The Jacksonville Jaguars would surely love Travis Hunter to still be available at No. 5, but his chances of getting there are slim because there's a strong chance he'll go to one of the four teams ahead of them. In fact, he won't be the only prospect the Jags may need to remove from their big board ahead of the NFL Draft.
Rich Eisen of NFL Media said on his podcast that he's hearing the New England Patriots are in love with Will Campbell, pointing out that they're going to do the sensible thing to protect sophomore quarterback Drake Maye.
"I'm hearing the Patriots love, adore Will Campbell and are going to do the sensible thing, which is to protect the kid before giving him a weapon to protect him in the run game," Eisen told co-host Chris Brockman. "That might not materialize because they're not equipped to do that either."
This isn't necessarily a shocking revelation. After all, the Pats have been linked to Campbell throughout the draft cycle. Eisen simply reaffirmed their interest. Of course, nothing is set in stone, so they could go in a different direction. Other prospects New England could take at No. 4 are defensive tackle Mason Graham, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, or even Travis Hunter (if he's still on the board).
Either way, it now looks like the Jaguars shouldn't be counting on Campbell and Hunter being available at No. 5. The silver lining is that even those two are no longer on the board, Jacksonville will still have a few intriguing options.
With Will Campbell gone, the Jaguars can pivot to Mason Graham or Ashton Jeanty
The Jacksonville Jaguars would surely love to beef up the offensive line with the fifth overall pick. After all, the dropoff at offensive tackle will be steep after Will Campbell and Armand Membou. That said, the Jags are surely aware of the New England Patriots' interest in the former, so they're already preparing as if he won't be available when they're on the clock.
If Will Campbell goes to the Pats, as expected, and Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter are off the board at No. 5, running back Ashton Jeanty would be the most logical choice for the Jaguars. Chatter about him going to Jacksonville has picked up steam ahead of the draft. But if they feel comfortable with their backfield, they could then roll with defensive tackle Mason Graham, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, or even edge rusher Jalon Walker.
While the Jaguars don't have a glaring weakness to address with the No. 5, they could surely upgrade virtually every position group, so any of them would make sense. Another alternative would be to trade down. In fact, it's been speculated that the team's perceived interest in Jeanty is only a smokescreen to incentivize teams in need of running back help to trade up.
The bottom line is that the Jaguars would love Will Campbell to be available at No. 5, but even without him, they'll have no shortage of options.