Following an NFL free agency period in which the Jaguars dished out a combined, league-leading $188,517,500 in guaranteed money (including their re-signing of edge rusher Josh Allen), the club believes it enters the 2024 NFL draft with flexibility regarding its remaining positional needs.
Still, Jacksonville has a handful of spots it must bolster with reinforcements during this week’s selection ceremony.
“I think you try to address needs in free agency. You try to attack it that way. The less needs you have going into the draft, the better. It allows you to then stick to that formula of drafting the best player available,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said on April 18. “We feel comfortable with where we’re at and we’ve got a ways to go.”
Jaguars Wire breaks down Jacksonville’s biggest positional needs entering the draft below, in no specific order.
The Jaguars’ free agency signing of Ronald Darby lessened short-term concern about Jacksonville’s cornerback position. But considering Darby is a 30-year-old, nine-year NFL veteran, and that opposite starter, Tyson Campbell, is entering a contract year in 2024, the long-term stability of the group remains front of mind entering the draft.
Don’t just take Jaguars Wire’s word for it.
“We’ve got to add to that group. I think coach [defensive coordinator Ryan] Nielsen spoke on it, coach [head coach Doug] Pederson probably spoke on it, now I’m speaking on it. It’s a group we need to address,” Baalke said on Feb. 27, at the NFL Combine, before Darby signed.
“We feel good about the group we have. We feel like we’ve got some good, young guys to work with, we’ve got some veterans in there, but we’re definitely going to look to add to that group.”
In addition to Campbell and Darby, Jacksonville’s cornerback room consists of Montaric Brown, Amani Oruwariye, Gregory Junior, Erick Hallett II, Tevaughn Campbell and Christian Braswell. Those six players combined for 570 defensive snaps over 26 appearances and six starts (each by Brown) in 2023, averaging out to fewer than 100 snaps per player. Three did not play in a game.
Baalke expressed appreciation for the depth of the 2024 cornerback draft class, suggesting last week that teams across the league are likely to rank the group of prospects uniquely. Jaguars Wire expects Jacksonville to tap into the top end of the talent pool.
The question is, what kind of corner will Jacksonville covet?
With Campbell and Darby viewed as a capable Week 1 starting tandem, a corner with nickel experience or upside might be the most logical selection from the crop.
But with neither of the projected starters signed to long-term contracts, a pure outside cornerback would solidify the position’s depth and remove the spot from Jacksonville’s list of positional needs for the foreseeable future.
