JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars' decision to cut cornerback Dwayne Gratz to make room for cornerback Aaron Colvin leaves them with just three players from their 2013 draft class.
There's no guarantee any of them will be back next year, either.
Top pick Luke Joeckel (No. 2 overall) will miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. The Jaguars declined to pick up Joeckel's fifth-year option in May and it's unclear if Joeckel would want to come back in 2017 because the Jaguars moved him to guard and he has always played tackle. Second-round pick Johnathan Cyprien also is in the final year of his contract and has had an up-and-down career.
The only other 2013 draft pick remaining is fifth-round pick Denard Robinson, who has found a role as a special teams player and No. 3 running back.
Receiver Ace Sanders (fourth round) was released before training camp began in 2015 and cornerback Jeremy Harris (seventh round) was released in September 2015. Safety Josh Evans (sixth round) and cornerback Demetrius McCray (seventh round) were cut in August.
Secondary coach Dwayne Walker said Gratz, whom the Jaguars took in the third round, was one of the team’s better corners during OTAs and minicamp in 2015, but he didn’t follow that up in the fall. He lost his starting job and was inactive for four games and lost playing time at nickelback to undrafted rookie Nick Marshall.
Gratz made the roster this season because Colvin was suspended for the first four weeks for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. He made a critical mistake in coverage that allowed San Diego to score a 44-yard touchdown and was inactive for the Jaguars' 30-27 victory over Indianapolis on Oct. 2 in London. Josh Johnson, who spent the last two seasons in the CFL, was active instead and knocked away Andrew Luck's fourth-down pass to Dwayne Allen to help seal the Jaguars' victory.
