2020 NFL Draft class named Jaguars worst mistake over the last 5 years

Every NFL team makes mistakes, whether they fumble on draft picks or let a player walk in free agency, nobody has a perfect track record. Having said that, the best clubs have more hits than misses and the Jacksonville Jaguars have had their fair share of blunders over the last five years. But which one is the worst one?  Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus thinks their 2020 NFL Draft class is the biggest one.

Renner recently discussed every team’s biggest mistake over the last five years and believes Jacksonville missed big in the 2020 draft.

"It’s hard to say what the Jaguars were scouting when everyone was locked at home at the start of the pandemic, but they didn’t do all their homework on their top three picks, apparently. They drafted C.J. Henderson (9th), K’Lavon Chaisson (20th), and Laviska Shenault Jr. (42nd) with premium picks. Henderson and Shenault have been shipped out of town, while Chaisson has already been replaced (120 snaps last season)."

Both C.J. Henderson and Laviska Shenault Jr. showed promise as rookies but the former was sent to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for tight end Dan Arnold early in the 2021 season. On the other hand, Viska had a sophomore slump and didn’t fit Doug Pederson’s regime, which led to his trade to the Panthers last offseason.

Chaisson finished his rookie season strong but he hasn’t done much of note over the last two years and has been the subject of trade talks. However, not everything is doom and gloom when it comes to the Jags’ 2020 draft. Defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton has become a key cog while safety Daniel Thomas (fifth round) and cornerback Chris Claybrooks (sixth round) have become steady contributors on special teams. Moreover, Ben Bartch (fourth round) was the starter at left guard last season.

The Urban Meyer debacle was the Jacksonville Jaguars biggest mistake

Hindsight is 20/20 but there were many players the Jaguars could’ve drafted instead of K’Lavon Chaisson. Nobody will disagree their 2020 class was overwhelming but that’s far from their biggest mistake over the last five years. That would be the short-lived Urban Meyer era.

You will be hard-pressed to find a Jaguar that didn’t underachieve during Meyer’s short stint in Jacksonville. As wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. noted, not a single player got better when he was at the helm even though that was his goal.

From the moment Meyer was named head coach, he showed an affinity for making headlines for the wrong reasons. Besides hiring coaches that had no business working with players, he berated his staff and failed to hold himself to the same standards he had for the team. Meyer constantly lied about making decisions (the benching of James Robinson), didn’t know his players’ names, and was caught on tape dancing inappropriately following Jacksonville’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan hired Meyer because he thought he could do what he did for Ohio State and Florida but instead left the team in shambles. Fortunately, Doug Pederson helped turn things around and now has the Jaguars in a position to enjoy success. Similarly, Trent Baalke has done a good of restocking the roster since he became the general manager in 2021.

The Jaguars would have surely loved to hit on more draft picks in 2020 but if they could get a do-over, they would probably stay away from Meyer.