2023 NFL Draft: Which OL Does Todd McShay Mock to the Jaguars at No. 24?

Does this offensive lineman make sense for the Jaguars at No. 24 overall?

Leaving the NFL Scouting Combine, the Jacksonville Jaguars have a clear picture of the present. 

With just a week ahead of the next wave of free agency, general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson know the Jaguars must level up after a wildly impressive 2022. 

“I think it’s everything. You try to keep your core together. You try to sign as many of your free agent players as you can," Pederson said at the combine. 

"This business, you know you’re going to lose some. We try to sign them all if you can. We’ve got some talented guys that we’d like to have back, but we’ll wait and see, see how the process plays itself out. I think the difference for us is these are really good players we’d like to have back, then you build through this process. You build through the draft and just add depth and talent that way.”

With this in mind, it is clear the Jaguars are looking at the 2023 NFL Draft as their best way to improve. 

The most important resource the Jaguars have at their disposal this offseason is the No. 24 overall pick -- the first of nine picks Pederson and Baalke will use to beef up their roster ahead of a 2023 run. 

“If we had the first pick three years in a row, it’d be someone else standing here," Baalke joked during his combine podium session. 

"There’s a transition. Obviously, picking one, there’s an advantage to picking one. There’s obviously, as we know, a disadvantage to picking one. Now we’re sitting at 24. We’ve got to stack the board appropriately and look at what’s available. The decisions don’t get any different; you’re just picking a little later in the draft.”

Among those decisions: should the Jaguars address the offensive line with the No. 24 pick? That is what ESPN's latest mock draft from Todd McShay projects for them, creating an interesting hypothetical ahead of free agency. 

Sitting at No. 24 and with the impending free agency of starting right tackle Jawaan Taylor facing them squarely in the face, McShay has the Jaguars go for Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright. 

"If the Jaguars let Jawaan Taylor leave in free agency, Wright could be the replacement at right tackle opposite Cam Robinson. He plays with great balance and is outstanding as a run blocker,"

McShay wrote. 

"At 6-5 and 333 pounds, he ran a 5.01 in the 40-yard dash, showing his quicks. I liked what I saw at the Senior Bowl, too. Wright would help keep quarterback Trevor Lawrence upright and open up seams for running back Travis Etienne Jr. as the Jaguars continue to emerge as a player in the AFC. He allowed just one sack in 2022."

The offensive line is certainly an area of focus for the Jaguars entering the 2023 offseason. Pederson noted at the combine how many players are coming off injuries, and if Taylor hits free agency then that just creates another potential hole up front. 

But the Jaguars do have options, specifically in third-year lineman Walker Little. Pederson said Little has value because he could slide into either tackle spot and also potentially at guard, which opens the door for the Jaguars to take a Taylor replacement in a true right tackle at No. 24, play Little at guard for a year, and then move him to left tackle in 2024.

Players McShay had the Jaguars passing on were interesting, however, including Oklahoma offensive lineman Anton Harrison. Wright was ultimately mocked as the fourth offensive tackle off the board.