With Jaguars training camp only 15 days away, the offseason is basically in the books, and it’s time to sort through who’s walking into Miller Electric Center with momentum and who’s got more to prove.
Start with Trevor Lawrence, because this has been a strong offseason for him in just about every way that matters. The Jaguars kept his play-caller, coordinator, and quarterbacks coach in place, and he’s also heading into camp with what looks like the best group of weapons he has had in his NFL career. Add in what was arguably the best offseason program of his career, and the outlook is trending up fast.
That doesn’t mean the job is done for Lawrence. The expectations around him are high, and he still has to carry his share of the load. But if he builds on where he finished, he should be in as good a position as he’s been in since Jacksonville made him the No. 1 pick in 2021.
James Gladstone also comes out of the offseason looking good. That may sound odd after the Jaguars’ last few weeks included the departures of Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd in free agency and plenty of noise around the selection of tight end Nate Boerkircher at No. 56 overall. But the bigger picture says this was one of Jacksonville’s cleaner, more efficient offseasons, and Gladstone was the one steering it.
The Jaguars had real reasons not to pay Etienne and Lloyd, and letting both leave brought back draft picks, along with a third for Greg Newsome. The front office used money and resources in other places, including wide receiver, offensive tackle, cornerback, and edge defender. That’s the kind of roster building that makes sense.
One of the more interesting names to watch is Ruke Orhorhoro. Jacksonville’s biggest offseason hole may have been the depth at three-technique behind Arik Armstead. Maason Smith didn’t give the Jaguars what they wanted last season, and once Armstead dealt with injuries in the second half, nobody else stepped up enough.
The answer was to trade Smith for the former Atlanta Falcons second-rounder, and the Jaguars didn’t do much else at the spot. That puts Orhorhoro in line for every chance to win a real role in the defense, whether that happens this year or later.
Travis Hunter is another clear winner, and his path is pretty obvious. He looks set to open the season as the Jaguars’ No. 1 cornerback, and the upside there is enormous. The talent is there for him to become one of the NFL’s best at the position, and the current depth chart should let him settle into that role quickly.
It would be a surprise if Hunter wasn’t the top cornerback on the roster this offseason, even by Week 1. Jacksonville has opened the door for him to become a lockdown corner, and he should have a real shot to walk straight through it.
At receiver, Hunter still has a defined role, but it’s not the same one he had a year ago. Last training camp, he was clearly the Jaguars’ No. 2 receiver behind Brian Thomas Jr. This time, Thomas is still there, but Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers are in the mix too.
Hunter will still get his chances and make plays on offense, but the bigger piece of his value now appears to be on defense. That’s a shift from where things stood a year ago, even if it isn’t a bad one.
The Jaguars’ two veteran guards are also staring at an uncertain future. Jacksonville has used top-100 picks on guards in back-to-back years, which says plenty about where the team sees the position going. Ezra Cleveland and Patrick Mekari are still the current starters, but the additions of Wyatt Milum and Emmanuel Pregnon make the long-term picture pretty clear.
Milum looks closer to starting than Pregnon, but the message is the same: the Jaguars believe those two are the future at guard. That leaves Cleveland and Mekari with a shrinking window.
The pass-rush depth chart is another area where Jacksonville is betting on coaching and development. The staff earned a lot of trust after what it did with the defense last season, but the solution here was still a gamble: drafting defensive ends in the fourth and seventh rounds and leaning on Danny Striggow and B.J. Green, two undrafted free agents from last year.
Striggow and Green both flashed as rookies, but now the Jaguars need much more from them. If it works, the front office will look sharp. If it doesn’t, this could end up being one of the riskiest moves of the offseason.
And then there’s Cole Van Lanen, who remains one of the biggest questions on the roster. Training camp is close, but there still isn’t much clarity on his timeline. He barely showed up even working off to the side during the offseason program, and Jacksonville hasn’t said much about injuries over the past year and a half.
That means nobody really knows how close Van Lanen is to returning until he actually returns. The Jaguars do have tackle depth with Walker Little, who already has plenty of NFL starts and was viewed as the franchise left tackle this time last year. But Van Lanen’s Week 18 injury is still hanging over the team, and it won’t go away until he’s back on the field.
In Other News...
Jaguars Suddenly Linked To A Veteran Fix For A Lingering Problem
The Dolphins have been quiet since the draft, but that does not mean the roster is finished changing before training camp. With Miami in a retooling phase and a veteran linebacker on an expiring deal, the possibility of a move has started to circulate, and it is the kind of depth-market situation that can draw interest from teams looking for an immediate fix rather than a long-term project.
Jacksonville fits that general profile after losing Devin Lloyd in free agency and needing more help in the middle of the defense. Bleacher Report floated a deal built around a late 2027 pick, which is the sort of modest price that can make sense for a team trying to patch a problem quickly, but the bigger question is whether the Jaguars decide the fit is worth acting on before the market tightens. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Camp Tickets Open Soon For Fans Wanting First Look At 2026
The Jaguars are giving fans an early look at 2026 training camp, with open practices set to begin July 29 at the Miller Electric Center. Tickets will be free, but they will require advance registration, and the team is staggering access so season ticket members get the first shot before the general public later that day.
The schedule is built to feel like more than a routine camp calendar, with multiple open practices, a Teal & White Game and joint work against outside competition. For supporters who want a closer view of how this roster starts taking shape, the first ticket window on July 15 should be the one to watch, especially with the most anticipated dates likely to go fast. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Defense Faces Its Biggest Identity Test After Losing A Takeaway Star
The Jaguars defense spent much of 2025 living off takeaways, a formula that helped cover for low sack totals and kept the unit among the leagues more disruptive groups. Jacksonville finished the regular season with 31 takeaways in 17 games, and when it won the turnover battle, it usually won the game too, going 8-1 in those spots. A big part of that identity came from Devin Lloyd, whose knack for being around the ball gave the defense a playmaking edge it could not always create with pressure alone.
Now the challenge is whether that edge can hold after Lloyds offseason departure. The Jaguars still have the framework of a defense that understands how to hunt the football, and Antonio Johnsons second-half rise helped keep the turnover production from falling apart late in the year. But replacing a player who shaped so many of those game-changing moments is a different task entirely, and it leaves Jacksonville with a real identity test heading into the next phase of the roster build. [Read more 🡒]