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One of the best there is in the NFL draft business, Daniel Jeremiah, put out version 4.0 of his top 50 prospects big board. So how does it align with where the Jacksonville Jaguars' biggest positions of need lie?
Positional need obviously plays a key role in how a team goes about attacking the draft, but a powerful variable in all of this can be where the strength of the draft class is.
That element can play a role in determining if a team moves around the draft board--up or down--or if they prioritize one position over another early on, because there may be less high-end talent later on in the draft.
Let's see how things break down positionally on Jeremiah's early-round big board and how it all applies to the Jaguars.
- Of note for the Jaguars, who in a number of mock drafts do take Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, he is actually the third receiver--or fourth if you count Travis Hunter--on Jeremiah's big board. Ahead of him are Matthew Golden and Emeka Egbuka.
- We can see one of the reasons why GM James Gladstone chose not to add to the defensive line in free agency--this draft class is loaded with talent. Of Jeremiah's top 50 prospects, 14 are defensive linemen.
- Eric Murray provides stability at safety. However, it's still a position where depth is needed, and competition for that second starting spot wouldn't be a bad thing either. But when it comes to that competition element, that may be hard to come by, as this is not a very deep class at that position.
- Cornerback seems to be flying under the radar now in a lot of mock drafts for the Jaguars. Like Murray, adding Jourdan Lewis to the position helps add stability, but it's still a position that should be added to, and in Jeremiah's eyes, there is some good talent early on.
- Perhaps the offensive line isn't an early-round need anymore for the Jaguars after they made a number of additions in free agency. Those signings did help raise the floor of that unit. But having said that, those free agent contracts also shouldn't impact how the Jaguars view the position overall, both in the short and long-term. As Liam Coen alluded to recently, the Jaguars still don't quite know what they have in the current offensive line unit, so if the opportunity to add to that group and improve the competition presents itself, especially with 10 picks in total, the Jaguars shouldn't shy away from that.
- If you're the Jaguars, those positions that may not be early round priorities, like tight end, running back, and quarterback, you're hoping a lot of those players go ahead of you, which in turn, will push down players from other position groups.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars NFL draft: Takeaways from Daniel Jeremiah's latest big board
Continue reading...
Positional need obviously plays a key role in how a team goes about attacking the draft, but a powerful variable in all of this can be where the strength of the draft class is.
That element can play a role in determining if a team moves around the draft board--up or down--or if they prioritize one position over another early on, because there may be less high-end talent later on in the draft.
Let's see how things break down positionally on Jeremiah's early-round big board and how it all applies to the Jaguars.
Positional breakdown of Jeremiah's top 50 big board
- Quarterback: 3
- Running back: 5
- Wide receiver: 4
- Tight end: 4
- Offensive tackle: 6
- Interior offensive lineman: 3
- Defensive end: 9
- Defensive tackle: 5
- Linebacker: 2
- Cornerback: 7
- Safety: 2
Jaguars specific observations from the big board
- Of note for the Jaguars, who in a number of mock drafts do take Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, he is actually the third receiver--or fourth if you count Travis Hunter--on Jeremiah's big board. Ahead of him are Matthew Golden and Emeka Egbuka.
- We can see one of the reasons why GM James Gladstone chose not to add to the defensive line in free agency--this draft class is loaded with talent. Of Jeremiah's top 50 prospects, 14 are defensive linemen.
- Eric Murray provides stability at safety. However, it's still a position where depth is needed, and competition for that second starting spot wouldn't be a bad thing either. But when it comes to that competition element, that may be hard to come by, as this is not a very deep class at that position.
- Cornerback seems to be flying under the radar now in a lot of mock drafts for the Jaguars. Like Murray, adding Jourdan Lewis to the position helps add stability, but it's still a position that should be added to, and in Jeremiah's eyes, there is some good talent early on.
- Perhaps the offensive line isn't an early-round need anymore for the Jaguars after they made a number of additions in free agency. Those signings did help raise the floor of that unit. But having said that, those free agent contracts also shouldn't impact how the Jaguars view the position overall, both in the short and long-term. As Liam Coen alluded to recently, the Jaguars still don't quite know what they have in the current offensive line unit, so if the opportunity to add to that group and improve the competition presents itself, especially with 10 picks in total, the Jaguars shouldn't shy away from that.
- If you're the Jaguars, those positions that may not be early round priorities, like tight end, running back, and quarterback, you're hoping a lot of those players go ahead of you, which in turn, will push down players from other position groups.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars NFL draft: Takeaways from Daniel Jeremiah's latest big board
Continue reading...
