Last week, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke told reporters that the team has narrowed its list of first-round targets to “two or three guys.” On Monday, Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network pulled back the curtain to reveal three players the Jaguars are rumored to covet.
“What I heard is the three defensive players they really covet are Lukas Van Ness, Devon Weatherspoon, and the aforementioned Deonte Banks,” Pauline said in an appearance on 1010XL.
Weatherspoon and Banks are two of the top cornerback prospects in the class. While the former is largely expected to be a top 10 pick, the latter has been paired with the Jaguars often in mock drafts. Van Ness is a 6’5, 272-pound pass rusher who is largely expected to come off the board before Jacksonville selects at 24th overall.
Pauline — who longtime Jaguars fans may remember as the former Sports Illustrated insider who first sniffed out the team’s interest in Tyson Alualu more than a decade ago — suggested that Banks may be an early selection and Van Ness could be the likeliest of the trio to be available to Jacksonville.
“I have not heard anything about the offensive players,” Pauline later added. “But you’ve got to think if Darnell Wright’s there, they’ve got to consider him. They spent a lot of draft capital on defense last year, much more than I expected. You’ve got a franchise quarterback there … you better start to protect him, you better start to add more weapons around him.
“I think if Darnell Wright is still on the board — and I don’t know that he’s gonna be there — when the Jaguars are on the clock, they absolutely have to consider him.”
Wright is a 6’5, 333-pound offensive tackle who has been projected by most to be a right tackle in the NFL.
