2023 Draft Day
JT: It’s finally here
This has been one of the most foreign Jacksonville draft seasons in a very long time. By foreign I mean, of course, by Jaguars standards. Trent Baalke has the 24th selection in this year’s NFL draft. That, my friends, is very foreign to a fandom that is used to talking about the draft since essentially, well, the end of the previous years draft. Listen, I am well aware that JaguarsTalk has been a little thin over the past few months. This has been for a few good reasons. First, three people read this site (consider yourselves the most informed three Jaguars fans in all of Duval). Secondly, it’s the offseason and it was a shorter than usual one at that. This time next year, when all of Duval is tuning in for these JaguarsTalk musings, we may make some offseason content column changes. So what is it that all those Gen Z social media kids say? Like, subscribe, click the notification bell, do a rain dance, whatever you need to do. Just tell your friends to read JaguarsTalk and that will encourage our crew to care more about the offseason next year.
Since we are here today, on this beautiful NFL draft Thursday, we might as well try to decipher who the Jaguars will be selecting with the 24th pick today. So let’s make this a very simple and direct column. Things were easy before this morning. Before this morning, the consensus among fans and local Jags reporters was Brian Branch, safety from Alabama, maybe Deonte Banks, CB from Maryland, perhaps a DE like Myles Murphy. Conjecture has been flying back and forth for the last several months, not knowing anything yet changing with every rising tide. It has been a fun and wild ride trying to figure out the minds of the Jaguars brass, but let’s face it, maybe three or four people on the face of this earth know who the Jaguars are going to pick. Now, a big fat wrench has been thrown into the system. A 6’6” 320lb offensive tackle sized wrench named Cam Robinson. With the loss of O-lineman Jawaan Taylor, Trevor Lawrence’s up-front protection is running a little thin. Well now it’s even worse. Cam Robinson allegedly went and used himself illegal PEDs. This means a 4-6 week suspension, leaving franchise QB Trevor Lawrence running for his life.
With the loss of Taylor and now Robinson’s looming suspension, the need for an offensive tackle just took the spotlight. One problem though, 2023 ain’t exactly the deepest offensive tackle draft. Slim pickings my friends, slim pickings. Especially sitting down at #24. Now, it is possible that Baalke could package together a ton of picks to move up in this years draft to select OT Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern. The Bears may want him so that Justin Fields doesn’t have to run around like a chicken with his head cut off next year, though. Trading up to number 8 or 9 is going to come with a hefty price tag, however. Paris Johnson, OT from OHIO STATE is also decent, but again, he isn’t going to fall to #24. There is also Broderick Jones OT from Georgia, Darnell Wright OT from Tennessee, and Anton Harrison OT from Oklahoma. One of them might be around at pick #24, but will any of those guys be the best overall player available when Jacksonville is on the clock? Probably not. Problem is, Robinson may have put Baalke and Pederson in a situation where an offensive tackle is the ONLY option. So, while nobody knew who the Jaguars were going to select with pick #24, it might be the case that the Jags don’t really know what is going on at this point either. It is also quite possible that Jacksonville throws together some patch work fix in order to get the Jaguars through the first 4-6 weeks until the big man on CAMpus (see what I did there) is eligible for return. This is a conundrum wrapped in an enigma… Very puzzling.
JaguarsTalk’s take is this… While Baalke would love to take a true edge rusher (he had his shot last year and gave his guy to Detroit), maybe he would grab a Nolan Smith or a Myles Murphy, now he might not be able to. Baalke might also want to fill another Jaguars need, the one at cornerback. Branch and Banks would be solid gets for the suffering nickel position that the Jags need to solidify. But, there is a very big “but” standing next to the giant elephant in the room. The Jaguars go as Trevor Lawrence goes. If Trevor Lawrence isn’t protected properly then it doesn’t matter how good Jacksonville’s defense gets. Because of this, JaguarsTalk believes very highly that Trent Baalke will be making a splash to move up in the draft and select the best available offensive tackle that the Jaguars are able to get. Cam Robinson wasn’t going to be in a Jags uniform past this upcoming season anyway. He is an injured, and now soon to be suspended, $17.75 million dollar cap hit in 2024. He was going to need to be replaced at some point. So to sum up, Robinson’s PED suspension may force Baalke to take an OT in order to protect T-Law. This may leave the secondary vulnerable without a first round CB to play nickel or even a true pass rushing edge. That said though, it is quite possible that Travon Walker and Devin Lloyd step it up and have a phenomenal second season. Together with Josh Allen they could solve Jacksonville’s pass rush problems. If that is the case, the additional heat on opposing teams QBs might alleviate pressure on the Jaguars secondary. Let’s be honest, I have as little idea about what is going to happen tonight as everyone else. Bottom line is that Cam Robinson has thrown a huge wrinkle in this years Jaguar’s draft and so it will be very interesting to see how Jacksonville operates tonight.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.