Jacksonville Jaguars 2016 NFL Draft: Does trading down make sense?
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars went into the 2016 offseason with plenty of holes and lots of money to try and find solutions. Free agency was supposed be an active time for the Jaguars this year and it was, perhaps not quite as much as some fans hoped but the roster certainly improved over the course of the last few weeks.
With general manager David Caldwell essentially done signing veterans, he now turns his focus to the 2016 NFL Draft. For the fourth time in as many seasons, Caldwell has a top 5 draft pick to try and find a difference maker. The Jaguars are hoping they don’t draft this high again for a long time, so it behooves them to add a premier talent given their draft slot.
Historically, Caldwell has been firm about standing pat and taking a good player rather than trading down. This year he is reportedly more comfortable trading down.
Caldwell said he would feel comfortable trading down into teens. #jaguars
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) March 21, 2016
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This makes some sense, but only if the Jaguars don’t absolutely love any of the players at the top of the board when they are on the clock at number 5. Luke Sims recently discussed the idea of trading down here at Black and Teal.
In my opinion, the Jaguars are down to 3 viable candidates for the number 5 pick – Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa, Florida State defensive back Jalen Ramsey, and UCLA linebacker Myles Jack. Those three players comprise the elite defensive talent in the draft and there appears to be a fairly steep drop after them. If all three of those players are gone when the Jaguars have to pick, I suspect Caldwell will be shopping the number 5 spot to teams looking to get a quarterback.
Looking at the way the draft is projected to shake out, it would be catastrophically unexpected for all three of those players to go in the top 4 picks. The Tennessee Titans are effectively a lock to take offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and it would be surprising if the Cleveland Browns didn’t take a quarterback. That only leaves 2 teams and 3 elite defensive prospects.
For now, I expect the Jaguars to stay put and take whoever the best defender is at number 5.