A potential No. 1 pick and the top pass rusher in the 2025 NFL draft class fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a recent mock draft from CBS Sports.
Recently, on the 'With the First Pick' podcast, a year-round draft podcast over at CBS Sports, draft analysts Ryan Wilson and Mike Renner alternated picks and put together a first-round mock draft.
And somehow, Penn State's Abdul Carter fell to the Jaguars at pick No. 5. Below is how the first four picks ahead of Jacksonville played out, pushing Carter down several spots:
Jets (trade with Titans): QB Cam Ward
Cleveland: IDL Mason Graham
Giants: CB/WR Travis Hunter
Patriots: OT Will Campbell
The Jaguars already have Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker on the edge, but this would be an easy pick to make for Jacksonville, and you figure out playing time and the rotations afterward.
Listed at 6-3 - 252 pounds, Carter had a huge 2024 season, totaling 66 pressures and 13 sacks. He also graded out well against the run by PFF's metrics.
Compared to the rest of his position group, Carter was second in pressures, fifth in sacks, and fourth in pass rush win rate. He also had the ninth-mos run stops as well.
"I'm taking the best player here," said Renner. "I'm shooing positional need because if you're the Jaguars you'll find that elsewhere. Just get talent on this roster."
On both sides of the football, a priority for new head coach Liam Coen this offseason will be improving the Jaguars play at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Defensively speaking, the Jaguars ranked 32 in ESPN's pass-rush win rate metric and 27th in run-stop rate.
"That's where it starts," said Coen of the trenches in his first press conference. "To go win playoff games and to go and do it, you've got to be able to run the football and stop the run, first and foremost."