Following a pair of disappointing seasons, the Jacksonville Jaguars decided to clean house early in 2025, hiring Liam Coen and James Gladstone as the head coach and general manager, respectively. Right off the bat, the duo has moved on from several mistakes the past regime made and has wasted no time infusing the roster with much-needed talent and depth.
But despite their offseason overhaul, the Jags are still flying under the radar. Then again, this is understandable when you take into account that they went in 4-13. Moreover, the fact that the bar has been set relatively low for them could turn out to work in their favor.
After all, the consensus doesn't project Jacksonville to make the playoffs. On the other hand, there are analysts who think it will exceed expectations. Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report is one of them.
Gagnon took a look at every NFL team's win-loss totals for 2025 and picked the over or under for each one of them. At 7.5, he chose the over for the Jags, noting that they underperformed last year, and the Houston Texans are vulnerable. Here's the skinny.
"On the surface, that would make the over here a no-brainer, especially as Houston had bad injury luck last year," Gagnon wrote. "But do consider the talented Jaguars underperformed and lost both of their meetings with the Texans, who also swept a Colts team that should be better as well in 2025."
Gagnon continued, "Now, the Texans have one of the 10 most difficult schedules in the league, and Stroud will be adjusting to more big changers along an offensive line that let him down as a sophomore and could still be problematic in Year 3."
This leads Gagnon to believe that finishing 9-8 might be enough for the Jags to seize the AFC South title and make the playoffs next season. For context, he picked the under for Houston (9.5 wins) and the over (7.5) for the Indianapolis Colts.
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Why the Jaguars are in a position to exceed expectations
Just recently, former Jaguars tight end Evan Engram raised eyebrows when he called out his past team for not having discipline, stating that it wasn't hard to be the first player to show up to practice. While it might've stung, he isn't entirely wrong. The past regime didn't foster a culture of hard work. Heck, Doug Pederson didn't seemingly have an active role in coaching the team, instead letting his coordinators run practice.
That coaching staff is gone, and Liam Coen is quickly doing a great job of pushing players the right amount, not too much or too little. On the other hand, general manager James Gladstone bolstered pretty much every position across the roster. What stands out about the moves he made is that he didn't break the bank but rather looked for value in free agency, something his predecessor, Trent Baalke, rarely did.
Among the biggest acquisitions the Jaguars made in the offseason were cornerback Jourdan Lewis, wide receiver Dyami Brown, and right guard Patrick Mekari. The crown jewel of the bunch may be Travis Hunter, a game-changing talent that has the potential to change the landscape of sports. Couple that with the return of franchise building blocks as Trevor Lawrence, edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen, budding star Brian Thomas Jr., and linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, and the Jags are poised to make noise.
Of course, the Jags don't operate in a vacuum. Their AFC South foes have also done their best to add reinforcements in the offseason, but the Houston Texans appear to be vulnerable, which could, in turn, leave the AFC South up for grabs.
The Jaguars may or may not ultimately be able to seize the AFC South. However, they have as good a chance a their division rivals, and nobody should bat an eye if they exceed expectations in 2025.