It was a bit of a hard pill to swallow when the Jacksonville Jaguars had to trade Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams back in 2019. Ramsey was one of the most talented players the team has ever drafted and was well on his way to being an elite corner in the league at the time (if he wasn’t already there).
But Jacksonville’s return on the trade made it go down a little bit easier. In return for Ramsey’s services, the team received two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder. Losing Ramsey was hard, but the team now had four first-round picks in the next two drafts and had a major opportunity.
Now, two years later, those picks have all been made. They resulted in second-year pass rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, running back Travis Etienne, and defensive end Jordan Smith, with the latter two being rookies. Though this group has some potential, it’s not exactly the haul that some envisioned.
One such person is ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. Upon reevaluating the Ramsey trade (in which he initially declared the Jags a slight winner at the time), he thinks the Rams won the deal now.
At the time: After months of rumors and a mysterious back injury, the Jags finally moved on from Ramsey and made what felt like an inevitable trade with the Rams. I saw this as a slight win for the Jaguars, who got two first-round picks for a player who clearly wanted out. The Rams were also shedding more first-round picks from what was already a top-heavy roster for another player who was going to need a big contract.
What happened: Ramsey’s 2019 season was up-and-down, with his most memorable play likely coming as part of a blown coverage against the 49ers which helped push Los Angeles out of the playoffs. After resetting the cornerback market with a new contract extension, Ramsey returned to form in 2020, where he moved around the formation and allowed a 68.1 passer rating in coverage. He was widely regarded as the best cornerback in football by the end of the season.
Two of Jacksonville’s picks haven’t even taken an NFL snap yet, but the early returns aren’t promising. Chaisson was anonymous as a rookie, with one sack and nine knockdowns on 568 snaps. The new Jags regime used its other first-rounder on Etienne, and while Trevor Lawrence will have an old friend from Clemson on the field for his rookie deal, history tells us that teams don’t need to use first-round picks to find valuable running backs. Alvin Kamara, the optimistic comp for Etienne believers, was a third-round selection. This looks better for the Rams two years later.
In hindsight: Win for Rams
If Ramsey leaving Jacksonville was truly an inevitability given his deteriorating relationship with the front office, getting two first-round picks in exchange for him was about as good as the Jags were going to do. But those picks still have to pan out, and so far, it remains to be seen if they will.
It’s no secret that Chaisson had a disappointing rookie season, but there’s also reason for optimism on that front. He was largely playing out of position as a rookie, and that almost certainly harmed his production. With the team likely to run more 3-4 in the base formation in 2021 under new defensive coordinator Joe Cullen, Chaisson will be able to play the standup edge rushing role he excelled in while in college at LSU.
As far as using a first-rounder on Etienne goes, that move is a little bit more questionable. Not because Etienne isn’t a talented player or that he won’t be productive for Jacksonville, but simply because of the value (or lack thereof) in the running back position. Still, the team needed someone to shoulder some of the load James Robinson carried last year, and reuniting Lawrence with his college teammate is certainly one way to do it.
At the end of the day, Ramsey is one of the best players at his position in the NFL, and landing a player of his caliber using any of those picks was unlikely. But it’s also far too early to declare the Jaguars losers of this trade, and if Chaisson develops into a star pass rusher and Etienne becomes a playmaker, the trade will look a lot different in the future.