From the earliest mock drafts leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft night itself, most pundits and experts had Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham heading to the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 5th overall pick. We all know now that the Duval Devout are still celebrating the blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Browns that put the Jags at pick #2 to eventually take Travis Hunter while the Browns retained Graham.

At the end of the draft weekend, we would find out that the Jaguars not only passed on picking a defensive tackle in the first round, but they skipped selecting that position altogether. Literally every other position group was addressed in the draft except for quarterback and special teams. Jacksonville even made another move addressing the edge, bringing in former Miami Dolphin Emmanuel Ogbah.

In light of this, what can be interpreted by the new front office featuring first-year general manager James Gladstone and their first-year head coach Liam Coen? The production from the defensive interior was something fans and experts alike abhorred — why wouldn’t they make an adjustment to the roster?

Perhaps it’s because the current roster isn’t what this front office thinks was the problem? Gladstone was most recently a Los Angeles Rams assistant GM for a team that previously played veteran defensive tackle Arik Armstead when he was still a San Francisco 49er twice a year — perhaps one of the toughest forces they faced in that division since Aaron Donald was one of the players Gladstone was involved with.

Also, as part of the talent evaluation process in the Rams front office back then, Jaguars rookie Maason Smith would have been a player he previously evaluated in an effort to find players that would help Los Angeles cope with life after Donald.  In short, Gladstone is already familiar with Armstead and Smith before setting foot to interview for his current position with Jacksonville. He would know quickly if he wanted to prioritize keeping these players — or parting with them.

So then, if the current Jag’s front office hasn’t prioritized changing the part of the roster, what might they think the problem was? — Coaching.

Whether it was putting Armstead at defensive end too often, constant rotation throughout the field on defense, or some combination of these and other factors, this front office believes that they can get production out of this position group with defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, who Ryan Nielson and company couldn’t last year. In the end this is why Graham was never going to be the pick for the Jags.