Big Cat Country
Do the Jags elect to draft along the defensive interior in 2025?
For better or for worse, the Jacksonville Jaguars are already on the clock for the 2025 NFL Draft.
With the fifth overall pick, the Jags will have a host of players to choose from given that likely three teams ahead of them will be in the market for a quarterback. The options are open for whoever will be the new head coach, and this could even potentially be the team’s first draft without Trent Baalke. A lot of things are at play for Jacksonville which is drafting in the top five once again.
It does suck to be watching teams continue their run through the playoffs while your team is already thinking about the draft but as is evident with teams like the Detroit Lions or Washington Commanders, one draft could change the outlook of a franchise forever.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid
We start the new Mock Draft Monday roundup with an ESPN+ article from Jordan Reid. Reid thinks that with the fifth pick, the Jags decide to draft Michigan corner Will Johnson.
The Jaguars recorded only six interceptions this season, the third-lowest total in the league. So their secondary needs a boost, and Johnson — who set Michigan’s school record with three career pick-sixes — can provide that. At 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, he’s a big corner who has drawn some comparisons to Broncos Pro Bowler Pat Surtain II. Pairing Johnson with Tyson Campbell would give Jacksonville a young, lockdown duo on the perimeter.
The pick seems like a no-brainer: the Jags need help in the secondary and Johnson is clearly the CB1 in this draft. He had half the amount of picks the Jags did as a team by himself. Montaric Brown has shown to be a decent replacement corner but the Jags need a shutdown man. Johnson projects to be that guy.
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards
Sticking with defenders from Michigan, Josh Edwards links Big Blue interior defensive lineman Mason Graham to the Jags. Graham, like Johnson, should be the top player at his position and Edwards thinks Graham can contribute on Day 1.
There are teams with worse rosters that had better seasons than the Jaguars, but they still have needs to fill. Mason Graham fills a position of need as a new head coach is embraced. A front with Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, Arik Armstead and Graham would be formidable.
Drafting an interior guy after doing so twice last year would certainly be an eye-raising move by the Jags, but after posting the league’s worst defense, anything and anyone helps. Graham is absolutely massive at a listed 6’3”, 320 pounds which certainly can’t hurt. He also was named an All-American last year and First Team All-Big 10. While drafting three defensive tackles in two years may not be ideal, the Jags have certainly drafted worse.
The Draft Network’s Mason Johnstone
Graham is the guy for the Jags again, this time [from The Draft...
