Jaguars 2021 NFL Draft: Peter King projects EDGE rusher at 25

The odds of the Jacksonville Jaguars selecting Clemson quarterback with the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft are close to 100 percent. However, it’s less certain what they plan to do with their other selections, including the 25th overall. While there are many directions they could take, a national writer believes they will go EDGE defenders.

Peter King of NBC Sports published a mock draft on his Football Morning in America column and projects the Jag will take Penn State defensive end Jayson Oweh with their second first-round selection. He believes having a coaching staff full of former college coaches should help Jacksonville have inside information the way Jimmy Johnson did when he was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys back in the day.

King thinks that Jaguars head strength and conditioning coach Anthony Schlegel should be able to find “the straight dope from strength and conditioning coaches across the country”, which will come in handy when scouting Oweh. Later, King says that even though Oweh is raw and started just eight games at Penn State, he has plenty of upside. Alternatively, defensive tackle Christian Barmore, the best of a bad defensive tackle class, would be a solid pick too.

Should Jacksonville Jaguars take Jayson Oweh at 25?

King is right Oweh has upside, but there are other players that could offer better value at 25. Barmore might be the only defensive tackle worth a first-round selection. On the other hand, this Jacksonville team could target an offensive tackle such as Teven Jenkins or a safety, TCU’s Trevor Moehrig is the best of the bunch, but Richie Grant wouldn’t be as outlandish as it seems.

Also, the Jaguars already have a well-rounded defensive front. Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson will most likely get the starting nod in 2021 and the team brought back Adam Gotsis and Dawuane Smoot, who should play an important role in the defensive line rotation, this offseason.

Also, Jacksonville signed Jihad Ward and Roy Robertson-Harris, so drafting Oweh with the 25th overall pick could be unnecessary. Plus the Jaguars need to make impact players with their early-round selections, so it wouldn’t make sense to take the Penn State product.

The Jaguars need to improve their pass-rush in 2021, but they already have in-house options. Regardless of how much upside Oweh has, he may not be a good fit in Jacksonville.