Jaguars Challenge the Consensus Board on Day 2 of the NFL Draft

That level of deviation points out a clear organizational tendency, which seems to be mirrored by General Manager James Gladstone: while the consensus draft board generally defines value across the league, certain teams may be far more willing to ignore it, instead betting on their internal evaluations, even when it means stepping well outside the industry’s comfort zone. “Strategically bold.“

This brings us to your 2026 Jacksonville Jaguars, who notably took a few big swings in the 2026 NFL Draft, with surprisingly aggressive selections in three of the team’s opening four picks. While there are multiple consensus big boards available online these days, we went with the NFL Draft Industry Consensus Big Board to evaluate the Jaguars’ draft picks. This big board does not include fan mock draft data, simply using a compilation of rankings from different draft boards around the industry, such as:

• Pro Football Sports Network (PFSN)
• Bleacher Report (BR)
• CBS Sports
• ProFootballFocus (PFF)
• The Athletic
• Todd McShay
• Yahoo Sports
• Daniel Jeremiah

2026 Jaguars vs NFL Draft Industry Consensus Big Board

Note: A negative draft variance reflects value added to the team, indicating that a player was selected later than where the industry broadly ranked them (i.e., a roster addition at a savings). A positive number signals a reach, with a team selecting a player earlier than analysts projected in the pre-draft process.

Fan Reactions

With no first-round pick in hand due to the 2025 Travis Hunter trade, the Jaguars’ decision to go sharply against the grain with their first two selections drew immediate scrutiny, especially as neither pick addressed the team’s most glaring 2025 weakness: the interior pass rush. That combination of positional prioritization and consensus deviation did not sit well with a large portion of the fanbase on Friday, who likely expected a more direct investment in the pass rush department, an outside cornerback, or a linebacker to help Anthony Campanile’s defense.

JaxSouthsider

And now an undersized NT who’s best at run defense in a draft with a ton of NT depth when what we really need is interior pass rush.

This is absolutely terrible. I have to go to bed. I questioned if Gladstone was a good drafter before tonight. Now I question if he’s better than Gene Smith

acedarney

I’ll admit that I haven’t watched him play closely, but this feels like another reach for a backup player in the top 100.

cverbra814

I was confident we had found our HC in Coen by Week 4 of last season. I am still waiting for Gladstone to give me a reason to believe in him.

Spider2Y_Bother

I’ll say this: if you were in the camp of “positively skeptical” about James Gladstone’s draft capability this pick did little to ease your concerns

With a whopping seven (7!) selections remaining on Saturday, the team has ample opportunity and ammunition to shift the fan narrative.

What were your thoughts on the opening two days of the draft, Duval?