Jacksonville Jaguars now in prime position to choose a top defensive player in the 2016 NFL Draft

Jalen Ramsey. Myles Jack. Joey Bosa.

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Those three names have been associated with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the 5th overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft countless times in the past few months. The Jaguars have been quite transparent about wanting to upgrade their defense this offseason and one big step towards that is who they select in the first round of the upcoming draft.

While those three players have been mocked often to the Jaguars, there was no guarantee any of those players would be available at number 5… until now.

The NFL world had barely recovered from the Los Angeles Rams’ blockbuster trade for the first overall pick when the Philadelphia Eagles pulled their own power move and traded with the Cleveland Browns for the second overall pick.

With this move, the #1 and #2 overall picks in the 2016 NFL Draft are going to be, in some order, quarterbacks Jared Goff and Carson Wentz.

That means the Jaguars are assured one of the three top defensive players falling to them at number 5.

This is a huge development for the Jaguars. The drop-off from Ramsey, Jack, and Bosa to the next tiers is significant and the Jaguars are in desperate need of impact players.

All that said, general manager David Caldwell has the final say for the selection and nobody knows how he feels about the three players. Most seem to think Myles Jack is a lock if he’s there, but recent concerns have emerged about his knee and how serious the damage to it might be. Ramsey could plug into any spot on the secondary, but his best usage (free safety) might be redundant now with Tashaun Gipson on the roster. Bosa has questions about his speed off the edge and his  playing style might be too similar to last year’s first round pick, Dante Fowler Jr..

There’s also still the lingering question of whether or not the Jaguars would pull the trigger on Laremy Tunsil, an offensive tackle, if he’s still on the board. My gut says no, but I was surprised when the Jaguars took Luke Joeckel a few years ago.

Regardless of who gets chosen at 5, this move is good news for the Jaguars.