2023 NFL Draft: Who Does Todd McShay Project to Jaguars After Super Bowl?

Could the Jaguars really look to add to their receiver room in the 2023 NFL Draft? ESPN's Todd McShay thinks so.

The 2023 NFL Draft season is officially upon us. 

2023 will be a telling offseason for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Most importantly, it will be here before anyone knows it.

"Yeah, you feel like your window of opportunity is now, strike while the iron is hot so to speak," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said during his end-of-season press conference.

"We’ve got to take advantage of that with the guys we have, with the free agent process, with the draft process coming up and just we got to hit on all those benchmarks and continue to improve the team.”

With the NFL Draft's first-round and the Jaguars' impending selection at No. 24 overall coming fast, we are going to take a look throughout the offseason on what outside experts think the Jaguars will or should do with their first-round pick.

This time, we take a look at ESPN's Todd Mcshay's most recent mock and weigh in on how we feel about the pick. 

No. 24: Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Most mocks today have the Jacksonville Jaguars slated to select a defensive back with their first-round pick, but McShay goes against the grain and gives the Jaguars just the second first-round receiver of Trent Baalke's entire general manager career. 

"The Jaguars' pass game took a huge step forward in Trevor Lawrence's second season. The Christian Kirk signing paid off, and Calvin Ridley -- acquired at the deadline -- should be a factor next season once he returns from suspension. But Lawrence probably still needs another pass-catcher, especially because tight end Evan Engram is a free agent and we can't be sure what Ridley will bring after missing more than a year,"

McShay said.



"Smith-Njigba is a tough evaluation. He caught 15 passes for 347 yards and three TDs in the 2021 season's Rose Bowl, capping off a 1,606-yard campaign. But he had two catches in that game that were longer than his total yardage for the entire 2022 season (43), as a nagging hamstring injury limited him to five catches over three contests. JSN displays soft hands, precise route running and good after-the-catch ability, and he could be a steal for Jacksonville if he falls here."

Projecting a wide receiver to Jacksonville in the first-round is already an interesting proposition to begin with. The Jaguars are set to be paying three wide receivers significant salaries in 2023 in Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, and Zay Jones. All three will be paid like starters, so any added receiver is, at best, the No. 4 receiver to start the season. 

This also doesn't factor Evan Engram into the equation. Taking a pass-catcher in the first-round would be easier to stomach if the Jaguars do not have Engram in the fold in 2023, but all indications are that Engram will return to the Jaguars one way or another on a new deal.

👀 https://t.co/Xf3uhvqKeN

— Evan Engram (@eazyengram) February 15, 2023

In short, the Jaguars just don't absolutely need a pass-catcher early in the 2023 draft. One makes sense at some point because they still need to show they can develop some youth in the room, but if the Jaguars are looking for rookies to make any impact, then a pass-catcher in the first-round is a tough bet to make.

Then there is the fact that Smith-Njigba himself projects as a slot-heavy player in the NFL. The Jaguars already have two slot weapons in Kirk and Engram, if he resigns. If the Jaguars were to add a receiver, an outside weapon who can stretch the field or win at the catch point makes the most sense. Smith-Njigba spent 87% of his snaps in 2021 in the slot, so he seems a bit redundant with the rest of the Jaguars' offense.