Jaguars prioritize CB over OL, WR in latest Mel Kiper Jr. mock draft

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ season-ending nosedive brought some of the team’s glaring issues to the forefront. While that included the team’s offensive line and its wide receiving depth, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. thinks cornerback will be a higher priority for the Jaguars in April.

In his latest mock draft, Kiper projected Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell will be selected by the Jaguars with the No. 17 overall pick.

“I thought about offensive line — the Jags ranked 29th in pass block win rate (50.6%) last season — and wide receiver with this pick, but let’s look to the defense instead. I wrote earlier that it’s a strange draft, and that’s especially true with the cornerbacks. There’s no league consensus on the No. 1 guy. Or the No. 2 guy. Or the No. 3 guy. And I don’t see any going in the top 10 picks as of now. (Although we’ve seen before that blazing 40-yard dash times at the combine could move up defensive backs.)

“Mitchell, though, lit up Senior Bowl practices a few weeks ago, showing that his college stats are no fluke. He’s rising. He was a shutdown player for the Rockets, picking off six passes while allowing quarterbacks to complete just 35.2% of their throws against him in coverage over the past two seasons. As I wrote when I added him to my Big Board, he didn’t allow a single touchdown in coverage in 2023.”

Kiper isn’t the first to link Mitchell to the Jaguars. Several other experts — including Lance Zeirlien and Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com — think the Toledo cornerback could be a perfect fit in Ryan Nielsen’s defense.

The selection makes even more sense after Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke spoke Tuesday and singled out cornerback as a position that needs to be addressed this offseason.

“We’ve got to add to that group,” Baalke said. “I think Coach [Ryan] Nielsen spoke on it, Coach Pederson’s probably spoke on it, and now I’m speaking on it. It’s a group that we need to address.”

Jacksonville’s Tyson Campbell had a stellar 2022 season, but struggled through a nagging hamstring issue for much of 2023. On the other side is Darious Williams, who turns 31 in March.