With NFL draft week here, let's examine when the Jacksonville Jaguars will be picking and what their biggest positional needs are.
After trading up in last year's draft to select Travis Hunter, the Jacksonville Jaguars do not own their first-round pick in 2026. However, GM James Gladstone is still well-equipped to bolster the roster with some impact help and to move around the draft board as necessary.
Despite not having a Round 1 selection, the Jaguars do still have four picks in the top 100 -- in part thanks to a Day 2 trade back with Detroit in the 2025 draft -- and 11 selections in total.
With Devin Lloyd now in Carolina, the starting spot next to Foye Oluokun is up for grabs. And while GM James Gladstone seems bullish about the talent already on the Jaguars' roster at linebacker, particularly Ventrell Miller, adding some additional competition wouldn't be a bad thing either.
At a minimum, more depth is needed at this position. The Jaguars need to add several more players to round out their training camp roster, but boosting the depth, in turn, hopefully elevates competition and raises the floor of this unit. In addition to that, while the Jaguars are situated well at the top of this position with Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, more steady pass rush production from the rotational members of this unit is needed. Last season, Jacksonville ranked 18th in pressure rate and 27th in sacks as a collective group.
With only five defensive tackles under contract, more depth is needed. But in addition to that, more pass rush juice is needed from the defensive tackle position, which went quiet late last season. The addition of Ruke Orhorhoro can hopefully help provide that, but his presence doesn't solve the Jaguars' need here either. Before the trade, adding to the defensive tackle room should have been a priority, and after the trade, it still should be.
The draft is about planning ahead, and looking to the 2027 offseason, both Quintin Morris and Hunter Long are set to be free agents. Brenton Strange is as well, but he is expected to return. In the short-term, more depth is needed here, and the Jaguars do have an open roster after releasing Johnny Mundt. ESPN's Jordan Reid wrote that tight end is one of the positions that the Jaguars are "expected to target right away on Day 2."
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: 2026 NFL draft: Jaguars' biggest needs; list of every selection
