2020 NFL Mock Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars Select DL A.J. Epenesa at No. 20

With the 20th pick of the 2020 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select...

A.J. Epenesa, DL, Iowa

The selection and write-up were made by Schnapppi:

The Jags are in the middle of a complete overhaul on defense. They quickly dismantled the defensive core that led them to the AFC Championship a few years ago and they have a lot draft capital this year. GM David Caldwell has been around for this entire process and survived the dumpster fire that was Tom Coughlin’s tenure with the Jags. He needs to hit home runs on his first few picks or he may be gone as well. The Jags went O-Line with the 9th pick, grabbing one of the top OT prospects, so that positional need is filled. WR, DB and DL all make sense at the 20th pick here.

They’ve parted with a lot of D-Line talent recently and Ngakoue is assumed to be traded on or around draft night. Based on new Director of Player Personnel Trent Baalke’s drafts in San Fran, he seems to like drafting DL and DBs in round one and I think he will influence this pick. There will be a run on DL talent and the Jags won’t pick again until 42. The DB and WR classes are deep enough that they should be able to find talent in the second frame to fill those needs.

Epenesa makes a lot of sense here as the best player available that fits a team need. He’s drawn comparisons to Calais Campbell and Trey Flowers. He’s consistently solid in both run and pass rush, but lacks the elite speed that would move him up the first round. His play and versatility fits the Jags’ 4-3 defensive scheme. I don’t think Epenesa will be the stud that Josh Allen is, but this pick would make for a talented young pairing along their D-Line.

Pokorny: “We have our first taste perhaps of someone digging a little further down the draft board for a player (although that notion starts to lose its luster once you get into the 20s). The Jaguars have made so many changes, but with this draft, they’d attack both sides of the trenches as OT Andrew Thomas was the pick at No. 9. If they really like a player like Epenesa here, they have the luxury of taking him, knowing they’ll be back on the clock at No. 42.”

The Philadelphia Eagles are up next, led by ButCanHeSetTheEdge?.