Jacksonville Jaguars Draft Grades

How did Jacksonville do in the draft? Let’s give the Jacksonville Jaguars draft grades for every pick they made.

Round 1: No. 1 – Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson

The best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. Lawrence has been the number one pick for at least a year, maybe two years. It would be interesting to see what kind of team the Jags could have built by trading down a few picks and picking up multiple firsts, but they had to pick Lawrence if they stayed here. It’s a no brainer pick and they shouldn’t have made us wait 10 minutes to turn in their card. Grade: A

Round 1: No. 25 – Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson

I love Travis Etienne, he’s my number one ranked running back. But you know what the Jaguars didn’t need? A running back, especially in the first round. James Robinson is an undrafted free agent who ran for over 1000 yards. You’re set at running back with an incredibly cheap contract. The Jags have needs all over the place: offensive line, safety, edge, tight end, defensive tackle, etc. Best player available sounds good, but it’s not as great a strategy when you have multiple starters needed.  Grade: C-

Round 2: No. 33 – Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia

Tyson Campbell is the worse of the two Georgia cornerbacks, but the best had already been taken. Still, there were multiple better cornerbacks available. Also, every safety was available which is a bigger need for the Jaguars than corner. They would have been much better off taking a more talented corner, or any safety. Grade: C-

Round 2: No. 45 – Walker Little, OT, Stanford

You might think I’m a Jaguars hater after the last two picks, but here’s one I love. Walker Little is great value here and he fills a position of need. I’m not sure if Little will play tackle or guard in the NFL, but either way I think he starts sooner rather than later. Little is a big, athletic offensive lineman who I thought could go late in the first round.

Grade: A-

Round 3: No. 65 – Andre Cisco, S, Syracuse

I told you the Jaguars needed a safety, and here he is. We both liked other safeties more than Cisco, but he’s not a bad pick. Cisco has good instincts at the safety position with good size. He wasn’t in my top 5 because he’s coming off an ACL injury, and he’s very inconsistent. Cisco has an extremely high ceiling, can Jacksonville coach him up there?

Grade: B-

Round 4: No. 106 – Jay Tufele, DT, USC

Beautiful pick by the Jags here. Tufele is a guy I had my eye on, I think he’s a real sleeper. If you look at him, you can probably guess that he’s big and strong. He has surprising speed and quickness for a man his size. Malcolm Brown is on a two year prove it contract. It appears that Jacksonville could cut him after one year and save three million against the cap. I see Tufele as a depth piece at nose tackle for now, but I would expect him to start in the future. Grade: A

Round 4: No. 121 – Jordan Smith, DE, UAB

Jordan Smith is a talented pass rusher, but I’m not sure where Jacksonville is going to line him up. He’s very tall, 6’6”, but he’s lanky weighing in at only 255 lbs. He also only put up 16 reps on the bench, not what you want out of a lineman on either side of the ball. He didn’t test particularly well in any of his workout drills, so his athleticism is questionable as well. Smith is a project, he’s 6’6” with long arms and had two great years against both the run and the pass in college. However, he needs to bulk up to be an every down NFL lineman. Grade: B

Round 5: No. 145 – Luke Farrell, TE, Ohio State

Farrell is a good not great blocking tight end out of Ohio State. He didn’t produce well at Ohio State, and he doesn’t have the athleticism or skillset to make me think that’s going to improve in the pros. He has a shot at making the team because the Jaguars need tight ends, but this is an unimpressive pick. Grade: D

Round 6, pick 209 (from LAR) – Jalen Camp, WR, Georgia Tech

Now here’s a fun pick. Jalen Camp is a freak of an athlete. He put up 30 reps on the bench, the wide receiver combine record being 27. He’s 6’2”, 226 lbs. and still ran a 4.42 40. Beyond the straight line speed, Camp is also quick and explosive. You look at his stats and he appears to be a bad receiver, but that’s simply not true. He played in a triple option offense, so it was basically the opposite of Mike Leach. The Jags look pretty set at wide receiver, but Camp is such an athletic specimen that they might try and keep him around. If they try to sneak him onto the practice squad I’d be worried another team would make a claim. Grade: A

Analyst-Jonah Anderson

Overall Grade: B