JACKSONVILLE – The Jaguars focused on offensive skill in Round 1.
They stayed busy on Day 1 again, too.
Brian Thomas Jr., a wide receiver from Louisiana State University, on Thursday night was selected by the Jaguars No. 23 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Jaguars traded from No. 17 overall to acquire the selection.
The Jaguars traded No. 17 to the Minnesota Vikings and received from the Vikings Selection No. 23 (Round 1) and No. 167 (Round 5) in the 2024 NFL Draft and third- and fourth-round selections in the '25 draft.
This marked the third consecutive draft in which Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke executed a Round 1 trade. The Jaguars traded back twice in the 2023 NFL Draft before selecting right tackle Anton Harrison at No. 27 overall. They also traded into Round 1 to select linebacker Devin Lloyd at No. 27 overall in '22.
Thomas (6-feet-2, 209 pounds), who played three seasons at LSU and entered the draft as an early-entry junior, was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and a third-team All-America selection in 2023. He led FBS in 2023 with 17 touchdown receptions, scoring in 10 of 13 games.
He caught 68 passes for 1,177 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2023.
Thomas became the sixth LSU player selected by the Jaguars in the NFL Draft, the first since edge K'Lavon Chaisson (Round 1, 2020).
Thomas also became the fifth wide receiver selected by the Jaguars in Round 1 of the NFL Draft. They previously selected Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State, No. 5 overall, 2012), Matt Jones (Arkansas, No. 21 overall, 2005), Reggie Williams (Washington, No. 9 overall, 2004) and R. Jay Soward (Southern California, No. 29 overall, 2000) in their respective first rounds.
The Jaguars hold eight more selections in the '24 draft: Round 2 (No. 48 overall), Round 3 (No. 96 overall), Round 4 (No. 114 overall), Round 4 (No. 116 overall), Round 5 (No. 153 overall), Round 5 (No. 167 overall), Round 6 (No. 212 overall) and Round 7 (No. 236 overall).
The draft early was offensive-heavy, with offensive players selected with the first 14 selections. The selections before the Jaguars' selection at No. 23 went as follows:
1,Chicago Bears (Caleb Williams, quarterback, Southern California); 2, Washington Commanders (Jayden Daniels, quarterback, Louisiana State); 3, New England Patriots (Drake Maye, quarterback, North Carolina); 4, Arizona Cardinals (Marvin Harrison Jr., wide receiver, Ohio State); 5, Los Angeles Chargers (Joe Alt, offensive tackle, Notre Dame); 6, New York Giants (Malik Nabers, wide receiver, Louisiana State); 7, Tennessee Titans (JC Latham, offensive tackle, Alabama); 8, Atlanta Falcons (Michael Penix Jr., quarterback, Washington); 9, Chicago Bears (Rome Odunze, wide receiver, Washington); 10, Minnesota Vikings (J.J. McCarthy, quarterback, Michigan); 11, New York Jets (Olumuyiwa Fashanu, offensive tackle, Penn State); 12, Denver Broncos (Bo Nix, quarterback, Oregon); 13, Las Vegas Raiders (Brock Bowers, tight end, Georgia); 14, New Orleans (Taliese Fuaga, offensive tackle, Oregon State); 15, Indianapolis Colts (Laiatu Latu, edge, UCLA); 16, Seattle Seahawks (Byron Murphy II, defensive line, Texas); 17, Minnesota Vikings (Dallas Turner, edge, Alabama); 18, Cincinnati Bengals (Amarius Mims, offensive tackle, Georgia); 19, Los Angeles Rams (Jared Verse, edge, Florida State); 20, Pittsburgh Steelers (Troy Fautanu, offensive lineman, Washington); 21, Miami Dolphins (Chop Robinson, edge, Penn State); 22, Philadelphia Eagles (Quinyon Mitchell, cornerback, Toledo).
