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It will be hard for the Jacksonville Jaguars to top what they did in 2025.
Not that the Jags don’t have the makings of a playoff team.
But, well, what happened last year was extraordinary.
Under a first-year coach and a former No. 1 overall pick at QB who nobody was too sure about, the Jags went from 4-13 to 13-4, a nine-game improvement, the biggest in team history. For the Jags to have the same type of improvement in 2026, they’d have to win 22 games.
The league might expand its regular season by five weeks someday, but it won’t be in 2026, so the Jags will have to do what they can in the games they do have. The best-case scenario for Jacksonville in 2026 is quite straightforward.
“The train keeps moving in Duval County,” wrote Tyler Sullivan of CBSSports. “After a 13-4 regular season that led to an AFC South title in 2025, the Jaguars repeat as division champions for just the second time in franchise history and for the first time since the 1998-99 seasons. Trevor Lawrence continues to thrive under Liam Coen, as do several key pillars on the depth chart. Brian Thomas Jr. bounces back and looks more like the top-tier wideout we saw as a rookie, and Travis Hunter settles into his role as a two-way player and begins living up to his draft status.”
It won’t be easy for the Jags to repeat as division champs.
Last season, Jacksonville needed all 13 of its wins to take the division, with the Houston Texans finishing 12-5 and winning each of their last nine regular-season games.
Houston ended up advancing further than Jacksonville did in the playoffs, smoking the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road before falling to the New England Patriots in the divisional round.
The Texans figure to be quite good again in 2026, returning almost all of a defense that finished last season allowing the fewest total yards and three points shy of the fewest in that department.
As Sullivan mentioned, Lawrence must continue to be the quarterback who, by the end of last year, was playing at an MVP level. In his last six regular-season games, Lawrence threw 15 touchdowns and just one interception, helping Jacksonville to wins in each one.
Lawrence did all of this despite his top receiver from 2024 not matching that year’s production. Brian Thomas Jr. was a monster as a rookie, going for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns on 87 receptions.
Last year, he regressed to 707 yards and two touchdowns on 48 receptions, missing three games due to injury.
This drop-off led to speculation that the Jags would look to deal Thomas.
But general manager James Gladstone emphatically denied such talk back in March, and with training camp weeks away, Thomas is still in the fold.
Jacksonville’s 13 wins were made all the more impressive by the fact that Hunter, whom the team drafted second overall in 2025, only played in seven games due to injury. Hunter being healthy, combined with Lawrence putting a full year together and Thomas bouncing back, could lead to 13 more wins for the Jags this year.
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Not that the Jags don’t have the makings of a playoff team.
But, well, what happened last year was extraordinary.
Under a first-year coach and a former No. 1 overall pick at QB who nobody was too sure about, the Jags went from 4-13 to 13-4, a nine-game improvement, the biggest in team history. For the Jags to have the same type of improvement in 2026, they’d have to win 22 games.
The league might expand its regular season by five weeks someday, but it won’t be in 2026, so the Jags will have to do what they can in the games they do have. The best-case scenario for Jacksonville in 2026 is quite straightforward.
“The train keeps moving in Duval County,” wrote Tyler Sullivan of CBSSports. “After a 13-4 regular season that led to an AFC South title in 2025, the Jaguars repeat as division champions for just the second time in franchise history and for the first time since the 1998-99 seasons. Trevor Lawrence continues to thrive under Liam Coen, as do several key pillars on the depth chart. Brian Thomas Jr. bounces back and looks more like the top-tier wideout we saw as a rookie, and Travis Hunter settles into his role as a two-way player and begins living up to his draft status.”
It won’t be easy for the Jags to repeat as division champs.
Last season, Jacksonville needed all 13 of its wins to take the division, with the Houston Texans finishing 12-5 and winning each of their last nine regular-season games.
Houston ended up advancing further than Jacksonville did in the playoffs, smoking the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road before falling to the New England Patriots in the divisional round.
The Texans figure to be quite good again in 2026, returning almost all of a defense that finished last season allowing the fewest total yards and three points shy of the fewest in that department.
As Sullivan mentioned, Lawrence must continue to be the quarterback who, by the end of last year, was playing at an MVP level. In his last six regular-season games, Lawrence threw 15 touchdowns and just one interception, helping Jacksonville to wins in each one.
Lawrence did all of this despite his top receiver from 2024 not matching that year’s production. Brian Thomas Jr. was a monster as a rookie, going for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns on 87 receptions.
Last year, he regressed to 707 yards and two touchdowns on 48 receptions, missing three games due to injury.
This drop-off led to speculation that the Jags would look to deal Thomas.
But general manager James Gladstone emphatically denied such talk back in March, and with training camp weeks away, Thomas is still in the fold.
Jacksonville’s 13 wins were made all the more impressive by the fact that Hunter, whom the team drafted second overall in 2025, only played in seven games due to injury. Hunter being healthy, combined with Lawrence putting a full year together and Thomas bouncing back, could lead to 13 more wins for the Jags this year.
Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It's free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
Continue reading...
