Entire Jacksonville Jaguars 2013 draft class is no longer with team

The 2013 NFL Draft was the beginning for the Jacksonville Jaguars rebuild and expected to yield cornerstone players. Four years later and not one of them is left with the team.

Johnathan Cyprien and Luke Joeckel were the last Jacksonville Jaguars players drafted in 2013 to leave the team. Once thought to be the future at left tackle and strong safety, both players were easily replaced.

2013 was supposed to be the year the Jags brought in cornerstone players that could last. It was supposed to be the year the Jags finally turned things around from the terrible Gene Smith era.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Even giving these young players multiple opportunities as starters, the players simply weren’t that good. Assuming the Jags don’t re-sign Denard Robinson, none of them are left. Let’s run through the list:

Thought to be a lock at the top of the 2013 NFL Draft, Joeckel never turned into a top player. He was hampered by injuries, yes, but he also never was that good. Merely an average player with big potential, Joeckel was moved over to guard in 2017 and was ultimately deemed expendable when Patrick Omameh (re-signed for the veteran minimum) stepped in.

All told, Joeckel has 39 games and 39 starts on his resume (out of an eligible 64), never managing to stay on the field. It was ultimately his play on the field that mattered most, though. If Joeckel had been good enough, he would have been worth keeping around.

Instead, Joeckel was just signed by the Seattle Seahawks on a one-year deal. That’s a big fall for a number two overall pick.

As the Jacksonville Jaguars worked to be “Seattle South” the need for a hard-hitting box safety arose. That safety, it was thought, would be Johnathan Cyprien.

Cyprien only missed four games over his four seasons with the Jaguars and was a starter straight away as a rookie. There was some potential there, but Cyprien never delivered on it. After three seasons of mediocrity and plenty of mistakes in coverage, Cyprien finally had a bit of a breakout in year four, notching 126 tackles, a sack, and a fumble forced and recovered.

That last season wasn’t good enough to keep him around, however. Cyprien signed a four-year deal with the Tennessee Titans.

Another secondary player brought in to fit Gus Bradley’s copying of Seattle’s defense, Dwayne Gratz fit the mold as a long corner at 5’11”. He, unfortunately, didn’t fit much else.

Gratz was released by the Jaguars in October of 2016, ultimately landing with the Los Angeles Rams briefly before being released again in November and then signing a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles at the end of 2016.

Gratz was another player forced to start early. He had eight starts as a rookie with two interceptions and three passes defensed. He followed that up with a lackluster 2014 as a 13-game starter, posting just one pick, nine passes defensed, and two forced fumbles. He had just four starts in 2015 and then was forced down the depth chart and released in 2016.

The first 2013 player to be cut, Ace Sanders struggled to see the field because of off-field issues resulting in suspensions. The short (5’7″), shifty receiver was supposed to revitalize a struggling return game but never delivered on his potential.

Sanders hasn’t played in the NFL since 2014.

The exciting quarterback from Michigan could do it all in college but had no clear role at the NFL level. The Jacksonville Jaguars infamously called him an “OW” or “offensive weapon” and thought he could be used in innovative ways like the wildcat formation.

Instead, Robinson was ultimately converted to be a running back. His best stretch of games came in 2014 when he started nine games. With T.J. Yeldon added in 2015 and Chris Ivory in 2016, it was clear Robinson no longer had a place on the team. The Jags have let him hit free agency.

In total, Robinson contributed 1058 yards on 263 attempts (four yards per carry) and five touchdowns.

Josh Evans was expected to be paired with Johnathan Cyprien as the free safety complementary piece. Instead, he somehow managed to rack up 36 starts over three seasons with the Jags as a bit of a jack of all trades.

Evans’ true value was best reflected when he left Jacksonville, however. For 2016, Evans played for the Washington Redskins. He played in just two games.

A tall 6’2″ cornerback, Jeremy Harris fit the mold for Gus Bradley. He quickly fizzled out, though, offering little to the Jags and only playing with the team for seven games through 2015. He ultimately bounced to the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, and Washington Redskins before finding his way to the Canadian Football League.

Demetrius McCray offered some good value for the Jacksonville Jaguars as a seventh-round pick. Another long, 6’2″ cornerback, McCray saw limited action as a rookie, notching just one start.

But McCray took off for the Jaguars in 2014, starting 12 games and recording three passes defensed.

That performance wasn’t particularly great and McCray was forced down the depth chart in 2015, starting just three games and then was released before the 2016 season. He signed a futures/reserves contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 2017.