The Jacksonville Jaguars are so close to making it all work. They fell apart last season, but through the first eight weeks, they were 6-2 entering their bye. The 49ers shellacked them coming out of the bye. They picked up two wins against the Titans & Texans, and then they proceeded to lose five of their last six games. The Jags took two offensive pieces in the draft, so let’s take a look at Brian Thomas & Keilan Robinson’s rookie year fantasy football prospects.
FULL 2024 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS DRAFT RESULTS
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 23 | Brian Thomas, Jr. | WR | LSU |
| 2 | 48 | Maason Smith | DT | LSU |
| 3 | 96 | Jarrian Jones | CB | FSU |
| 4 | 114 | Javon Foster | OG | Missouri |
| 4 | 116 | Jordan Jefferson | NT | LSU |
| 5 | 153 | Deantre Prince | CB | Missouri |
| 5 | 167 | Keilan Robinson | RB | Texas |
| 6 | 212 | Cam Little | PK | Arkansas |
| 7 | 236 | Myles Cole | EDGE | Texas Tech |
Round 1, Pick 23 Overall: Brian Thomas, Jr., Wide Receiver, LSU (6’3” 209 lbs)
[Note: The following is an excerpt from our Round One Instant Reaction piece.]
Talent:
Brian Thomas is 209 pounds and ran a 4.33 40-yard dash at the combine. That’s .02 seconds slower than Troy Franklin, who he has over 30 pounds on. He’s an athletic marvel, and he isn’t just a freak at running in a straight line. Thomas is adept at various routes, and he is a fun player with the ball in his hands. He can chew up the field if defenders give him space, and if he can’t get away from them, he is an extremely adept high-point receiver, as well. He could have had better numbers, but Jayden Daniels kept betraying him. He’s always looking for YAC, which is an incredible trait to already have, as he is extremely comfortable on the field, and has the proprioception to catch the ball while being fully aware of the players around him at the catch point.
He’s a raw route runner, and he sometimes gets a bit of boneheaditis, but he is an athletic specimen who can make highlight catches as well as being able to get 10+ receptions if he needs to be called on. He thrived at LSU with a presumptive top-ten pick across from him, he will do fine in Jacksonville with Christian Kirk & Gabriel Davis in the room.
NFL Comparison: George Pickens
2024 Opportunity:
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a wide receiver room bereft of a WR1. They lost Calvin Ridley this offseason, and Christian Kirk & Zay Jones are better suited as WR2/WR3 in an ideal situation. He will cap off this offense with someone who could be a true #1 for them in 2024, and grow with Trevor Lawrence. Calvin Ridley vacated 136 targets (the fourteenth-most in the NFL) and 1792 air yards (the eighth-most in the NFL). The Jags went out and got Gabriel Davis in free agency, but we saw in 2023 just how little you can rely on Davis. It’s more likely that Davis moves Zay Jones down the depth chart than it is he takes that opportunity away from Brian Thomas.
2024 Outlook:
Brian Thomas feels like the kind of guy who gets lost in the shuffle for 2024 drafts because he isn’t sexy like the top-three guys, and he isn’t going to go to a situation where he is going to be the WR1, like Adonai Mitchell in Buffalo. I like him as a mid-round pick who should provide solid upside thanks to his big play ability and his opportunity with a good offense and quarterback that will allow him to produce right away. The Jaguars’ offense feels like it’s primed to take full advantage of Thomas’ skill set.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 5, Pick 167 Overall: Keilan Robinson, Running Back, Texas (5’8” 191 lbs)
Talent:
Keilan Robinson is probably too small to do anything in the NFL outside of a Nyheim Hines or Tarik Cohen role. He’s shifty in the open field, and he has good hands, so he will probably thrive in said role. That having been said, it’s likely that he maxes out at 100 carries in any given season due to that size. He is a home run-hitting back, who lacks the ability and size to grind it out on a down-to-down basis. That having been said, he could find his way into an explosive third-down role with a team that wants to dedicate that to him.
2024 Opportunity:
Keilan Robinson is going to be a lesser version of Travis Etienne, meaning that he likely isn’t going to be making it onto the field as long as Etienne is healthy. It’s a strange draft choice, likely because they feel like they can give Tank Bigsby one more year as the RB2 before inevitably giving up on him. Robinson’s only value would be as a scat back, but Etienne is a better pass catcher than Robinson.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
The fantasy football season is long and aggravating, but if you end up turning to Keilan Robinson, then your season is already over.
