Tag: Jeffrey Okudah

Assessing the Jags’ top-7 positional needs heading into 2020 offseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a lot of needs, but luckily they at least have the draft capital to make some progress on fixing the roster.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made their decisions on moving forward with Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell, which now means fans can now look forward to free-agency and the draft. If there was one thing that can be taken away from the 2019 season it’s the fact that the Jags have a ton of needs, and in all probability, they won’t be able to address all of them.

Regardless, we’ve decided to evaluate the Jags’ biggest needs based off how the Jags’ last season which resulted in a 6-10 record. Here’s how we rank each need at the moment:

Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

7. Wide receiver

Heading into the 2018 season I felt as though the Jags’ receiver corps was a strength of the Jags, but after watching the season unfold, there is room for improvement. Clearly, DJ Chark Jr. was the No. 1 player within the group and proved to be a stud, racking up 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. His 2019 campaign made him the youngest receiver in franchise history to garner 1,000 receiving yards (alongside Allen Robinson) and the first receiver since 2015 to hit that mark (which was also held by Robinson).

Behind Chark, however, there are question marks. Dede Westbrook, who many (including myself) was high on, had a very average campaign in 2019 where drops were an issue for him. Chris Conley flashed on occasions and was the team’s No. 2 statistically (775 yards), but he too had some drops that were concerning.

All of that said, receiver isn’t a huge need for the Jags but with the strongest receiver class fans have seen in quite some time arriving in 2020, the Jags could have a grand opportunity to make their receivers group elite. If they truly use a best available player method in the first-round, their No. 9 overall pick looks like the sweet spot to land the No. 1 receiver in the class. Whether that’s Jerry Jeudy or CeeDee Lamb varies between draft pundits, but both are simply too good for a team lacking offensive fire power to pass on.

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Jags find DL, secondary help in Draft Wire mock

The Jags found themselves with a potential successor for Jalen Ramsey in Draft Wire’s latest mock.

Despite some uncertainty surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars’ staff, fans have been anticipating what will be an interesting offseason for the team. Of course, the draft will be a big part of the 2020 offseason and the Jags are loaded with picks to make things right down the road thanks to the Jalen Ramsey trade.

All of that said, our comrade Luke Easterling released yet another mock for Draft Wire, which had several changes for the Jags in comparison to his last mock. In the first-round, the Jags seemingly got lucky with their first selection as Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah fell to them, which is a selection we’ve seen made for the Jags before. Like they did in last week’s mock, the also were slotted Clemson receiver Tee Higgins.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars

Jeff Okudah | CB | Ohio State

After trading one of the NFL’s best corners, the Jags need to replace Jalen Ramsey with one of their multiple first-round picks in this draft. They luck out here, as this year’s top cover man falls to them at this pick. Okudah is a complete player who can make an immediate impact at a premium position of need.

20. Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)

Tee Higgins | WR | Clemson

After getting a defensive playmaker in the top 10, the Jags need to use their additional first-rounder in this draft to give their offensive a true No.1 receiver for whoever ends up throwing passes next season. Higgins has a rare combination of size, length, athleticism and body control.

We talked about Higgins last week, so we won’t really discuss him this time around. We’ve also talked about Okudah in the past, too. His addition, especially with Ramsey gone, would be huge. Scouts love his athleticism, hip fluidity, and ceiling as a man-to-man defender. He’s shown great versatility while at Ohio State and can hold his own well in zone coverage, too.
Afterward, the Easterling slotted the Jags two more players on the defensive side, an area where the Jags have been pretty bad during the second half of the season.

39. Jacksonville Jaguars | Marvin Wilson | DL | Florida State

76. Jacksonville Jaguars | Ashtyn Davis | S | California

Fans of the Jags are likely familiar with Marvin Wilson due to Florida State being up the road from Jacksonville. The 6-foot-5, 311-pound standout is athletic as fans will find at his size, which is what the Jags need with Calais Campbell being the Jags’ oldest player.

As for Ashtyn Davis, our own Daniel Griffis has written about him before in the past. He praised Davis’ range and tackling ability, which is a nice mix of traits to have as a safety. While the Jags have more pressing needs, Davis has the type of abilities that are hard to find in the back field and could be well worth a third-round selection in the end.

2020 NFL draft order: Jets have 7th pick after getting some help over weekend

The New York Jets are projected to pick No. 7 in the updated 2020 NFL draft order, according to Tankathon.

The Jets’ loss to Baltimore on Thursday Night Football wasn’t all bad.

Sitting at home over the weekend, New York got some help in the NFL draft pecking order. With the Falcons and Jaguars both winning on the road on Sunday, New York was able to better its position.

The Jets now have the seventh pick behind the Bengals, Giants, Redskins, Dolphins, Lions and Cardinals, according to Tankathon.

A shot at the top-five is still in reach with Pittsburgh and then Buffalo both still on New York’s schedule. With the Jets having only pride to play for in the next two games, it’s unlikely that they will be able to upset the Steelers and Bills. Both teams are still not locked into their playoff spots.

The Jets could play spoiler the next two weeks, but it would spoil having a top pick, which would hurt in the long run.

Picking in the top 10, the Jets will be in a position to take a plug-and-play starter and find an impact player. Names like Alabama WRs Jerry Jeudy and OT Jedrick Wills, Georgia OT Andrew Thomas, Oklahoma WR CeeDee Lamb, Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs and Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah come to mind.

The Jets will need more help moving up further in the draft order, but jumping a Cardinals team that still has Seattle and Los Angeles left on its schedule doesn’t seem all that feasible.

At this point No. 7 seems to be the highest the Jets can go, but stranger things have transpired.

Jags address needs at CB, WR and in the trenches in Draft Wire mock

The Jags addressed several needs in Draft Wire’s latest mock ranging from cornerback, to wide receiver, to help in the trenches.

There was once excitement surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars and what they could do in the regular season, but that has died down. This month the team played themselves out of playoff contention, so now it’s on to the draft in the minds of fans.

With the way things have gone, fans are also hoping for sweeping changes in the front, and if that happens, they will at least have the excitement of a new regime making the picks. However, we’ll have to get to the end of December to see what Shad Khan decides to truly do.

Regardless of the Jags pending situations, the mock drafts haven’t stopped coming in and our comrade at Draft Wire, Luke Easterling, compiled another one this week. In it, he had the Jags addressing pressing needs throughout Rounds 1-4, starting with an attempt to replace their best player (formerly) in cornerback Jalen Ramsey with the selection of Ohio State’s Jeff Okudah, then taking a weapon on offense in Clemson receiver Tee Higgins.

7. Jacksonville Jaguars

Jeff Okudah | CB | Ohio State

After trading one of the NFL’s best corners, the Jags need to replace Jalen Ramsey with one of their multiple first-round picks in this draft. They luck out here, as this year’s top cover man falls to them at this pick. Okudah is a complete player who can make an immediate impact at a premium position of need.

Okudah would be a solid pick within the top-10 selections, especially when considering the fact that there has been a drop-off at cornerback since Ramsey left. Scouts seem to think Okudah can be a great man-to-man defender, though he’s no slouch in zone coverage. They also like his athleticism and hip fluidity.

Here’s what Easterling had to say about Higgins:

20. Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)

Tee Higgins | WR | Clemson

After getting a defensive playmaker in the top 10, the Jags need to use their additional first-rounder in this draft to give their offensive a true No. 1 receiver for whoever ends up throwing passes next season. Higgins has a rare combination of size, length, athleticism and body control.

The Jags could certainly use a No. 2 to pair with DJ Chark Jr., who is having a breakout season. Chris Conley has struggled with drops and hasn’t been overly impressive as a free-agent signing, while it’s hard to tell if Dede Westbrook will be what he was at college because the Jags aren’t utilizing him right. With that being the case, a new staff could want another threat on the outside with the mindset to possibly move Westbrook into the slot.

Afterward, Easterling had the Jags selecting two picks in the trenches in Rounds 2-3

40. Jacksonville Jaguars | Calvin Throckmorton | OL | Oregon

71. Jacksonville Jaguars | Leki Fotu | DL | Utah

Calvin Throckmorton is a player who would give the Jags versatility on the offensive line, which is a unit a lot of fans are the most concerned with. At 6-foot-6, 310-pounds, some shockingly like him at guard better, which would be fine for the Jags as Andrew Norwell and A.J. Cann aren’t consistently playing at a high level.

Leki Fotu is a player who has played a key role in leading one of college football’s most underrated defensive lines at Utah. At 6-foot-6, 335-pounds, Fotu has unreal strength and could anchor the Jags interior defensive line that is ranked next to last in rushing defense. He’ll need to work on coming out of his stance lower and developing pass rush moves when he’s in the league, but could be coached up to flourish with the right teachers on the staff.

Prospects for Jags fans to watch: Ohio State CB Jeffrey Okudah

If the Jaguars were to look at corner high in the first round, Jeffrey Okudah might just be the guy they have their eyes set on.

Earlier this week Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback A.J. Bouye was asked about the defensive unit and its recent struggles and responded with the following quote, which proves the Jags’ defense needs to rebuild:

“It’s a lot of things. But then you also have to look at it this way: Coming in, we expected a personnel that we didn’t get. We had one who requested a trade. We had one who never showed up at linebacker. Then you have Marcell [Dareus], who got hurt. […] We’re just trying to make it work with what we’ve got and it’s tough sometimes and sometimes we can’t adapt to it and we try to just stay within the scheme.”

The defense has lost three of its top players for the year and it seems to be taking a toll on the unit. The team has struggled against the run especially and has had difficulties tackling as well. The once feisty and young group has lost its fire and needs direction.

With the loss of their star corner Jalen Ramsey, the team may be looking to replace the All-Pro in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. Who better to replace him than arguably the best corner since him: Ohio State’s Jeffrey Okudah.

Okudah possesses similar size (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) and a similar skill set to Ramsey. Both are exceptional athletes and are at their best in man coverage. Their length, ball skills, and ability to blanket receivers are elite traits along with their impressive closing ability.

If the Jaguars were to look at corner early in the first-round, Okudah might be just the guy they have their eyes set on.

Going into the 2019 season, Okudah was highly thought of. His elite athleticism is easy to see as were his other traits. However, one of his few flaws was his ability to create turnovers, this is a critique Ramsey similarly saw often coming out of Florida State. Okudah has easily shrugged off this scouting complaint though, as the young corner has already picked off opposing quarterbacks on three occasions this season.

Two of those interceptions came against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The latter of the two was absolutely jaw-dropping as Okudah intercepted the ball while laying on his back, displaying incredible reaction skills.

Here is another example of what Okudah offers against the deep ball as he displayed excellent ball skills against the Indiana Hoosiers.

In the clip above, Okudah’s ability to keep stride with the receiver was also impressive, as was his ability to go up from behind and cause the pass breakup.

Okudah’s best traits, however, are likely his hip movement and his closing speed. Okudah is a threat in zone coverage, just as he is in man coverage. He quickly closes on balls deflecting them or stopping the play dead in its tracks. For corners, the number one thing scouts look for is fluid hips. It’s all about how well a corner can change directions and make a play on the ball. It’s often the difference in the good and great defensive backs in today’s game. Okudah makes it look easy and that’s why he is being so highly touted as a prospect.

Okudah shows off his closing speed brilliantly in this clip below against Washington.

Okudah reads the quarterback’s eyes, identifies the play and quickly reacts, batting the ball away on a key fourth down. Simply put, Okudah displays rare traits and he will likely be the first corner off the board next April.

If the Jaguars decide to look at the cornerback position, Okudah and teammate Shaun Wade will definitely be on their radar. Don’t be surprised to see Okudah flourish at the next level.