Here’s Reason Jaguars Have Such Valuable 2nd-Round Pick

Where Shedeur Sanders will get drafted is the single-most compelling storyline entering next week. His range of potential landing slots is as wide as the gap in Michael Strahan’s teeth. Whatever the Giants, Saints or Steelers do, the Jaguars are front-row spectators.

The Jaguars could play a starring role in where Sanders goes because they own two of the most valuable picks early in the draft, fifth overall and 36th overall. James Gladstone’s phone figures to get plenty of use from teams calling to discuss potential trades, whether those teams want to jump ahead of the Saints (9) or Steelers (21) in the first round, or desire to jump back into the end of the first round.

And since the NFL has 32 teams, some wonder why the Jaguars don’t also have the fifth selection in the second round, as they do in the first.

It’s one of the league’s oldest rules. The Jaguars are drafting fifth in the first round and fourth in the second round (36 overall) because they’re in the same segment with the Patriots and Raiders. The NFL alternates the order with each passing round for segments of teams with the same records the prior year. After the initial first-round order is determined, using strength of schedule as a tiebreaker, subsequent rounds alternate that order.

Jacksonville finished 4-13 in 2024, the same record as New England and Las Vegas. Because the Patriots had an easier strength of schedule, they draft fourth overall in the first round, ahead of the Jaguars (5) and Raiders (6). Then, in the second round, Jacksonville drafts fourth (36th overall), followed by Las Vegas (37) and New England (38).

In Round 3, Las Vegas leads that three-team segment with the fourth pick of the round (68). New England (69) and Jacksonville (70) follow. Incidentally, the Jaguars have an additional third-round selection (88) thanks to their mid-season trade with the Vikings for tackle Cam Robinson last fall.

Gladstone has made no effort to hide his excitement with regard to his plethora of draft picks in 2025 and 2026.

“The amount of draft capital that we have at our disposal over the next two seasons,” Gladstone said at his February introduction, “it's really exciting about what we can do there, especially knowing that it’s the highest volume of draft capital that exists for any team in the NFL over the next two years.

“We're coming off two cycles with the Los Angeles Rams where that was the exact same case, 24 picks over the last two drafts. So, really this is a dynamic that I'm uniquely positioned to navigate and really looking forward to utilizing as a means of continuing to develop this roster.”