Jaguars get fair spot in power ranking following the 2022 NFL Draft

The Jacksonville Jaguars deserve recognition for being so aggressive over the last few months. Besides spending most of their cap space to acquire playmakers in free agency, they made several trades to land the prospects they wanted in the 2022 NFL Draft. Having said that, it will be a while before the Jags find out whether their offseason approach worked. For the time being, they landed near the cellar of an NFL power ranking.

The Bleacher Report staff recently ranked all 32 teams and the Jaguars popped up at No. 27, above the Rusell-Wilson-less Seattle Seahawks and above Zach Wilson’s New York Jets. Regarding Jacksonville’s place in the ranking, the B/R crew believes they took a massive risk at the top of the 2022 draft. and weren’t particularly impressed with the rest of their haul.

"The Jaguars rolled the dice on potential over production, selecting Georgia edge-rusher Travon Walker over Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson. It’s a pick taht could pay off huge. But it’s a gamble. It also wasn’t the only curious pick the Jaguars made. The addition of off-ball linebacker Devin Lloyd with the team’s second first-round pick filled a major need. But for some reason, Jacksonville then circled back on Day 2 and drafted another linebacker in Chad Muma despite handing Foyesade Oluokun a big contract in free agency."

B/R gives the Jaguars props for being bold but thinks that the aggressiveness they showed in free agency and the draft won’t probably turn into wins. The only teams that were ranked below Jacksonville and the Seahawks are the Atlanta Falcons (29), the Carolina Panthers (30), the Chicago Bears (31), and the Houston Texans (32).

The Jaguars’ spot in Bleacher Report’s ranking is fair all things considered.

It’s easy to see why the Jaguars got the 27th spot in Bleacher Report’s ranking. Sure, they spent the offseason upgrading both sides of the ball but they haven’t proven anything yet. And while they’re a promising team, they won’t get a higher spot on the list until they start racking up wins on the football field.

Opinions vary on whether the Jags had a good offseason but the truth is that it beats the alternative, which was to do nothing. There’s a chance that some of the moves they made won’t work out in their favor but even if that’s the case, there are several reasons why they will be better than they were last season. For starters, Urban Meyer is no longer with the team and Jacksonville has a competent head coach in Doug Pederson, who’s previously won a Super Bowl and knows how to develop quarterbacks.

Also, the Jaguars have a promising young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. While a leap like the one Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson enjoyed in their respective sophomore campaigns might be a bit too much to ask for, he should improve considerably due to the presence of a new coaching staff and a better supporting cast.

Trevor Lawrence is sitting pretty after all the upgrades the front office has made this offseason and there’s no doubt the Jags will be more competitive under Pederson but how much? That’s yet to be determined and their place in the ranking reflects that.