The NFL season is nearly at the halfway mark, and one Jaguars rookie has already separated himself from the rest of the third-round class.
Sports Illustrated’s Justin Melo put together a ranking of the 11 best third-round rookies so far, and Jacksonville guard Emmanuel Pregnon checked in at No. 1.
Taken No. 88 overall, Pregnon has locked down the left guard spot for the Jaguars, starting all six games after winning the job in training camp. He has been on the field for 382 offensive snaps and has not been charged with allowing a sack.
Melo praised the pick, writing, "One of the more puzzling events of the 2027 NFL Draft was seeing Emmanuel Pregnon slide to No. 88 overall," Melo wrote. "We had a borderline first-round grade on the dominant college guard.
The Jacksonville Jaguars pounced on his draft-weekend slide and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup. Pregnon is helping anchor a 4-2 offense, and hasn't been credited with giving up a single sack so far."
Pregnon arrived in the league after a standout final season at Oregon, where he earned first-team All-American honors. He started 15 games for the Ducks and posted a 98% pass-block win rate on 446 pass-blocking snaps, helping an offensive line that finished as a Joe Moore Award finalist.
His rookie year has not been spotless. Through six games, he has allowed 12 pressures and been flagged six times, with some uneven moments in pass protection. Even so, there have been encouraging signs, including Week 3, when he did not allow a pressure on more than 30 pass-blocking snaps against New England’s Milton Williams and Christian Barmore.
And in a third-round group of 36 players, with only about 10 to 12 already earning meaningful rotational roles, Pregnon standing at the top says plenty about how well his transition has gone so far.
In Other News...
Brian Thomas Jr. Is Suddenly At Center Of A Jaguars Trade Idea
A speculative trade idea has put Brian Thomas Jr. in the middle of a conversation the Jaguars probably did not expect to be having this early in the season. Fox Sports analyst Steven Ruiz and ESPNs Ben Solak both floated a potential swap with Kansas City that would send Xavier Worthy to Jacksonville and Thomas the other way, framing it as a way for both teams to address different needs through two receivers with very different profiles and contract situations.
For the Jaguars, the notion is especially striking because Thomas has quickly become the kind of player around whom teams build, not one they casually place into hypothetical deals. Nothing has been announced by either club, and this remains firmly in the realm of outside speculation, but the proposal is still notable because it shows how highly Thomas is valued and how much attention Jacksonvilles receiver room is drawing beyond its own building. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars May Need One Bold Trade To Fix Their Biggest Weakness
The NFL trade market is already starting to shape the conversation around how the Jaguars can patch up their roster, and the defensive line sits near the top of the list. Under general manager James Gladstone, Jacksonville has shown a willingness to explore trades, which makes this a natural place to look if the team wants a quicker fix than waiting for the draft or free agency to do the heavy lifting.
Players such as Payne and Ojomo are the kinds of names that make sense on paper because of their fit and contract situations, but this is still a matter of possibility rather than something concrete. For a Jaguars team trying to strengthen its front, the question is whether the right deal is out there and whether Jacksonville is ready to be aggressive enough to pull it off. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Lawrence Faces More Pressure With Jaguars Receiver Uncertainty
Jakobi Meyers status has become one more thing for the Jaguars to sort through as they get ready for Indianapolis, with the veteran receiver listed questionable because of hamstring and ankle injuries. If he cannot go, Jacksonville may need to lean more heavily on Brian Thomas Jr., whose name has already surfaced in trade chatter, even as the team shows no indication it is entertaining offers for him.
For Trevor Lawrence, the timing adds another layer of pressure in a matchup where the passing game could be asked to carry more of the load. The Jaguars will also be without safety Antonio Johnson, leaving the roster a little thinner on both sides of the ball as they try to steady things against the Colts and keep the focus on the field rather than the speculation around one of their top young receivers. [Read more 🡒]