5 Observations on the Ronnie Harrison Trade and What It Means for the Jaguars

For the second time since Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars have traded a defender who has spent extensive time as a starter. Earlier in the week it was defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, and this time around it was third-year safety Ronnie Harrison.

Jacksonville traded Harrison to the Cleveland Browns for a 2021 fifth-round draft pick on Thursday afternoon, just the latest move in what has been a complete reset of Jacksonville's roster by head coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell.

So with Harrison now out of the picture, what takeaways can we have from the team's latest trade? We examine below.

Jaguars don't exactly get great return of investment on Harrison draft selection

While a fifth-round pick makes sense in terms for value for Ronnie Harrison considering he has had an inconsistent first two years in the league, it can't go unnoticed that this move represents some extremely poor drafting by the Jaguars. Jacksonville drafted Harrison with the No. 93 overall pick just three years ago, taking him over players such as Chris Herndon, Avonte Maddox and Nyheim Hines.

Fast forward to Thursday, and the Jaguars turned that third-round pick into a fifth-round pick for years later and 22 starts, 103 tackles, three interceptions, 12 pass deflections, three sacks and one fumble recovery. While you can make the argument that the Jaguars got a draft pick for someone they had no future plans for, it still speaks volumes about their draft process that they picked someone in the third round to just ship him out after barely over a season of starting. Harrison flashed during his time in Jacksonville, but even getting a fifth doesn't help make this pick look any better today.

Jacksonville makes a roll of the dice on its safety depth

With Harrison no longer locking down the Jaguars strong safety spot, the Jaguars have several options to replace him, such as Brandon Watson, Andrew Wingard, Daniel Thomas, J.R. Reed and former second-round pick Josh Jones. The only issue is the Jaguars may be hard-pressed to prove that any of those options can give the Jaguars more production or consistent play than Harrison provided.

Why is that? Well, practices have largely been without full contact during training camp. Add in the fact that there are no preseason games, and it is hard to think the Jaguars are making this move without a lot of projection involved. The Jaguars could have simply started one of those players over Harrison this year instead of dealing him, which would have gave them more insurance at safety, but they are instead opting to roll ahead with the unknown. This is some blind faith by the Jaguars coaching staff and front office, but only time can tell if it is the right call.

Jaguars strangely get same value for Harrison as they did for Calais Campbell

The consistency of player value in trades never really makes sense in the NFL. We have seen kickers get traded for higher picks than valuable skill players, and it truly seems like each team really goes by their own individual rules when it comes to trading players for picks. But that doesn't make it any less strange that the Jaguars got the same value for Harrison, a young but inconsistent safety, as they did for Calais Campbell, who has made the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons and is one of the best run stoppers in the NFL.

Players who got traded for more valuable picks than Harrison include Dante Fowler and A.J. Bouye, which makes sense considering their pedigrees and positions, and quarterback Nick Foles. Foles isn't a better quarterback than Harrison is a safety, but quarterbacks will always have their value inflated, especially in the case of Foles. It is interesting, however, that the Jaguars could get a fifth for Harrison but could not even get a conditional late round pick for Leonard Fournette.

This point isn't to knock the Jaguars, but more so to show how strange trades can be in this league. Nobody would value Campbell and Harrison on the same level, but in the eyes of the NFL transaction sheets, they cost their respective teams exactly the same.

Jaguars continue to stock up on picks for 2021

The Jaguars now have 11 picks entering the 2021 NFL draft, which is is the second time since 2007 the Jaguars have double-digit draft picks, with the first time coming in 2020. Four of those picks are within the first two rounds, while nine of them are within the drafts first five rounds. The Jaguars are just one year removed from selecting a franchise-record 12 players, so already having 11 picks for next season before Week 1 kicks off is significant.

The Jaguars, of course, should not declare themselves winner of any drafts just because they have plenty of picks. The Jaguars need to prove they can use their draft picks in efficient and responsible manners, something they haven't exactly done in recent years. For example, how much would it matter for the Jaguars to get a third-round pick when one of their most recent third-round picks was Harrison?

Jacksonville has plenty of picks to make a move up the board if they eye a quarterback or a separate franchise-changing player next year. They have all of the draft ammo in the world ahead of 2021, just like they did this past draft. Now, they need to actually put the picks to good use.

Leadership in Jacksonville throwing out the draft pedigrees when evaluating the roster

If we are to believe the notion that the Jaguars are making moves such as releasing Fournette and trading Harrison based off of just football reasons and what they are seeing on the field (which is admittedly not a rock-solid explanation), then we can believe the Jaguars are no longer caring about draft pedigrees. Considering where a player was drafted often wins players starting jobs for years (see Blake Bortles), it is significant for the Jaguars to transition to a philosophy where they will judge a player based off of what they do now, and not how they were brought in.

Head coach Doug Marrone has continued to say he is looking at only what players are putting on tape now when evaluating the roster, and the Harrison move backs this up to a degree. Harrison has had a better NFL career than any other player on the team's roster, but other players have had better camps. If the Jaguars are to continue this mantra, however, they will have a tough decision to make with wide receiver Dede Westbrook.

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