The Jacksonville Jaguars came out of nowhere in 2025. After struggling to escape the bottom tier of the NFL for years, Liam Coen's team exploded onto the scene with a 13-win season. Heading into the 2026 offseason, the arrow was pointed straight up. The team seemed to be a piece or two away from truly contending.
Then, silence.
General manager James Gladstone did almost nothing to add to his roster. In fact, he let multiple key pieces leave in free agency. After what we'll call a perplexing set of selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, people are starting to ask questions about where the Jags are truly headed. ESPN has an answer, but it's not one that fans in Jacksonville will want to hear. In their latest league power rankings, the Jaguars dropped from ninth to fifteenth.
Jaguars drop in ESPN's latest NFL power rankings after quiet offseason
Let's start with the optimistic case. James Gladstone and Liam Coen are building this team with a long-term outlook. There's no need to leverage the future of the franchise because they got a bit ahead of schedule in their first season in charge. Teams around the NFL have gone all-in after one good season and lived to regret it. Patience and reasonability can be valuable qualities in an organization, especially in the early stages of a new regime.
But that doesn't mean that Jacksonville had to do nothing this offseason.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. was the only addition the team made in free agency, and he's not expected to command a significant role. The Jaguars let key contributors like running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd leave. There's an argument to be made that the only significant move of the offseason was Travis Hunter's reported transition into a full-time cornerback role.
In the draft, the Jags may not have added a single starter on either side of the ball. Tight end Nate Boerkircher will have a role on early downs, but his skill set is limited. Moreover, Brenton Strange remains untrenched as the No. 1 on the depth chart. Trevor Lawrence, at a crucial point in his career, didn't get immediate reinforcements to his arsenal of weapons. Heading into season two under Coen and Gladstone, this team might be worse than it was a year ago, at least on paper.
ESPN's rankings reflect that regression as clear as day. They had the Jags falling farther than any other team in the NFL. Fans in Jacksonville are now faced with the harsh reality that, despite an electric 2025 season, their team could have an uphill battle to return to the playoffs.
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