JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With the NFL Combine now just a week away and free agency less than a month, it’s about time to take a step back and review. Where are the holes on this Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster? What can the Jaguars do to get back into the playoff conversation?
Luckily, the team has a lot of draft capital. According to The Harvard Sports Analysis Collective’s metrics, the Jaguars have the second most draft capital of any team, armed with 10 selections.
Let’s take a look at the Jaguars’ team needs and what positions the Jaguars might target this offseason.
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Interior Offensive Line
The Jaguars are anything if not consistent. Another year and another team need along the offensive line. The Jaguars’ offensive line actually performed admirably in pass protection, allowing the fifth least pressure in the NFL at just 27.4%.
While they might have handled business in pass-blocking, their run-blocking left something to be desired. The Jaguars finished 32nd in the NFL in yards before contact per attempt, just 0.9 yards per NextGenStats.
Despite this, Jaguars RBs still managed to gain 3.3 yards after contact, in large part thanks to Tank Bigsby.
Liam Coen saw immediate success in Tampa in the run game. Hopefully, he can do the same in Jacksonville. First, he will have to find the heir to Brandon Scherff’s right guard spot as the veteran is headed to free agency.
Defensive Tackle
This might just be the Jaguars’ biggest need as fans witnessed 17 games of disappointing pass rushing in 2024. While Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker both placed Top-15 in pressures, according to NextGenStats, the defensive interior was sorely lacking.
Pro Football Focus noted the Jaguars had the lowest interior pressure rate of any team. Even with one of the league’s top pass-rushing tandems, the Jags still finished 30th in pressure % and sack %.
There is hope for the defensive line in 2025. Arik Armstead is headed back inside after an interesting season outside on the edge and rookie Maason Smith really came on strong to end the 2024 season.
Even so, I’d expect the Jaguars to really go all-in on targeting a pass-rushing interior defender this offseason.
Wide Receiver
While this need isn’t as necessarily as drastic as some of the others on this list, the Jaguars do need some more support for both Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr.
With the return of Gabe Davis, Christian Kirk, and Evan Engram and the intrigue of Parker Washington and Brenton Strange, one might get the idea that the Jaguars should be in decent shape headed into 2025.
That might not be the case, however, as Kirk and Engram might be victims of cap casualties. Quickly, it could become a much thinner group. Gabe Davis’ introduction to Jacksonville didn’t inspire much confidence either.
While injuries certainly played a part, the Jaguars still struggled outside of Thomas Jr. as the WR room averaged just 3.3 yards after the catch. Even with Thomas Jr., the unit still only finished 29th in contested catch opportunities.
Thomas Jr. likely is the outside, deep threat, however, a crafty WR who specializes in the intermediate, middle-of-the-field area could take this passing attack to the next level in 2025.
Cornerback
The Jaguars' defense was as porous as our square, yellow friend who lives in a pineapple under the sea. It was as ugly as it’s ever been in Jacksonville, finishing bottom of the league in just about every metric.
At the forefront of the struggles were the pass-rush and secondary. We’ve discussed the pass-rush, now it’s time for the secondary.
First and foremost, I want to note a huge bright spot, that being rookie CB Jarrian Jones. As I noted in an article last week, Jones was one of just five cornerbacks to not allow a single touchdown in the 2024 season.
Aside from Jones, it wasn’t pretty. Tyson had an up-and-down season, while Ronald Darby and Montaric Brown largely struggled. In fact, the Jaguars allowed more yards (2,059) to targets from an outside alignment than any other team.
The cornerback position is what many identify as the team’s biggest need and rightfully so. The team hopes for a revival from Campbell and growth from Jones, however a second boundary defender is desperately needed in Jacksonville.
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