The Jags are all-in.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are all in — ALL the way in. On Monday the team completed its third major trade of the day, and its biggest one yet, getting DT Jordan Davis from the Eagles in a truly blockbuster deal.
Jacksonville will send its 1st round pick in 2027, and a 2nd round pick in 2029, according to Adam Schefter, marking a massive overhaul to the Jaguars’ defensive line after making a separate deal for Davon Godcheaux of the Saints. This is in addition to the trade they made to kick off Monday, sending a 2nd round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for safety Jessie Bates, who is in the final year of his contract.
This deal marks a massive improvement up front over Ruke Orhorhoro, but it’s comes with significant risk too. Jacksonville is pushing all their chips to the center of the table, and they best be right that they’re as close to winning a Super Bowl as they think.
Jacksonville Jaguars grade: C+
Jordan Davis is a solid run-stopping defensive tackle, but isn’t a unicorn talent. While he is good at meeting ball carriers at the point of attack, he’s a below-average pass rusher and doesn’t really meet his opponents downfield. What we’re essentially looking at is a Top 15 player at his position as run stopper, and below average against the pass.
This is not the kind of player who is worth a 1st and 2nd round pick unless you’re absolutely sure he can be your missing piece. Obviously the Jaguars seem to think so, but the Colts felt the same way when they gave up two first round picks for Sauce Gardner a year ago. Look how that one worked out.
Jacksonville is obviously a better team in 2026 than Indianapolis was a year ago, but the vibes are along the same lines. It’s a big, brash move, dripping in confidence, but it’s unclear if the team has earned that spot just yet. Davis is designed to help them specifically stop the elite running backs they could face in the playoffs, like James Cook and Kenneth Walker — which is great, but nothing is a foregone conclusion at the moment.
The Jags are currently 6-2, a great spot to be in, but they have played a soft schedule up to this point, where their two losses came against the best competition they faced in Denver and Houston. All six of Jacksonville’s wins have come against teams with a combined record of 24-29. Sure, you can only play the teams in front of you — but that could also lead to a miscalculation that you’re a lot better than you think you are, and it’s here the grade falls a bit.
When we get down to it, trading a 1st and 2nd for Jordan Davis is an overpayment. If this doesn’t result in a Super Bowl win, then we’ll be talking about this a lot around the 2027 NFL Draft when the Jaguars don’t have a 1st round pick for the second straight year because they made a trade.
Philadelphia Eagles grade: A
I am always going to give a big-time writer’s tilt when it comes to teams accepting the position they’re in. When news first emerged that the Jaguars traded a 1st and 2nd for an Eagles DT we all assumed at SB Nation that Jacksonville was getting Jalen Carter, not Jordan Davis.
Philly gave up a player they can replace and got a significant return. This was a very smart move for a team that doesn’t have a shot in 2026 and is playing for next year. Their picks in 2027 can help address their much larger need concerns along the offensive line, and simply improve the team from the bottom up — which needs to happen.
This is an example of an incredibly well-oiled franchise taking advantage of a team desperate to make an impact. It wasn’t neccesarily a seller’s market on run stopping DTs, but they made it one anyway.