Jaguars make defense a priority in Coach Doug Pederson's first draft as head coach

The Jacksonville Jaguars traded away five draft picks and selected Travon Walker instead of Aidan Hutchinson with the No. 1 overall pick.

Mostly, the Jaguars' focus throughout the three-day NFL Draft that concluded Saturday appeared to be toward improving the defense around Walker.

Five of the seven players the Jaguars selected were defensive players.

Quite frankly, it seemed like Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, and coach Doug Pederson forgot the offense should have been a priority, too, especially at the skill positions.

It was a draft deep of wide receivers, but the Jaguars did not select one.

"I think the free-agent period allowed us some freedom to look at the draft a little differently than we might have pre-free agency if that makes sense," Baalke said. "Again, dealing with Coach [Pederson] and going through the process with the coaching staff, it's all about developing the best roster, the best 53. That's how we approached free agency, that's how we approached the draft."

In March, the Jaguars signed wide receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones and tight end Evan Engram in free agency. Although the three players have the talent to become impactful, it would not have hurt to add a young receiver with promise and speed who can become an outside vertical threat for quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

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Jaguars pass on drafting a wide receiver

However, one-by-one receivers who could have contributed in a big way in Jacksonville went elsewhere. North Dakota State's Christian Watson went 34th in the second round to the Green Bay Packers, Alabama's John Metchie III went 44th in the second round to the Houston Texans.

Georgia's George Pickens was selected as the 52nd pick in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. South Alabama's Jalen Tolbert was a third-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys.

"We’re not where we need to be, but we have a lot of football ahead of us to get done and get prepared for the regular season," Pederson said. "I am encouraged by what I saw (during their voluntarily offseason workouts).

"We obviously have some veteran leadership out there with guys like Christian [Kirk], Marvin [Jones Jr.], Zay [Jones] and Laviska [Shenault Jr.] and we have some younger guys that are also competing as well. I was really encouraged to see these guys really take from the classroom to the field and retain the information."

But will it be a good enough when the regular-season games start in the fall. The Jaguars led the league last season with the most dropped passes with 39 among their receivers, running backs and tight ends.

And the Jaguars averaged a franchise-low 14.9 points and had just 11 plays to go for 30 yards or more last season.

Jaguars only offensive draft selections were Fortner, Conner

Yet, the only two offensive players in the Jaguars' 2022 draft class are Kentucky center Luke Fortner, a third-round pick, and Ole Miss running back Snoop Conner.

Fortner is a talent, allowing only two sacks in 417 pass-drop snaps and grading 84.7 on run-blocking last season by Pro Football Focus.

Conner will provide much-needed depth at running back because of the uncertainty involving James Robinson, who continues to rehab from a torn Achilles injury that occurred in December and required surgery.

Pederson said Saturday that Robinson is on track with his rehab work, but he did not give a timetable when he could return.

Walker has an enormous upside

Defensively, the Jaguars got significantly better through the draft. Walker is not as polished as Hutchinson as an edge rusher, but he's athletically gifted and his potential is enormous.

To maximize his talent, the Jaguars plan to work him primarily at outside linebacker instead of playing him at multiple position as he did at Georgia.

Lloyd is probably the Jaguars' best selection in the entire draft. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season after having 111 tackles, including 22 tackles for loss, the second-most in the country, and seven sacks. He led the Utes to their first Rose Bowl appearance in school history. And he appears to ready to start immediately for the Jaguars.

Jacksonville sent their No. 33rd pick in the second round, 106th pick in the fourth round and 180th pick in the sixth round to Tampa Bay to select Lloyd 27th overall first round.

The Jaguars made a point to draft good character players and Lloyd, whose parents served in the military, exemplifies it. He was a captain for his Utah team. Third-round pick Chad Muma not only is a good character guy, he's talented even though the Jaguars double-dipped at linebacker in the draft.

At Wyoming, Muma was a two-time first team All-Mountain West player (2020, 2021) and a third-team AP All-American this most recent season.

Jaguars traded away five picks

The Jaguars made trades galore going from entering the draft tied for the most selections (12) with Kansas City but having only seven selections because of trades.

On Day 3, the Jaguars traded their No. 188 and 198 picks in the sixth round to the Philadelphia Eagles to move up to select Ole Miss running back Jared ''Snoop'' Conner with 154th pick in the fifth round.

Shortly after selecting Conner, the Jaguars announced they had traded their No. 157 overall pick (fifth round) and No. 235 overall (seventh round) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 2023-fourth round pick.

"We like this team and we like the group that’s there obviously, but as I’ve always said, you never not stop looking, never stop looking to improve each room and try to make it as competitive as you can," Baalke said. "Obviously, free agency is over and the draft is over, so now teams picked players and so are there going to be other players that come available. You’re constantly looking to create competition and improve the roster, so we’re not done."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars use draft to add talent to their defense