JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — NFL rosters have been finalized, and now one step closer to the regular season and the return of “real” football. Before the Jaguars made any cuts, they offloaded two offseason linemen by way of trade. James Gladstone sent Fred Johnson to the Eagles and Luke Fortner to the Saints, a couple of savvy moves by the first-time general manager.
Now that the Jaguars’ roster has been set, what can we take away from the 2025 cast? Well, there are a lot of new faces. I mean a lot. Of the Jaguars’ final 53, a whopping 23 are new to the team this offseason. That’s a roster return of just 56.6%, far lower than the league average of 66.5%. For context, that’s a five-player difference.
Who the Jaguars are turning over matters too. The majority of the change comes on the offensive side of the ball. As it sits, just 50.7% of the Jaguars’ 2024 snaps will return on offense this coming season.
Both the offensive line and skill positions have seen massive overhauls. Five of the nine Jaguars’ offensive linemen are new, as are six of the team’s 12 skill position players. There will be plenty of opportunity for playing time as the Jaguars look to replace 49% of last year’s snaps on offense
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On the defensive side of things, the Jaguars are far more set and will return 73.6% of last year’s snaps. The entirety of their starting front seven returns, as do seven of the team’s defensive backs. The only “new” starters on defense look to be Jourdan Lewis and Eric Murray, both on the back end.
A valid question to be asked, is that enough rollover on defense? This is a unit that ranked dead last or nearly dead last in just about every possible metric last year. How much will a change at defensive coordinator help this defense improve?
While the starters are much the same, there is now deep depth (Yogi Berra would be proud) across the defense. Emmanuel Ogbah, Dawuane Smoot, and Khalen Saunders bring a veteran presence, while Travis Hunter, Jack Kiser, and BJ Green II enter as inspiring young talents.
James Gladstone has made a statement this offseason. Last year’s roster simply wasn’t good enough, and he’s brought in a plethora of new faces all over in hopes of making a quick return to the playoffs. A tremendous effort was made this offseason to improve this team; now it’s time for that effort to translate on the field.
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