Having lost four-year starter Travis Etienne to the Saints in free agency, the Jaguars could target a running back early in the draft. The Jags will try to move up in Round 2 for Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price if he “starts to slip,” Tony Pauline of Essentially Sports reports.
Thanks to last year’s Travis Hunter trade, the Jaguars will enter this week’s draft without a first-round pick. They are set to make their first selection at No. 56, five spots below where Dane Brugler of The Athletic places the 51st-ranked Price among this year’s prospects. Jacksonville boasts a total of 11 picks, including three in the third round, which could create the opportunity to go up for Price if the team covets the 5-foot-10, 203-pounder.
Price is widely considered the No. 2 back in this class, trailing Fighting Irish teammate and slam-dunk early first-rounder Jeremiyah Love. While playing second fiddle to Love from 2024-25, Price averaged over 6.0 yards per carry on 233 attempts and racked up 18 rushing touchdowns. With Love also serving as a major receiving threat, Price caught just 15 passes in college, but he made a significant impact in the third phase of the game. As a kick returner last year, Price averaged a tremendous 37.5 yards on 12 runbacks and found the end zone twice.
In the event the Jaguars do not land Price, they will address the position in the third round, according to Pauline, who points to Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson as a potential option. The Jaguars “like” Johnson, who dazzled last year en route to first-team All-America honors. Johnson rushed for the fourth-most yards in the nation (1,451) on 251 attempts, scored 15 touchdowns (12 on the ground, three in the air) and caught 46 passes. He is Brugler’s fourth-ranked RB heading into the draft.
Adding a running back in the draft would be the latest investment in the position for the general manager-head coach tandem of James Gladstone and Liam Coen. With Gladstone and Coen in charge for their first draft last year, they spent a fourth-rounder on Bhayshul Tuten and a seventh-rounder on LeQuint Allen. Those two remain in the mix, and the Jaguars picked up ex-Commander Chris Rodriguez on a two-year deal with a fully guaranteed $6.2M in free agency. Tuten, Allen and Rodriguez could soon have company in the form of Price, Johnson or at least one other rookie.
Well, finally all of the “trade down” teams have heard some good news.
Solid rbs on day 2 a plenty. If not price they can get Coleman or Washington jr.
I would just go with Johnson or Allen.
Depending on how much it would cost the Jags to move up I’d agree, however if it’s not egregious, price is in a different class than the 2 psu boys as much as I like them too
The Jags were one of the few teams I had an accurate read on entering last season and if my crystal ball is still working I see a regression happening this season. Not sure why they tried to fix something that wasn’t broken. Etienne gave Trevor the support he needed so letting him walk made no sense.
Yes ETN was very good, but you cannot pay everyone. Tuten is a Stud and can do everything ETN could do and is faster and more explosive and is on a rookie contract.
Plus the Jags wanted to extend Walker and are working on extending Strange and Washington.
Those were the more pressing needs bud!
Tuten averaged just 3.7 yards per carry and you would expect an explosive RB to have a longest run greater than 15 yards. We’ll see if he progresses with a larger work load.