Ranking the top 3 prospects the Jacksonville Jaguars can draft at No. 24
With the 2023 NFL Draft inching closer, the Jacksonville Jaguars held a media availability session and head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke shared several interesting nuggets about the process.
Among the things the duo told the local media was that the Jaguars feel comfortable with their current tight end group, so there's a strong chance they won't address the position early in the draft.
Baalke also said that the Jaguars have zeroed in on a few players at No. 24. Not long after his comments, John Shipley of Sports Illustrated took a guess on who the prospects may be: Edge Nolan Smith, Defensive end Brian Branch, and O'Cyrus Torrence. Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media later brought up the same three same, along with Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy, on NFL Now.
Jaguars are finally not picking No.1 overall after a remarkable turnaround year. I did a little detective work to figure out some players that could fall into GM Trent Baalke’s group of 2-3 players of players who converge need & value for #Jaguars at 24.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) April 20, 2023
For @nflnetwork NFL Now: pic.twitter.com/G76VBtIyN8
All Branch, Murphy, Torrence and Branch are talented prospects that could bolster their respective position for the Jaguars, so which one would be the best fit at No. 24? Here's a ranking of the three.
Prospect 3 the Jacksonville Jaguars can draft at No. 24: O'Cyrus Torrence
At first sight, drafting offensive guard O'Cyrus Torrence may seem odd when you consider that the Jags signed Brandon Scherff last year to play right guard, the position Torrence played at Florida. However, Torrence could switch sides and challenge incumbent Ben Bartch for the starting job on the left.
This makes more sense when you take into account that Bartch dislocated his knee last season and may not be available for the start of training camp. On top of that, the former St. John Johnny is entering a contract year and if he's not in the team's long-term plans, drafting Torrance to take his place seems like the best course of action.
Torrence said earlier this year that he likes the Jaguars offensive line coach Phil Rauscher and the scheme they're running, so there's a good chance he's already pictured Jacksonville as a potential landing spot on Draft Day.
Although the former Florida Gator needs to refine his footwork and clean up his overall technique he has the potential to become a mainstay of the Jaguars' offensive line.