Column: Jalen Ramsey Trade leads to Hopeful Future for Jaguars, Uncertainty For Rams
What a day.
I knew that the possibility was there for Jalen Ramsey to get traded, but when it happened it felt weird. Jaguars fans have a tendency to stan players and stan them hard, and Ramsey quickly became a big personality for fans to stan for.
However, in the seasons following the 2017 AFC championship game, Ramsey soured on the Jaguars organization. After souring on the Jaguars, the fans followed suit fairly quickly.
Fans went from shutting down anyone that was discussing trading for Ramsey to hoping he’d never play a down for the Jaguars ever again. That trade finally happened yesterday afternoon as the Jaguars shipped Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams for a 2020 first-round pick, 2021 first-round pick and 2021 fourth-round pick.
Let’s get this out of the way — I think the Jaguars won this trade, and by a fair margin as well.
While the Rams get the best corner in the league, more is working against them than for them in this trade. Los Angeles will not have a first-round pick in the next several years. Debates can be made that moves the Rams made in the past three or four years can nullify any need to have first-round selections. But, Goff is declining, Gurley is injury prone, and the only consistent player they’ve used a first-round pick on is Aaron Donald.
This move on the Rams side seemed like a panic move, for a 3-3 football team coming off of a Super Bowl appearance a season ago. Does Ramsey improve an already stout and stacked defense? Yes, absolutely. Will Ramsey change the future and fortune of this Rams team? No.
While Ramsey is the best corner in the league, he doesn’t change the outcome of games. The glaring issue for the Rams is Gurley’s injury problems and Goff’s inconsistency issues.
For the Jaguars, they’re now in a rebuild mode - but this time is different from all the other rebuild modes they’ve been in. There are still some players on the team that the Jaguars can build around, and others they can trade away to get some value. Plus they now have two first-round picks in the next two drafts.
Ideally, I'd like to see the Jaguars try to make some kind of deal with Arizona to try and bring a veteran presence to the locker room in Patrick Peterson. Peterson could also reunite with former teammate Calais Campbell.
Free Agency will also play a huge factor in how the Jaguars use those first-round picks in 2020 and 2021. As of right now, I’d like to see the Jaguars target an outside linebacker, and ideally a cornerback as well. Offensive line and wide receiver could also be a reasonable investment.
“What about quarterback?” I hear you asking, well this season has been super interesting. I think the quarterback situation in Jacksonville as of right now is already confusing enough so adding another quarterback to the mix wouldn’t be worth in 2020.
But, maybe in 2021.
