Judge Jeanty: Jaguars Figure to Determine Where Top RB Lands

With a tip of the mascot headgear to the great Lee Corso, don’t be surprised to hear James Gladstone and the Jaguars – when they finally reveal their first move Thursday night -- essentially tell their NFL friends they shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions so quickly.

Within the last week, Daniel Jeremiah, Tom Pelissero and Adam Schefter have cautioned against those who plan to use a Sharpie on their draft lists to write Mason Graham’s name next to the Jaguars at No. 5 overall. The reason? Ashton Jeanty.

Whether Gladstone sticks at 5 and takes Jeanty, or picks up additional capital to move back, expect a Jeanty Affect on Thursday. The 5-9, 211-pound running back is small in stature but could have a massive gravitational pull in the middle of the top 10 picks.

“There’s more noise about Ashton Jeanty going to the Raiders, more matches than any other pick in the top 10,” Pelissero said Monday on Good Morning Football. “My question is not does Ashton Jeanty end up going somewhere in the top 10. I believe he will. My question is, does somebody for a running decide in order to get him we’ve got to trade up above the Raiders to ensure that we get him. At No. 5, Jacksonville is in a real interesting spot.”

Jeanty to Jacksonville makes sense because he was born in the city. He played high school ball in both Italy and Texas with his father in the military. His road trips in Europe were actual road trips, to different countries in order to play opponents at other bases. And his Boise State game film says unequivocally answers whether he’s a player worthy of a top-five pick, someone upon whom the Jaguars can depend to rebound in 2025 and beyond.

Jeanty took three pre-draft visits: Las Vegas (No. 6 overall), Chicago (No. 10) and Dallas (No. 12). If a club wants to pay a steep price to jump ahead of the Raiders at 6, Gladstone should be their first phone call. And don’t rule out the Jaguars from picking Jeanty, either. Gladstone doesn’t believe in pre-draft visits.

Gladstone and the other 31 general managers got a letter last week from Jeanty, published last week in The Players’ Tribune. And just like his yards after contact last season, the letter led the nation in confidence. He wrote like a player who knows he’ll be the highest-drafted running back since the Giants took Saquon Barkley second overall in 2018.

“Most people, they watched the Eagles win the Super Bowl a couple of months ago, they watched Saquon run through everyone in the playoffs, and they thought to themselves, This is amazing,” Jeanty wrote. “I watched it and I thought something different. I thought, That can be me.

“If you’re wondering where I got this confidence from, I’d tell you it starts with my family. I grew up in a big, loving household — with my parents, my brother and my two sisters. Family … that’s everything to me. That’s my backbone.”

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