In James Gladstone's first year as the general manager, the Jacksonville Jaguars put together a well-rounded roster. However, the crack began to show throughout the regular season. Fast forward to 2026, and the front office already has a list of needs to address. Cornerback and the pass rush are arguably the biggest ones, but they are far from the only ones.
Defensive tackle isn't brought up nearly enough, but it was clear during the season that the Jags will need to add reinforcements at the position if they want to do a better job of applying pressure in 2026. Fortunately, Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus just made an appealing suggestion.
The Jaguars are being urged to deraft Lee Hunter to fortify the D-Line 56
Max Chadwick drew up a list of ideal draft picks for each NFL team and chose nose tackle Lee Hunter for the Jags, noting that the former Texas Tech Red Raider would give their interior pass rush a boost.
"Jacksonville failed to address its defensive tackle group in last year's draft despite it being one of the team's biggest needs," Chadwick wrote. "The Jaguars cannot afford to do the same this year, as none of their interior defenders ranked even in the top 45 in PFF overall grade."
Chadwick continued, "Hunter's 84.5 PFF run-defense grade this season ranked eighth among FBS defensive tackles. He's a better pass rusher than one would expect for a 330-pounder, placing second in the Big 12 with 26 pressures this year."
A four-star recruit out of high school, Hunter began his collegiate career at Auburn before transferring to UCF in 2022 and later to Texas Tech. He finished the 2025 season with 31 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, and three sacks.
Hunter has top-notch upper-body strength and has shown pass-rush capabilities. On the other hand, Matt Holder of the Bleacher Report scouting department points out that he's a waist bender, and his athleticism leaves a bit to be desired.
Nevertheless, Holder compares Hunter to New York Giants 2017 second-round pick Dalvin Tomlinson, noting that his dearth of athleticism and less-than-ideal get off may limit his contribution on passing downs.
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Lee Hunter would give the Jaguars a boost at defensive tackle
As much as the Jaguars need to add a pass rusher in the offseason, they cannot neglect the interior trenches. Arik Armstead got off to a strong start in 2025 but faded down the stretch. Meanwhile, Maason Smith regressed after an encouraging finish to this rookie campaign. To make matters worse, the Jags didn't get much production from rotational piece Austin Johnson.
Sure, veteran DaVon Hamilton is still around, but he's more of a run stuffer rather than a pass rusher, and the Jaguars need more than one player who can wreak havoc at defensive tackle.
The issue is that Jacksonville also needs to make upgrades at cornerback, linebacker, and defensive tackle, so it's hard to tell just how much of a priority the defensive tackle position will be. Couple that with the fact that the Jags are $17 million over the cap, and they may have trouble making the necessary additions to the interior trenches.
Ultimately, Lee Hunter gives the Jaguars an intriguing option to solve their defensive tackle woes. That said, they may have more pressing needs, so they may wait until later rounds of the draft to take care of the position.