To the surprise of many, the Jacksonville Jaguars elected to use all 12 of their 2020 draft picks, which in return could revamp their roster with the young nucleus they seek. Ultimately, time will tell exactly how many players from the class make the cut but there certainly will be a veteran or two who gets the boot over a rookie who the Jags may feel have a lot of upside.

ESPN’s Ben Barnwell recently took a look at all 32 teams and evaluated veterans who could be released as a result of each draft class. With the Jags taking two receivers in Laviska Shenault Jr. and Collin Johnson, he listed Keelan Cole as the player who he felt was in danger of a release or trade in the future.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Wide receiver Keelan Cole

Cole had an impressive rookie season as an undrafted free agent in 2017, but he has fallen down the depth chart as Dede Westbrook and DJ Chark have emerged. Jacksonville drafted Laviska Shenault Jr. in the second round and Collin Johnson in the fifth, leaving Cole to compete with veteran Chris Conley for a roster spot.

The Jaguars handed Cole a second-round restricted tender at $3.3 million, but that contract is unguaranteed, and Conley played ahead of Cole last season. One of the two is likely to leave, and the additional cash savings makes it slightly more likely Cole is that guy.

Cole is a player who has provided Jags fans with a lot of memories over the years and made plays early in his tenure when he was higher on the depth chart. However, with the Jags trying to find out what they have in Dede Westbrook and adding D.J. Chark Jr. and Chris Conley since Cole joined the organization, the youngster just simply got pushed down the depth chart.

As a result of the Jags’ additions over time, he saw his snap count take a huge plummet from 2018 to 2019 as he went from 687 to 370. By adding in two rookies, one could see why Barnwell would have a hard time seeing Cole remain on the team.

However, despite the newest additions this past weekend, fans shouldn’t be so quick to write off Cole for many reasons. One of those reasons is Shenault’s health as many would point to the issue as the reason he fell to the Jags in Round 2, to begin with.

Over the past two seasons, he’s been through a lot as far as injuries go and missed three games in 2018 with a toe injury and also played through a torn labrum, both of which required surgery. He also had to have surgery to fix a core injury this offseason. When taking this all into consideration, fans should be concerned whether or not Shenault will see the field for all of the Jags’ upcoming 16 regular season games.

As for Johnson, he was limited to just seven games as a senior with a hamstring injury. Like Shenault, that probably played a role in him falling a little lower than expected in this month’s draft.

When taking into account the health of both Johnson and Shenault, Cole should be able to make the team this season although his offensive snap count could diminish. It also helps that the Jags have traditionally taken six receivers into the regular season under Doug Marrone and that Cole offers value on special teams, too.