5 Observations on Jaguars' Pre-Draft Comments

The Jacksonville Jaguars are in the home stretch.

The 2025 NFL Draft is just a little over a week away, Jaguars head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone are ready to put put the finishing touches on one of the most important draft classes they will ever work on.

"We have the scouting staff on-site and in the building for the first time this week, so kind of rounding out a lot of the conversations we've had with the coaching staff over the last month, and really allowing the cement to settle and start to harden here as we creep towards the night one of the Draft, that fifth overall selection," Gladstone said to kick off the Jaguars' pre-draft press conference on Tuesday.

So, what did we learn from the Jaguars' leadership duo in the 25-minute remarks? We break it down below.

The Jaguars know where the receiver value is

Jacksonville has at times been a mock draft spot for a wide receiver at No. 5 overall, but it certainly does not seem like that is much of a priority. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen was complimentary about this year's receiver class, but also went on to say it is more or less missing the top-end talent of most years.

“I think there's some good, sound, solid players at a few different spots, where there's always some ball-in-hand athletes. Also, a couple of guys that can win 50/50 balls. There are some really good football players all throughout this draft at the position," Coen said.

"I wouldn't say it's maybe as sparkling as some other Drafts, right, where you do see there's a couple of good ones up there. We feel good about some of the guys a little bit later on that can contribute for us, definitely a position we'd be looking for.”

The value in this receiver class has always been on Day 2, especially from the position the Jaguars sit at No. 5 overall. The Jaguars would be wise to skip out on adding a receiver at No. 5 overall, and it sure seems to be tracking like they are going in that direction.

The most interesting omission

Coen was asked one question about how the team's pass-game weapons stack up as of today outside of Brian Thomas Jr, and he went on to name Dyami Brown, Parker Washington, Brenton Strange, the running backs ... and that was it. This made for a clear omission in the form of veteran wide receiver Gabe Davis, a big free agent addition by the last regime.

Davis ended the year with a nasty injury and it remains to be seen when he will be back on the field, which certainly could be one reason Coen did not include him in his outlook of the passing game. But on the other hand, it could also be telling about how the Jaguars view Davis when it comes to the pecking order.

The Jaguars are OK with being different

The most talked-about topic when it comes to the Jaguars' draft process has been their stance on pre-draft visits with prospects. While most teams conduct top-30 visits, the Jaguars have yet to hold a single top-30 visit and have instead opted to use different means to get to know players deeper on a personal level.

"I think there's a lot of layers to not doing those facility visits that you all are accustomed to, top 30 visits as they're phrased," Gladstone said.

"It goes back a while in my experience. Let's take it this direction: the implicit bias that can come to life this late in the process, the last player you might sit down with, and how that might differ from the first player you sit down with knowing it's closer to the decision that's upcoming."

It is clear this is not how every team operates, and it is even more clear the Jaguars will likely catch some flak here and there for not doing things the traditional way. But it is also clear the Jaguars do not care about the perceptions -- they care about their process, which they trust in. Time will tell if they are right, but they at least have conviction.

How the Jaguars are approaching athletic testing

With the increase every single season of top prospects who are not participating in athletic testing, it is becoming more and more important for teams to get their information in different ways. For example, in this class alone there are zero athletic metrics from the combine and pro days on top prospects such as Mason Graham, Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, and Ashton Jeanty.

As Gladstone would go on to explain, the Jaguars are adept at using other ways to track athleticism. It certainly seems like the Jaguars are a team that will put a ton of stock into combine warriors because they will trust a different set of metrics instead, which could be one reason the Rams skip the combine each year.

"I think many people are leaning in a different direction than just strictly those testing and measurement marks. Certainly, it's helpful when you can compare apples to apples from one player to the next. Data tracking for us and on-field speeds is going to weigh much differently than a 40-yard dash," Gladstone said.

Jaguars keeping No. 5 pick under wraps

Nobody would expect for Gladstone and Coen to take the podium on Tuesday and reveal whether they intend to draft Mason Graham at No. 5 or anything close to that. Still, the Jaguars made sure to play things close to the vest and didn't give out even the smallest of hints of what they are looking at with the No. 5 pick, outside of maybe that they won't be taking a wide receiver.

There have been nuggets dropped at these conferences before, mind you. In 2022, for example, Trent Baalke made it clear that the team did not view Aidan Hutchinson as the consensus top player in the draft and that they were very high on Travon Walker. This time around, though, no such nuggets.