B-
Jacksonville Jaguars
A sensible, unshowy class lands the Jaguars a B-.
by Reheheheheh ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 8 steals
· 2 reaches
Call it belief, call it a gut call, but Nyjalik Kelly at pick 81 is 120 spots clear of consensus, and that is the headline. The bottom line is a respectable B-.
That is a wide receiver worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. The interior defensive lineman spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. They went 5 of 9 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the interior defensive lineman spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
Jake Slaughter in slot 56 is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Nyjalik Kelly in pick No. 81, miles early. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Tanner Koziol in Round 3, Pick 24 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Skyler Bell at the 100th pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Austin Barber at the Round 4 slot is the proof. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
De'Zhaun Stribling in the 164th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Harold Perkins Jr. in pick 166 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Steal is underselling it; Nadame Tucker at the 203rd overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They robbed the room for Chase Roberts here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They barely believed it either: Noah Whittington still on the board at Round 7, Pick 24. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Dane Key at the 245th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.