules being implemented in the upcoming season.
Still, kind of a head-scratcher here especially after the Jaguars signed Devin Duvernay to fill that role unless they are looking for Robinson to be his backup.
In the sixth round, the Jaguars showed some love to the kickers by selecting Cam Little.
In his three years at Arkansas, Little converted 100% of his PATs and was over 82% from FG range.
After the struggles the Jaguars had last season with Brandon McManus, Little will look to provide a fresh start in the 2024 campaign.
Love this pick for two reasons… not only did I have the Jaguars selecting Myles Cole in my last mock draft of the season, but he’s also a freak athlete.
Cole, who stands at 6’6 280 is very athletic for his size and could develop into a pretty solid rotational guy on the defensive line from learning behind Josh Allen.
OVERALL DRAFT GRADE: “B”
