Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK NFL Draft Analyst Mike Renner recently reexamined the 2023 NFL Draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars landed in the bottom five draft classes this go-round. With the 2023 season now complete, NFL Draft Analyst for The Locked on Podcast Network, Mike Renner took time to circle back to the 2023 NFL Draft to grade which teams got the least out of their top 100 picks. Unfortunately, the Jacksonville Jaguars made the list. When your team and the Carolina Panthers are together on the thumbnail for the video, you sorta know there's bad news on the way. The Jaguars' content begins at the 1:31 - 4:40 mark below, for those who have three minutes to review it all. https://www.youtube.com/embed/50tVdRydKa4?rel=0
Overall, Renner ranked the Jaguars as having the fifth-worst 2023 draft class after the completion of their rookie seasons. As a reminder, this only grades the top 100 picks of the draft. The logic is that your top 100 picks are normally the athletes who you expect to be starting for the team, fighting for starting roles, or at a minimum being heavily contributing members for most winning organizations. His logic for only grading the top 100 is that the later players selected are generally not expected to do much as is more of a crapshoot or dice roll. If they contribute heavily, awesome. However, that success is arguably less about the general manager's ability to draft and more about aimlessly catching lightning in a bottle. A GM who does less with his top 100 picks is a GM who will consistently provide subpar team results, sans an incredible coaching clinic or superstar quarterback to cover up the roster warts. Anton Harrison: "Outside of Anton Harrison, who I truly do think is still going to be solid in pass protection, I think he's going to be a plus pass-protecting tackle. Maybe never an elite, maybe never a pro bowler. I just never saw that from him in Oklahoma, but I think he's solid and that's worth a first-round pick. He was number 27 overall and I thought he was okay as a rookie. So, (Harrison) is not why they make this list." #Jaguars OL Pass-Block Efficiency | PFF
98.4- Brandon Scherff (3rd/82)
97.6- Luke Fortner (18th/40)
97.5- Ezra Cleveland (23rd/82)
97.3- Anton Harrison (12th/88)
97.2- Cam Robinson (14th/88)
96.8- Walker Little (25th/88)— Daniel Griffis (@DanDGriffis) December 19, 2023 #Jaguars PFF Run-Block Grades:
61.1- Brandon Scherff (31/85)
60.4- Ezra Cleveland (35/85)
53.8- Walker Little (66/87)
51.0- Cam Robinson (72/87)
45.8- Anton Harrison (82/87)
44.6- Tyler Shatley (77/85)
40.0- Luke Fortner (39/39)— Daniel Griffis (@DanDGriffis) January 12, 2024 Brenton Strange: "They make this list because after him they drafted Brenton Strange - tight end out of Penn State. A backup tight end, mind you. Because obviously, Evan Engram started there. They drafted Strange at number 61 overall, which still blows my mind. I couldn’t believe it at the time, there were still talented guys on the board there. 61 overall, and he played 307 snaps he had 35 yards as a rookie. He’s a backup tight end maybe they’re planning on moving on from Evan Engram? Who knows?" As a reminder, offensive guard O'Cyrus Torrence was initially on the board when Jacksonville traded the No. 56 overall selection to the Chicago Bears, moving down to 61. Tank Bigsby: "They used a second-round pick on a backup tight and then they used a third-round pick on a backup running back. This was just not a good draft from day one, but Tank Bigsby was drafted 88th overall and he had 50 carries for 132 yards, averaged 2.6 yards per carry, with two fumbles, one catch for six yards, with three drops. Two of those three drops ended up as picks (interceptions). The man had about as bad a rookie season as I've ever seen from a running back and they took him in the top 100. I even kind of liked Tank Bigsby and I did not have him as a top 100 player. I didn't have Brenton Strange as a top-100 player either. In retrospect, I think the Jaguars want a redo." Watching back my reaction to drafting Tank Bigsby I was so damn confused lol pic.twitter.com/CVDyirr2ZS— UCF Jaguar (@UCF_Jaguar) February 15, 2024 While this ranking is only one season in, this isn't ideal. Many fans nationally and locally had similar concerns in real time during the draft. However, the book on any of these players is not closed and there is promise for a few player's future potential moving forward. Nevertheless, to be listed within this group does look to be an indictment on Jaguars general manager, Trent Baalke's ability to draft within the middle rounds. Trent Baalke: Renner digs into this later, listing all of Baalke's top 100 picks since joining the Jaguars as a thought exercise. *Editorial note: Baalke was the Director of Player Personnel entering the 2020 season and was later promoted to Interim General Manager.* “We’re gonna go through Trent Baalke’s top 100 picks for you since he got to Jacksonville in 2020. No judgment, just gonna list them off you guys. You be the judge. You let me know if this track record is something you’re a fan of:” 2020: CJ Henderson, K’lavon Chaisson - these are first-rounders. Laviska Shenault, DaVon Hamilton. 2021: Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, cornerback Tyson Campbell, safety Andre Cisco. 2022: Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd - your first-rounders. Luke Forner, Chad Muma. Your center Luke Forner and your backup linebacker Chad Muma. 2023: Anton Harrison, Brenton Strange, Tank Bigsby.” With the understanding that Trevor Lawrence and Travon Walker were both the first pick in the first round of their drafts, the past draft classes do seem questionable, at minimum. However, I am unsure how much can be placed on Trent Baalke for the 2020 draft, while under former Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell. Additionally, I'm also equally split on how much credit Baalke should truly be given for the 2021 "Urban Meyer draft." As it stands, the only 'fair' judgment I can see of Trent is looking at the 2022 and 2023 draft classes only, which are frankly, currently lacking within the first three rounds. But, what say you, Duval? Is Renner being too harsh on the top of the Jaguars 2023 draft class, or not?
Source: https://www.bigcatcountry.com/2024/2/22 ... ottom-five
