With the 2026 season barely here, the Jaguars already have a few players carrying real weight into Week 1 against the Browns. Some are trying to answer questions about their game. Others are trying to answer questions about their role, their health, or even their future.
Brian Thomas Jr. is near the top of that list. The former first-round receiver is coming off a season that fell well short of the numbers he posted the year before, even if there was plenty of context around it.
Injuries, the makeup of the receiver room and a very different role from his rookie year all mattered. Still, the noise around him never really stopped, and it kept building through the draft when it became obvious the Jaguars had no interest in moving him.
The offseason has given Thomas a chance to reset. The staff and Trevor Lawrence praised the way he handled last year’s issues, and that carried onto the practice field.
He looked like the best player during spring OTAs, his timing with Lawrence appeared to take another step, and he brought that momentum into what was probably his best training camp as a pro. He enters Week 1 healthy, but in a crowded receiver group, the conversation around his production may not disappear anytime soon.
If he gets back to being the difference-maker he was as a rookie, those 2025 questions start fading fast.
Travis Hunter is in a different kind of spotlight, and it never really turns off. The pressure comes with the Jaguars’ massive trade package to get him at No. 2 overall, and it comes with the fact that he is trying to do something that has been debated for years: play both cornerback and wide receiver at the NFL level.
He looks set to open the season as a starting corner and a part-time receiver, which will keep the criticism coming. But if he can become a true shutdown No. 1 corner while still giving Jacksonville something on offense, the Jaguars will at least start to feel better about the price they paid for the former Heisman Trophy winner.
Either way, all eyes are on him.
Anton Harrison also enters the season with plenty on the line. The fourth-year offensive tackle is making the first position switch of his career, moving to left tackle to protect Trevor Lawrence’s blindside.
That alone brings pressure. Add in the fact that he has a chance to set himself up for serious money, and the stakes get even higher.
The Jaguars already picked up his fifth-year option, and now he gets a chance over the next two regular seasons to keep raising his value. Harrison answered a lot of questions last year.
This season, he gets a shot to answer even more.
The backfield is another spot with real uncertainty. The Jaguars may not even have a clear lead back for the Browns in Week 1, and whoever takes those carries will be stepping into a job with big shoes to fill after Travis Etienne’s departure.
That puts both Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. under pressure right away. Tuten, a fourth-round pick a year ago, has a chance to show he can grow into a true RB1 after a limited rookie role.
Rodriguez has spent his career as a backup, and Jacksonville may be his best shot to get close to becoming a genuine lead runner. For both backs, 2026 could be a major turning point.
Travon Walker is not in a contract year after getting his extension this offseason, but the pressure on him is still huge. He remains a central piece of the Jaguars’ defensive scheme because he can set the edge against the run and move around as a pass-rusher. Last season showed how much the defense missed him when injuries took him off the field and the pass rush lost its punch.
Josh Hines-Allen is still one of the league’s best pass-rushers, but when Walker was out, offenses focused their blocking almost entirely on him. Walker can change that balance.
He can give Jacksonville a second high-level edge threat and help create more one-on-ones for Hines-Allen. If Walker stays healthy, he could again be one of the most important faces of the franchise.
In Other News...
Browns QB Pressure Is Building Faster Than Fans Expected
The Browns quarterback picture is still taking shape heading into Week 1, and it is already generating more discussion than most teams would want at this point in the calendar. Deshaun Watson is the starter, but the conversation around him has become less about the job being secure and more about how quickly the coaching staff will start weighing other options if the opening stretch does not go as planned.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com noted the possibility of rookie Taylen Green working his way into the QB2 spot, while Shedeur Sanders could end up inactive as the depth chart sorts itself out. For a team trying to settle a room that has been in flux, the uncertainty matters, especially with the pressure on Watson expected to be immediate and the backup roles still far from settled. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Camp Just Changed Several Week 1 Roles In A Big Way
Training camp always reshuffles a few depth-chart assumptions, and this one has already nudged the Jaguars into a different look heading toward Week 1 against the Browns. Travis Hunter has been used more on defense at cornerback, while rookie guard Emmanuel Pregnon has moved into a starting role up front. On the other side of the ball, BJ Green has claimed a meaningful edge-rushing job, giving Jacksonville a few new pieces to sort through before the games count.
The surprises have not stopped there. Branson Combs has worked his way from the practice squad into a defensive role, and Ameer Abdullah has pushed past expectations in the running back group. For a roster still taking shape, those developments matter because camp jobs are rarely handed out for long and the early-season pecking order can change fast once the Jaguars start lining up against Cleveland. [Read more 🡒]
Travis Hunter Could Change Everything For Jaguars In One Unexpected Way
Travis Hunter is already the kind of player who forces a team to think bigger about how it wants to use him, and ESPNs Ben Solak sees that possibility carrying into Jacksonvilles 2026 outlook. In Solaks view, the Jaguars most important swing piece could end up being Hunter on defense, where his cornerback traits give him a chance to disrupt throws, create turnovers and tilt games in ways that do not always show up in a box score.
The wrinkle is what happens on the other side of the ball. Hunters value as an offensive option figures to depend heavily on how the Jaguars receiver room holds up, since his workload there could stay relatively light if the group stays healthy. If injuries start to pile up, though, the conversation around how much Jacksonville can ask of him may change quickly, which is part of what makes his role one of the more intriguing questions on the roster. [Read more 🡒]