Big Cat Country
Do the Jags take a swing on a running back in the first round?
Anyone tired of hearing Mason Graham’s name yet? Seemingly some folks are.
This week we are going to focus a bit beyond the usual Graham to the Jacksonville Jaguars talk. While Graham is still the leader, more and more names are bubbling up the surface.
Tyler Warren keeps making appearances on mocks and now a new name has emerged in the thunderdome: Ashton Jeanty.
Maybe this is all draft fatigue with Graham or maybe there is something more here in terms of getting Trevor Lawrence a playmaker. Either way, there are plenty of fun names popping up on this week’s roundup.
Despite all the talk above, we will start things off with Graham. Kiper is essentially the preeminent draft expert and if he thinks the pick is Graham, there is good reason for it. In his own words, Kiper has not shied away from mocking Graham to Jacksonville for all the scheme-fit ideas that are talked about weekly. It could be that picking Graham is as simple as selecting the best playmaker available at No. 5 overall.
I’m out of things to say about Graham to Jacksonville — I’ve projected this match in all four of my mock drafts. New coach Liam Coen might want offensive playmakers for Trevor Lawrence, but the Jaguars have a chance to finally get a pocket-pushing disruptor for the middle of the defensive line. With great power and quickness, Graham can get into the backfield to create interior pressure on quarterbacks and drop running backs behind the line of scrimmage. He had 3.5 sacks and 14 run stops last season. With Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker collapsing the pocket on either side, Graham could have an immediate impact. And the Jaguars — who ranked 31st in yards allowed per play in 2024 (5.9) — could use all the help they can get.
Here is where things get a bit whacky. In this mock, Graham goes fourth overall to New England. With the best DT off the board, and Vegas looming at No. 6, the Jags take a swing and draft Boise State running back Jeanty.
Is drafting a first-round running back common practice nowadays? No. Is Jeanty a normal running back? Also no.
It’s worth mentioning that Jeanty, who rushed for over 2,600 yards and 29 touchdowns last year, is from Jacksonville. He would immediately catapult the backfield in his hometown into a real threat, with the potential to get some compensation for Travis Etienne Jr. down the road– who the Jags took in the first round just a few years ago.
Seemingly everyone — including our resident prospect rankers in these parts, Daniel Jeremiah, Eric Edholm and Lance Zierlein — has Jeanty as a top-five player in this class. So, what’s stopping him from being selected in the top five picks of this draft? Travis Etienne Jr.’s efficiency declined in 2023, and...
