Jaguars way-too-early 2025 mock draft

An early glimpse at what the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft could look like for the Jaguars.

We are fresh off the 2024 NFL Draft and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ latest class resulted in mixed opinions to say the least. After nine picks, it somehow still feels like a lot of the team’s needs going into the draft remain the same.

Obviously, it’s way too early to make a definitive judgment on a class that has yet to hit the field, but it’s hard not to feel like there are still some questions in terms of roster construction heading into the 2024 season.

With that in mind, it couldn’t hurt to go ahead and get an early glimpse at what the 2025 NFL Draft could offer a year from now.

Here is a three-round Jacksonville Jaguars way-too-early 2025 mock draft.

Round 1: Emery Jones Jr., OT, LSU

With both Cam Robinson and Walker Little playing on expiring contracts in 2024, the future of Jacksonville’s offensive tackle position was already a big talking point ahead of this year’s draft. So much so that there were plenty of mocks out there that had the team addressing OT with their first-round pick.

The Jags ultimately chose to go elsewhere in the first, and waited all the way until the fourth round to address the need when they took Javon Foster out of Missouri. While I think Foster is a nice developmental swing tackle option, Jacksonville must prioritize solidifying the future of the OT position opposite Anton Harrison.

One name to keep an eye out for in 2024 is LSU’s Emery Jones Jr. At 6-foot-6 and over 320 pounds, Jones is a mountain on the right side of that Tigers line. Although he hasn’t gotten as much attention as his blindside counterpart, Will Campbell, Jones is a very impressive player in his own right. He’s entering his junior season having already started 24 games and has incredible traits to pair with some developing technical aspects of his game.

Drafting Jones would allow the Jags to get Anton Harrison back over to the left side where he belongs, and would solidify the tackle position for the foreseeable future.

Round 2: Jabbar Muhammad, CB, Oregon

Jacksonville passing on the opportunity to draft either of the consensus top two corners in the 2024 draft was a shock to many in the moment. Not because the pick of Brian Thomas Jr. was a surprise per se, but because cornerback was by far the most glaring positional need for Jacksonville, so having their choice of Quinyon Mitchell or Terrion Arnold felt like a no-brainer.

While they did eventually add some talent to the corner room with the selection of Jarrian Jones in the third round, he’s expected to be primarily used at nickel. That still leaves a serious lack of depth on the boundary moving forward. With Tyson Campbell entering the last year of his rookie deal and Ronald Darby being nothing more than a short-term stop-game veteran, the Jags have got to prioritize adding outside help in the 2025 NFL Draft.

One name that could be in the mix to be one of the top corners in next year’s class is Jabbar Muhammad. In 2023, Muhammad was dominant for the Washington Huskies as he notched 16 pass deflections to go along with three interceptions and five tackles for a loss.

Although he lacks the preferred size to play on the boundary at the NFL level, Muhammad more than makes up for that with an incredibly physical style of play. He’s a pest for receivers and plays with supreme confidence, which is something Jacksonville could use more of in the secondary.

Round 3: Malachi Lawrence, Edge, UCF

Edge was another position many Jags fans likely expected the team to prioritize a little more than they did in Detroit. While Josh Allen and Travon Walker had great individual years in their own right, the team finished 25th in the league with just 40 sacks in 17 games and has done very little to bolster the depth behind their two outside rushers this offseason.

Assuming Yasir Abdullah or Myles Cole doesn’t shock the world and rack up numbers in 2024, the Jags should be looking to find a quality rotational edge presence on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

A guy who could go even earlier than this if he continues to ascend as a player is UCF’s Malachi Lawrence. At 6-foot-4 and over 240 pounds (per UCF), Lawrence fits the bill of a Baalke type of guy and he has production to boot. In 2023, Lawrence enjoyed a breakout year where he notched 7.5 sacks and had 10.5 tackles for loss. If he can take another step in 2024, Lawrence could be on everybody’s radar come draft season.

Round 3 (via Vikings): Damien Martinez, RB, Miami

It was recently reported that the Jaguars are set to pick up the fifth-year option on star running back Travis Etienne, which is not a surprise at all. Etienne is one of the most elusive, and effective runners in the NFL today and he’s a huge piece to this Jacksonville offense.

However, the future of the depth behind him is far less set in stone. D’Ernest Johnson is playing on a one-year deal in 2024 and Tank Bigsby has a lot to prove in his sophomore season if he’s going to retain RB2 duties in Duval moving forward.

If he’s unable to make any sort of impact in year two, Jacksonville should look to add a back like Damien Martinez to the mix in 2025.

The former Oregon State Beaver and current Miami Hurricane has been electric in his collegiate career. In his first two years, Martinez has racked up 2,167 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging over six yards per carry. Those types of numbers would have warranted first-round status a decade ago, but his lack of usage in the passing game dings him a bit, so late Day 2 sounds about right.

Martinez would provide Jacksonville with that thunder to Etienne’s lightning that they were hoping to get with Bigsby.

Who else is on your radar when looking ahead at the 2025 NFL Draft?