ESPN's latest mock draft pairs electric Hurricanes cornerback Keionte Scott with the Jaguars, bolstering their secondary with speed and blitzing prowess.
The storyline surrounding who will make up the secondary depth chart for the Jacksonville Jaguars will be an intriguing one this offseason. Travis Hunter is expected to continue seeing more time at the cornerback position, safety Andrew Wingard is a free agent and 2025 third-round pick Caleb Ransaw is returning from injury but showed flashes last season.
While it's tough to gauge at the moment how aggressive the team will be with that unit this iffseason, there are plenty of draft analysts that believe the Jaguars could attack the position with their first pick of the draft in April, which comes at No. 56 -- Jacksonville traded their 2026 first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns to move up for Hunter at No. 2 overall last April.
The latest mock draft from ESPN's Matt Miller is the latest example of that, as Miller gives the Jaguars cornerback Keionte Scott out of Miami in the second round.
Miller believes a pairing of Hunter and Scott would be very fun and describes Scott as an "electric slot corner with elite blitzing skills and the speed to close on the ball."
Scott is coming off what was easily the best season of his college career that also included stops at Snow College in Utah and Auburn. He recorded 64 tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, five passes defended and two interceptions (both returned for a touchdown, one coming in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State).
At the very least, Scott would provide insurance for Jourdan Lewis, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in Jacksonville's Week 16 victory over the Denver Broncos. His status remains up in the air heading into the offseason. Lewis also missed four games last season due to a neck injury.
The Jaguars also have Montaric Brown and Greg Newsome entering free agency. That arguably leaves Hunter, 2023 6th-round pick Christian Braswell and 2024 3rd-round pick Jarrian Jones as the top three cornerbacks, pending the health of Lewis.
Scott brings plenty of speed to the table but there are questions about him needing to improve his tackling. That's pretty important if you're going to play in the slot, as you're almost playing as an extra outside linebacker and need to help fit the run.
That said, he could benefit from NFL coaching and become a better tackler and see the field easily at some point. He would maybe even have to pinch-hit for Lewis if need be.
If the Jaguars are going to address the secondary in the draft, one can argue cornerback would be more likely. Wingard is a free agent and the Jaguars could look at a player like Dillon Thieneman of Oregon, but the Jaguars do also have some in-house options in Ransaw and 2023 5th-round pick Antonio Johnson.
The Jaguars need to keep up with the top wide receivers in their division, including Nico Collins of the Houston Texans and Michael Pittman of the Indianapolis Colts. It is going to be interesting to see how the Jaguars handle the position throughout the offseason.
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