2023 Jacksonville Jaguars Mock Draft 3.0

The Jaguars Must Select The Most Valuable Player On The Board At Each Selection

It is absolutely paramount for the Jaguars to select the most valuable player in each round of the draft. That entails finding the perfect balance of both the talent of a player and their envisioned role in Jacksonville. Along with this, the Jaguars must continue to draft prospects that they perceive to be better players in the long run rather than focusing on ones that are only instant impact. If they're able to do this, they'll have a great draft class when we look back on this in years.

In the first round of the draft, there are three players that stand out the most to me as great fits for the Jaguars. Two of those players are in a dead heat on my rankings, those being Brian Branch and O'Cyrus Torrence. While I believe that Branch is a slightly better prospect, Torrence fills a more vital part of the team at guard compared to slot corner. Cam Smith would be a fantastic consolation prize if both of these players are off the board, and I think you can argue for Michael Mayer as well if the Jaguars are unable to resign Engram(and maybe even if they do resign him). With that said, let's see how the draft panned out for the first pick.

No. #24 - Cam Smith - CB, South Carolina

Out of the three obvious options at this selection, I decided to go with Cam Smith. While I have O'Cyrus Torrence ranked higher, he was a part of our real-time mock draft earlier in the week, and Michael Mayer is arguably a less valuable selection at this point. Drafting Cam Smith to the Jaguars is both a realistic move and a high-ceiling selection. Smith is an easy selection to the Jaguars due to his ability to play both inside and outside, plus he's just an aggressive playmaker that fits the mold of Jacksonville's defense.

Smith will need to develop a better balance of aggressiveness and caution as he enters the NFL, but I would trust him to develop pretty quickly. He's also a nice fit with the Jaguars because of his success in man coverage, a valuable skill that profiles well into Mike Caldwell's defense. Smith would instantly become the Jaguars' starter in the nickel and could be viewed as a long-term replacement for Darious Williams on the outside years down the road. It's a great mix of value and need that completes the Jaguars secondary.

No. #44 - B.J. Ojulari - EDGE, LSU

I think that if the Jaguars look to trade up in the 2023 NFL Draft, that's likely to happen early on Day 2. There's a lot of prospects I could see falling well into the second round that have arguments to be selected much earlier, and in this scenario B.J. Ojulari was the faller. We've drafted Ojulari to the Jaguars before, and this selection turns him into the final piece that the Jaguars defense needs to be great next season.

Ojulari is a fantastic pass rusher from the get-go, having an arsenal of moves and the creative mind to put them to full use. The biggest knocks on him as a player come down to size concerns, but as a 3-4 OLB those could be mitigated. With this selection, the Jaguars could move Travon Walker to the defensive line more often and see a huge leap in production from their pass rushing group, the exact thing they need from their defense next season. We gave up the 56th selection, 120th selection, and 184th selection to obtain this pick.

No. #88 - Tucker Kraft - TE, South Dakota State

If Kraft is available at #88 and the Jaguars have yet to select a tight end, this could be an easy selection to make. Kraft is a well-balanced tight end that comes from a school that put out Dallas Goedert and could immediately come in and elevate the run game. Kraft fits the biggest need at tight end if Engram decides to return, and I believe we could see the Jaguars begin to consider running two tight-end sets. Along with resigning Engram, I could see the Jaguars viewing a second tight-end as a high priority this offseason.

As great as selecting Kraft here was, I believe the ideal pick in the third round is to select Xavier Hutchinson. He's a local guy who profiles as a fantastic replacement for Marvin Jones and would add a young receiver the Jaguars need to begin developing as a future starter. However, he was off the board three selections earlier and not an option for the Jaguars.

No. #126 - Roschon Johnson - RB, Texas

Kenny McIntosh could be viewed as the best selection for the Jaguars at this point, but perhaps the smarter and more complete player to bring in is Roschon Johnson. While he wasn't the lead back at Texas, Johnson was second fiddle to Bijan Robinson, a role that any other running back in college football would've been in had they played for the Longhorns.

While McIntosh would have been a fantastic receiving threat for the Jaguars, Johnson can double as a receiving back and a fantastic pass blocker. With Etienne clearly having the receiving ability and struggling as a pass blocker, Johnson may profile as a smarter selection and more valuable player for the Jaguars long-term.

No. #201 - Ochaun Mathis - EDGE, Texas

Once again at this point in the draft we're gonna be taking shots at players who have the physical traits and developmental upside. Mathis fits this well on the defensive side of the ball and could be a project for the Jaguars over the next few years. If they're able to unlock the upside of this kind of selection, Mathis could develop into a nice rotational pass rusher for the defense.

No. #207 - Trevor Reid - OT, Louisville

Reid was one of our late selections in the last mock draft and profiles to the Jaguars as a developmental prospect that fits the scheme of the offense. With the Jaguars potentially losing Jawaan Taylor this offseason, adding a development tackle should be considered a priority and without an earlier selection at this position, Trevor Reid becomes an obvious selection.

No. #227 - Tre Tucker - WR, Cincinnati

Similar to Trevor Reid, this is an identical late selection from our last draft. I was hoping to land Michael Wilson at this selection, but he was taken two spots earlier by the Falcons which left us with Tre Tucker. Tucker could be a dark horse candidate to make an NFL roster and when you watch the film on him he looks like an NFL receiver. However, the biggest issue with Reid will come from his size and he would likely profile into the offense as a backup option at slot receiver.

Evaluating Mock Draft 3.0

If you're Mike Caldwell and this is the draft, you won't be able to sleep at night waiting to use these new pieces. With a defensive focus early on and vital additions at the two largest needs on that side of the ball, the Jaguars would be a clearly improved defensive team and have the ability to break out on that side of the ball. In addition, it offers them insurance policies in case some of their vital players take a step back in play next season.

On the other side of the ball, the addition of Calvin Ridley is already a huge factor and is supported through the additions of Tucker Kraft and Roschon Johnson. Both of these players are able to heavily improve the blocking schemes and Kraft offers the ability to run two tight-end sets for Pederson. While it would've been nice to do a little more on this side of the ball, the additions on defense were simply too valuable to make different selections.

After this draft, the clear needs for the Jaguars are depth on the offensive line and a young receiver to develop behind Zay Jones. Ultimately these positions could be seen as minor needs, but I would make a strong argument that the Jaguars should look to upgrade at left guard this offseason. Drafting a player like O'Cyrus Torrence in the first round instead would provide both a fantastic upgrade on the interior and a future replacement if the Jaguars look to move on from Brandon Scherff after next season. That said, the value is still tremendous in this mock draft and would provide a clear upgrade to the Jaguars roster.

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