With free agency closing in and this year's NFL draft another five weeks away, we're taking a closer look at what has become of the Jacksonville Jaguars' draft selections from 2025.

The Jags took nine players last year, starting with cornerback/receiver and Heisman Trophy-winner Travis Hunter as the No. 2 overall pick.  

The team then took back-to-back picks in the Round 3 -- defensive back Caleb Ransaw at No. 88 and at No. 89 offensive lineman Wyatt Milum. The Jags' first choice in Round 4 was running back Bhayshul Tuten out of Virginia Tech as the 104th overall selection; their other fourth-round selection was linebacker Jack Kiser (107th overall).

Jacksonville mined two gems from Round 6 last year, including safety Rayuan Lane III with the 200th overall pick.

In this profile, we showcase the Jags' first sixth-rounder and the 194th overall draftee, linebacker Jalen McLeod out of Auburn.

In his five years of college football, McLeod played his first three at Appalachian State before transferring to Auburn. The Washington, D.C. native made barely a blip on the radar of recruiters as a prep player, in a scenario that echoes the experiences of urban school-boy athletes like Arthur Agee in "Hoop Dreams."

McLeod helped lead Friendship Collegiate Academy to back-to-back D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association state titles in 2018 and 2019. As a senior, he finished with 60 tackles, 10 sacks, five forced fumbles, four interceptions and 15 quarterback hurries, and was tabbed honorable mention on the (now defunct) Washington Post sports desk's all-metro team.

In college, McLeod's talents as a linebacker excelled at the edge. He grew into his 6-foot-2, 240-pound frame, developing his speed and technique, and finally at Auburn, he worked his way into the starting lineup and stayed there.

As a junior, McLeod totaled the Tigers' second-most tackles, with 50, 10.5 tackles for loss, and 5.5 sacks. His senior season in The Plains, again under coach Hugh Freeze, McLeod finished with 57 tackles, 13.5 TFL and eight sacks for a Tigers team that ended the season 5-7. McLeod was named to the All-SEC Fourth Team. (Freeze was fired in November 2025 after leading Auburn to a 6-16 record against SEC teams in his three years with the Tigers.) 

Fourth-team All-SEC isn't exactly a selling point, and so McLeod used invitations to the 2025 Senior Bowl and the NFL combine to make a better case for himself.

While combine analysts projected McLeod as a sixth- or seventh-round pick, they were also consistently surprised by his fight at outside linebacker.

"McLeod plays with the might of a player in a much bigger weight class," NFL draft expert Lance Zierlein said, summing up the Auburn senior's performance at the combine. Zierlein docked the prospect for falling below size standards for his position, and for what was seen as his less-than-stellar foot quickness, agility and speed.

"It’s easy to discount McLeod based purely upon his traits," Zierlein finally acknowledged. "But he simply makes too many plays to ignore."

Waiting until deep into Day 3 at the 2025 draft to hear his name called didn't dampen McLeod's enthusiasm to get started in Jacksonville. 

"I'm hungry," McLeod told reporters after the Jags chose him on Saturday, April 26. "I can’t explain how ready I am to get on that field, to be around, to show my talents and to make sure the Jags know they’ve got a pick that’s worthy to be on a field with everybody."

McLeod's hunger and readiness will have to wait until the 2026 season. Though McLeod impressed in training camp, an ankle injury sent him on injured reserve in late August, during roster cutdowns. He remained sidelined, with fellow rookie Caleb Ransaw, for the entire 2025 season.

The Jaguars did open his 21-day practice window in mid-December, and he attended limited practices ahead of Jacksonville's Week 18 game versus the Tennessee Titans. But the 23-year-old was ruled out and returned to IR.

Speaking to reporters on Jan. 14, in the team's recap of the season, general manager James Gladstone took a positive view of the rookie defenders the Jags selected from last year's draft.

"[We] got some contributions from Day-3 players, which is always a helpful piece to the puzzle. In particular with Jalen McLeod, not unlike Caleb (Ransaw)," Gladstone said. "Not getting a chance to step on the grass was not ideal, but nonetheless getting experience and taking steps throughout his recovery process in a way that makes you feel optimistic about what the future holds for him."

In defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile's schemes, McLeod spent the summer and three weeks of limited practices late in the season at strongside linebacker, where he's likely to line up again for spring's OTAs.

Campanile expressed his confidence in McLeod in December, just days before the team ruled the rookie out for Week 18 and sent him back to injured reserve.

"I just want to see him play hard as hell," Campanile told reporters on Dec. 18. "I want to see him go out and play like he did in the summer -- do what got you here.

"Go out there and kick in practice. We always watch that, and that always jumps out."

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Coming up in our "Whatever Happened to Jags' Class of 2025" series, we'll look at Jacksonville's next selection from Round 6, safety Rayuan Lane III out of Navy.

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