Where Does Sports Illustrated Rank the Jaguars’ 2024 Draft Class?

The 2024 NFL Draft is officially a week old, and the early reviews are in for draft classes around the NFL.

So, where does Sports Illustrated rank the Jaguars’ draft class among their AFC peers?

Interestingly, the Jaguars are ranked No. 14 out of 16, ranking ahead of only the No. 15 Buffalo Bills and the No. 16 Tennessee Titans. The Houston Texans ranked No. 10 while the Indianapolis Colts ranked No. 5.

“Jacksonville had the opportunity to draft any corner in the draft, but traded back to hoard picks. Fair enough. However, the Jaguars then took WR Brian Thomas Jr. instead of addressing a major need. Afterwards, Jacksonville took a kicker and a reserve running back, passing on more high-upside talent. Not awful, but not great,” SI’s Matt Verderame said.

There is some merit to criticizing the Jaguars’ class considering most of their picks went ahead of where they were projected to go, but the Jaguars shouldn’t be punished for taking Brian Thomas Jr. at No. 23.

Not only was their trade-back a smart and efficient move that helped them gain a top-100 pick and a fourth-round selection in 2025, but wide receiver was certainly a key need for the Jaguars after Calvin Ridley’s departure. Was it as big of a need as cornerback? No, but it was likely the second biggest pre-draft need. It isn’t unusual the Jaguars went with a receiver in the slightest.

“He [WR Brian Thomas Jr.] was going to be the pick at 17,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said after the selection.

“Like we said, there were other players involved and we just felt the way the board looked and where the needs were, the teams in between us, we felt we had a chance. There’s risk, there’s reward. You make the move back, but we felt we were going to get a really good football player that we had high on our board with the move back. Fortunate that Brian was still there.”

Secondly, it doesn’t make much sense to critique the Jaguars for taking a kick returner/running back and a kicker with fifth- and sixth-round picks. By that point in the draft, the talent pool was greatly diminished. If they had picked them earlier, then maybe. But there were more questionable picks to judge than those two.