I don't know what the future holds for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but I know that James Gladstone will reach as far as he can to bring them to the horizon. In a baffling, confusing, and sobering move, Gladstone selected Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher with the 56th overall pick. For reference, I had Boerkircher being available in the sixth round in a mock draft I did back in March.
ESPN has him ranked as the 13th best player at his position and the 159th best prospect overall. This is a terrible pick. There is no optimistic way to look at it. To make matters even worse, the only veteran who's remotely threatened by Boerkircher's arrival is a player who barely draws any attention from defenders in the passing game.
Hunter Long's days are numbered after the Jaguars drafted Nate Boerkircher
In 2025, Hunter Long had 12 receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns. But, you know what, at least he did that at the NFL level. In his final season as a collegiate athlete, Boerkircher hauled in 19 catches for 198 yards and 3 scores. That's right, the Jaguars spent their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on a player who barely outperformed a guy who was brought in to give Brenton Strange a break and support the run game.
On paper and on the depth chart, Boerkircher does nothing to fix the issues Jacksonville had during its worst slumps of the 2026 season. Even if Boerkircher flips the run game's fortunes single-handedly, Gladstone had three picks to grab him with in the third round.
Gladstone watched defender after defender come off the board and didn't use any of his capital to grab a player who could replace Devin Lloyd or collapse the middle of the pocket to help Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker hit the quarterback.
As the second round comes to a close, one has to wonder what Gladstone's plan for the draft actually is. Elevating the floor only means so much when you've done nothing to get better at the very top of the roster.
There are questions at offensive guard, inside and outside linebacker, and defensive tackle; and the team's safety situation could be better. Because I've accepted that the Jags will be using a running back by committee approach, I don't even expect them to pick one of the best backs available in the third round.
I hope Hunter Long is ready for the battle of his life come training camp, because I can't see how a team pressed against the salary cap keeps multiple blocking tight ends at the same time. Especially when one is getting paid like a second-rounder.
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