Jeff Okudah, Ohio State Buckeyes. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a dozen picks to work with this spring to jumpstart their rebuilding process. Here is their latest 2020 NFL mock draft.
After a great run to the AFC Championship game in 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars are now entering a rebuilding phase. It’s been a rough decade to say the least down in Duval outside of that one great season. However, Jacksonville has the picks necessary to jumpstart its rebuilding efforts here in a hurry.
Jacksonville has 12 selections to make in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. This includes two in the first round, three in the fourth round, two in the fifth round and two in the sixth round. Even if Gardner Minshew plays well in his sophomore season out of Washington State, the Jaguars will surely get a handful of players to help him out right away in this draft.
Jacksonville may have nine draft needs, but has more than enough picks to fill all their holes, plus take a few fliers on guys with their last three day-three selections. The Jaguars have primary needs at cornerback, out on the edge and tight end. Secondary needs include quarterback, wide receiver and offensive tackle. Tertiary need are at linebacker, along the defensive line and center.
Overall, Jacksonville is expected to finish in the basement of the AFC South again next year. However, making a few wise selections in this year’s draft will help set up a potential bounce-back year for the team as early as 2021. Here is the latest 2020 NFL mock draft for the Jaguars. Who will they end up taking in this simulation?
First Round
9
Jeffrey Okudah
CB Ohio State Buckeyes
It’s not likely, but there is a chance the best defensive back prospect Jeffrey Okudah out of Ohio State could fall to the Jaguars at No. 9 overall. This is a load offensive tackle draft and we all know how teams desperately try to move to draft franchise quarterbacks. Jacksonville doesn’t feel like a team who will take a quarterback in the first round this year, so they’ll be happy to have Okudah.
At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Okudah projects as the next great stalwart out of the Buckeyes’ defensive backfield at the professional level. After trading away Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye in the last few months, gaining a potential Pro Bowl-level player in the secondary should be a top priority for the Jaguars later this month. Okudah has to be the pick if he’s still available at No. 9.
20
Yetur Gross-Matos
EDGE Penn State Nittany Lions
The No. 20 overall pick in the first round is the one the Jaguars got this year in the Ramsey deal with the Los Angeles Rams. Jacksonville also has Los Angeles’ first-round pick next year in the trade for their former All-Pro cornerback. The Jaguars have another huge draft need out on the edge after letting Dante Fowler Jr., Calais Campbell and presumably Yannick Ngakoue here soon.
Look for Jacksonville to draft someone like Yetur Gross-Matos out of Penn State with their second pick in the first round. After Chase Young out of Ohio State, Gross-Matos is firmly in that next wave of promising pro pass-rushing prospects. Going with Zack Baun out of Wisconsin feels like a reach here. South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw will be gone by No. 20. Gross-Matos looks good here.