Is CB Jalen Ramsey best Jaguars’ draft pick of the past decade?

Former Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell wasn’t able to add playmakers on a consistent basis throughout his eight-year tenure with the organization. In fact, his failure to draft playmakers cost him his job last season and played a big role in the team’s inability to win many football games in recent years. However, he had a few hits,  and among them was cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently talked about every NFL team’s best draft selections in the last decade and Ramsey was the Jags’ pick because of his ‘elite status’. Knox argues that the cornerback making the cut isn’t a knock on other Jaguars players such as wide receiver DJ Chark Jr., defensive end Josh Allen or James Robinson. Rather, he believes the 2016 fifth-overall pick was a key cog in the Jaguars’ defense during his stint in Jacksonville, especially during their AFC Championship run in 2017.

Knox mentions that Ramsey has made the Pro Bowl four times and has earned two All-Pro designations. He also points out that the cornerback gave up a quarterback rating of 76.4 in 2018, his last full season in Jacksonville.

As a matter of fact, he posted a 72.8 Pro Football Focus grade and allowed a 54.0 completion rate that year. All things considered, the Florida State product has been a difference-maker over his five-year career but was he really the Jaguars’ best draft pick of the last decade?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have had other good picks besides Jalen Ramsey.

If you are solely talking about the best player the Jaguars have drafted in the last decade, Ramsey is indeed the best. On the other hand, he just played in Jacksonville three and a half seasons and has been equally productive in Los Angeles, earning his second All-Pro nod after he was traded, so it’s uncertain if everyone would call him the Jags’ best pick of the decade.

Had Ramsey stayed in Jacksonville, he would be Jaguars’ slam-dunk, best pick in the last decade. Then there’s James Robinson, who doesn’t technically qualify as he went undrafted last offseason but quickly established himself as one of the best running back in the NFL in his first season. Also, Allen and Chark could make a strong case in a few years and the same is true for wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., who showed promise as a rookie in 2020.

Looking back, Caldwell didn’t have a good overall track record finding talent in the draft. Nevertheless, late in his tenure as the Jaguars general manager, he brought in a few players that are now part of the team’s long-term vision. While Ramsey is no longer with the Jaguars, Allen and Chark are and could end up making a run for the team’s best draft pick of the last decade down the road.