Late July always brings the same temptation: start with the stars. The Jacksonville Jaguars have plenty of those, but the real story for this roster is how much they’ll need from the players lower on the depth chart once camp gets going.
That’s where the backups come in. And for Jacksonville, a handful of them look far more important than the label suggests.
Caleb Ransaw is the clearest example. He was the first non-Travis Hunter selection in the Jaguars’ new era, taken in the third round a year ago, and he still hasn’t made his NFL debut. A foot injury in training camp ended his season before it ever really began, and that makes his 2026 role one of the more interesting storylines on the roster.
The Jaguars are in solid shape at safety with Eric Murray back and Antonio Johnson stepping into a bigger role after splitting time as the third safety and a spot starter last season. That likely leaves Ransaw in a similar kind of job, which means he may not be in the first 11 on Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.
But that doesn’t make him a minor piece. Jacksonville leaned on three-safety looks a lot last year, and Johnson still regularly played north of 40% of the snaps in games where he filled that third-safety role.
If Ransaw inherits that job, he’ll matter plenty.
Walker Little is another player whose status depends on how the line settles over the next few weeks. It’s hard to say whether he’s a starter or a backup until camp gets closer and the Cole Van Lanen situation becomes clearer. For this exercise, Van Lanen gets the starter tag because the Jaguars paid him last year and had him in the lineup before his injury.
Even so, Little remains a big-time piece. He’s the kind of tackle who has looked like a starting left tackle more often than not in his career, even if 2025 was a step down from his earlier seasons.
Whether he ends up back at left tackle or slides inside to guard, he gives Jacksonville real value. The next few months will decide exactly where that value shows up.
At tight end, there’s no real mystery about the top spot. Brenton Strange just got paid for a reason.
That makes rookie Nate Boerkircher the likely No. 2, and his arrival says something about how the Jaguars want to use their personnel in 2026. The pick points toward more 12 and 13 personnel looks, which gives Boerkircher importance even if he never becomes a headline player.
His receiving volume is still to be determined, but the blocking value is already obvious. As a rookie, that alone should get him on the field.
Jacksonville doesn’t need splashy numbers from him to get something meaningful out of his role. He’s part of what makes Liam Coen’s offense more flexible in his second year.
Wyatt Milum also fits the category of a backup who could end up being much more than that. Patrick Mekari enters camp as the starter at right guard, so Milum gets counted here, even though he deserves a real chance to push for the job. He didn’t play much as a rookie, but he’s healthier now, stronger now, and in a better place than he was during the first weeks of camp a year ago.
His value comes from how many spots he can cover. Guard looks like his best fit, but he can help at tackle too, and that versatility makes him one of the more useful reserves on the offensive line.
If he doesn’t win the right guard job, he still projects as a top backup across multiple spots. There’s also still a path for him to make a second-year leap and claim a starting role.
Then there’s Ruke Orhorhoro, the defensive tackle the Jaguars added in the trade with the Atlanta Falcons for Maason Smith right before the draft. He hasn’t posted eye-popping numbers early in his career, but this move gives him a fresh chance in a place that may fit him better.
Jacksonville needs the help. The depth behind Arik Armstead and DaVon Hamilton is thin, and that showed up during the 2026 season.
Orhorhoro brings something the Jaguars haven’t always had from backup defensive tackles in recent years: real traits and pass-rush upside. If he can help the interior rush alongside Armstead, that front could become even more dangerous.
How far he goes from there will depend on his run defense, and whether he becomes more than Armstead’s third-down partner. But if he has the kind of year that turns heads, he could head into 2027 as the starter at three-technique.
In Other News...
ESPN Just Put The Jaguars Pass Rush Under A Bigger Spotlight
ESPNs Mike Clay put the Jaguars edge rusher group in the spotlight entering 2026, and it is easy to see why. Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker give Jacksonville a legitimate top-end duo off the edge, the kind of pair that can shape a defense if both are on the field and playing to their level.
The bigger question is what comes after them. Jacksonville is leaning on a mix of rookies and undrafted players to fill out the rotation, and last seasons numbers showed why that matters, with the pass rush finishing 18th in pressure rate and 27th in sacks. If Walker stays healthy and the supporting cast gives the starters real help, this group has a chance to look a lot different in 2026. [Read more 🡒]
Travis Hunter Is Giving The Jaguars A Rare Cap Advantage
The Jaguars are entering 2026 with an unusually light financial footprint at cornerback, and the structure of the roster is a big reason why. Jacksonville has $17.819 million allocated to the position, a total that ranks 27th in the league and accounts for just 5.9% of the cap, with Jourdan Lewis carrying the largest cornerback hit at $6.599 million and Montaric Brown coming in at $3.92 million because of the way his deal was built.
Travis Hunter is the real wrinkle in all of it. His $10.6 million cap hit is filed under wide receiver, not cornerback, which means the Jaguars get the benefit of his two-way profile without it inflating the teams spending at one of the most expensive spots on the field. For a roster trying to balance premium talent with cap flexibility, that kind of accounting matters, and it gives Jacksonville a rare bit of breathing room as it manages the rest of the secondary. [Read more 🡒]
James Gladstones Riskiest Jaguars Calls Suddenly Look A Lot Smarter
James Gladstones first offseason in Jacksonville came with no shortage of nerve, and the early returns are making those calls look a lot less like gambles and a lot more like a reset. Moving on from Christian Kirk and Evan Engram cleared cap space and opened the door for younger pieces to matter, with Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and Brenton Strange all helping fill roles the Jaguars needed stabilized.
The ripple effects have gone beyond just playing time. The Kirk move also brought back a 2026 seventh-round pick from Houston, and that asset eventually helped Jacksonville trade up for Baylor wide receiver Josh Cameron, another sign that the front office is trying to turn every roster decision into future flexibility. For a team trying to build something sustainable, the bigger question now is whether these early bets are the start of a smarter roster cycle or just the first layer of it. [Read more 🡒]