For Jaguars to Improve Roster, Day 3 Success Has to Become a Priority

If the Jaguars want to catch the 49ers and the Chiefs, they will have to do better in the draft's final four rounds.

For the first time in a few years, it feels like the Jacksonville Jaguars have found some Day 3 gems. 

Antonio Johnson had an electric second half of the season and showed starter potential moving forward. Parker Washington flashed both as a returner and as a slot receiver. And internally, the Jaguars are high on picks like Tyler Lacy and Cooper Hodges. 

But it isn't enough. Not after the Jaguars' struggles on Day 3 from 2020 through 2022, struggles that have led to the Jaguars' lopsided roster construction since. 

The Jaguars' spending sprees in 2021 and 2022 were largely done to offset a roster that had been stripped of parts and turned into rubble. But across several drafts during that period, the Jaguars have struggled to do what the NFL's best teams do: find Day 3 success. 

It isn't easy, obviously, to turn Day 3 picks into viable contributors. The draft is never an exact science, and it has been proven that it is harder to hit on picks later in the draft.

With that said, some of the NFL's best teams have done it. Players from the Super Bowl like L'Jarius Sneed, Trey Smith, Brock Purdy, Isiah Pacheco, and Deommodore Lenoir have all played huge roles in recent years for this year's Super Bowl teams. Other teams like the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers have had similar success.

The Jaguars, though, haven't found the same success. 

From 2020-2022, the Jaguars picked 15 Day 3 picks. Some have turned into strong special teams players like Shaquille Quarterman, Daniel Thomas, and Chris Claybrooks. Others, like Ben Bartch and Montaric Brown, have earned points in terms of weighted appropriate value.

But in that span, the Jaguars haven't really had a home-run. Bartch was overall a fine depth piece but a sub-average starter. Brown looks like a good backup cornerback with the potential to be more. Luke Farrell is a solid No. 2 tight end. And the aforementioned special teamers are just that; good in their roles, but far from game-changers. 

And there have obviously been some lows for the Jaguars. They traded up for Jordan Smith in the fourth-round in 2021 and Snoop Conner in the fifth-round in 2022, but the two combined for 59 offensive and defensive snaps in their Jaguars career. 

Other Day 3 picks like Josiah Scott and Jay Tufele have found some success as depth players, but not with the Jaguars. Instead the Jaguars moved on from both and each has become decent depth for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively. 

The 2023 class has the potential to be different. At the very worst, it can be better than the 2022 group of Brown, Conner, and Gregory Junior; or the 2021 group of Tufele, Smith, Farrell, and sixth-round wide receiver Jalen Camp, who never appeared in a game for the Jaguars. 

But the Jaguars have work to do there, too. They have to see if they can get anything out of Lacy and Hodges, as well as players with lost rookie years like fourth-round linebacker Ventrell Miller, fifth-round pass-rusher Yasir Abdullah, or sixth-round cornerback Christian Braswell. 

Then the Jaguars need to show that they can have greater success on Day 3 in 2024 and beyond. That starts this April, with the Jaguars having a projected six picks in the draft's final four rounds.


Published
John Shipley
JOHN SHIPLEY

John Shipley has been covering the Jacksonville Jaguars as a beat reporter and publisher of Jaguar Report since 2019. Previously, he covered UCF's undefeated season as a beat reporter for NSM.Today, covered high school prep sports in Central Florida, and covered local sports and news for the Palatka Daily News. Follow John Shipley on Twitter at @_john_shipley.