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Following the initial free agency waves, what questions are still lingering for the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Overall, it was a very quiet free agency period for the Jaguars. However, with 11 draft picks, including four selections in the top 100, the opportunity to bolster the roster and add immediate help is still exists for the Jaguars.
But until we see what this final offseason roster looks like and, truthfully, until this team takes the practice field for training camp, there will be a few unknowns still surrounding this team.
Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker can be highly disruptive -- we know that. But at two position groups -- defensive end and defensive tackle -- that are relatively heavily rotated, more overall consistency is needed from those units.
Behind Hines-Allen and Walker, the defensive end rotation needs more competition added to it, which hopefully elevates the play from those in the middle to the back end of the depth chart. At defensive tackle, from top to bottom of the depth chart, more pass rush juice is needed.
Last season, while the Jaguars boasted the NFL's stingiest run defense last season, Jacksonville ranked 18th in pressure rate and 27th in sacks.
The draft will have to be where the Jaguars give their pass rush an added boost.
As productive as the Jaguars' offense was down the stretch last season, the run game struggled to consistently get going. Jacksonville finished the 2025 season ranked 27th in yards per rush attempt.
A good run game keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations, it means more play-action opportunities, and generally speaking, it opens up the playbook for Liam Coen and Trevor Lawrence. When an offense is regularly operating from short down-and-distances, that unit has the upper hand over a defense.
If the offensive line can create more steady running lanes, that will open up the offense even more and help this unit reach a new level.
With Etienne and Lloyd playing elsewhere, there is now a lot of production for the Jaguars to replace on each side of the ball. Etienne rushed for over 1,100 yards and totaled 14 touchdowns. Lloyd did a bit of everything defensively as he earned second-team All-Pro honors.
Now, the Jaguars were prepared for these departures. Last April, James Gladstone drafted Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, while also signing Chris Rodriguez. Gladstone also recently detailed the plan at linebacker without Lloyd.
However, just because there are plans in place to replace that production, we ultimately still have to see how that all unfolds on the football field. And until then, unknowns will remain.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: NFL free agency: 3 lingering unknowns still facing Jaguars
Continue reading...
Overall, it was a very quiet free agency period for the Jaguars. However, with 11 draft picks, including four selections in the top 100, the opportunity to bolster the roster and add immediate help is still exists for the Jaguars.
But until we see what this final offseason roster looks like and, truthfully, until this team takes the practice field for training camp, there will be a few unknowns still surrounding this team.
Will the pass rush be more consistent this season?
Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker can be highly disruptive -- we know that. But at two position groups -- defensive end and defensive tackle -- that are relatively heavily rotated, more overall consistency is needed from those units.
Behind Hines-Allen and Walker, the defensive end rotation needs more competition added to it, which hopefully elevates the play from those in the middle to the back end of the depth chart. At defensive tackle, from top to bottom of the depth chart, more pass rush juice is needed.
Last season, while the Jaguars boasted the NFL's stingiest run defense last season, Jacksonville ranked 18th in pressure rate and 27th in sacks.
The draft will have to be where the Jaguars give their pass rush an added boost.
Can the run game improve?
As productive as the Jaguars' offense was down the stretch last season, the run game struggled to consistently get going. Jacksonville finished the 2025 season ranked 27th in yards per rush attempt.
A good run game keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations, it means more play-action opportunities, and generally speaking, it opens up the playbook for Liam Coen and Trevor Lawrence. When an offense is regularly operating from short down-and-distances, that unit has the upper hand over a defense.
If the offensive line can create more steady running lanes, that will open up the offense even more and help this unit reach a new level.
How well do the Jaguars overcome not having Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd?
With Etienne and Lloyd playing elsewhere, there is now a lot of production for the Jaguars to replace on each side of the ball. Etienne rushed for over 1,100 yards and totaled 14 touchdowns. Lloyd did a bit of everything defensively as he earned second-team All-Pro honors.
Now, the Jaguars were prepared for these departures. Last April, James Gladstone drafted Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, while also signing Chris Rodriguez. Gladstone also recently detailed the plan at linebacker without Lloyd.
However, just because there are plans in place to replace that production, we ultimately still have to see how that all unfolds on the football field. And until then, unknowns will remain.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: NFL free agency: 3 lingering unknowns still facing Jaguars
Continue reading...
