The Jacksonville Jaguars made their move on a franchise quarterback this offseason. Now they need to turn to the NFL Draft to build the offense up around him.
After a successful run that resulted in an AFC Championship Game loss to the Patriots, the Jacksonville Jaguars looked like a potential dynasty. Even with the warts quarterback Blake Bortles brought to the table, the talent around him looked good enough to keep this team in the hunt for years to come. Instead they fell off, and hard. Not only did they not make it back into the playoffs but they finished with only five wins and in last place in the AFC South in 2018.
This forced the Jaguars to examine their team. They released Bortles, despite taking on dead money after signing him to an extension a year ago. The recently-acquired Carlos Hyde was let go, joining T.J. Yeldon as free agent running backs. Jacksonville made some cap decisions as well, releasing safety Tashaun Gipson, defensive tackle Malik Jackson and offensive tackle Jeremy Parnell. All of that was in preparation of giving Nick Foles a massive deal to be the team’s quarterback.
The signing of Foles certainly switches the Jaguars’ draft plans. Once viewed as a lock to take the top passer available to them, they can switch gears. Instead they can focus on getting some offensive talent around Foles and reloading a very talented defense. Bringing in linebacker Jake Ryan was a smart decision by the team in free agency and fills a hole. They made other fringe signings that will help their depth as well.
Jacksonville can go in many directions in the 2019 NFL Draft. This is a team with holes all over the roster. Tom Coughlin and company have their work cut out for them.
This mock draft was done using The Draft Network’s mock draft machine and the site’s predictive board. There are no trades involved.