The Jacksonville Jaguars have made their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, and it did not come until the second round. Obviously, the Jags did not have a first-round pick this year due to the Travis Hunter trade back during the 2025 NFL Draft.
But despite limited draft capital, the Jags are in a great spot at the moment, having just coming off a season in which they won 13 games and captured the AFC South title. It's clear the Jags are building this thing in the right direction, and with the Liam Coen/James Gladstone era now entering year two together, we should really see this thing takeoff.
Well, in Round 2 of this year's NFL draft, the Jaguars made a very interesting selection, taking a tight end in Nate Boerkircher, who, frankly, was likely going to go a lot later than this.
Jacksonville Jaguars drafting Nate Boerkircher is an ideal situation for Liam Coen's offense
Two things can be true here - the Jags made a good selection in Boerkircher, as the player himself is someone who is going to bring a new element to this offense. However, Boerkircher was absolutely not a second-round pick in the eyes of many, as he was firmly a day three selection.
Jacksonville may clearly see some untapped potential here, as he had limited receiving production in college, but there were flashes of that upside. As a blocker, Boerkircher is sound, solid, and is going to be a plus in this regard immediately.
Boerkircher does allow the Jaguars to run more 12 personnel, which means the offense has one running back and two tight ends on the field. Not only should this help out the run game, but it also allows for some fun upside in the passing game to keep defenses guessing.
What we saw in the back-half of the 2025 NFL Season was that this offense really began to come together, and Trevor Lawrence played so well that he ended the season as an MVP candidate. Adding a player like Boerkircher, with this specific skillset, is going to make the offense that much better.
And while this was a player who was likely going in Round 4 or 5, the logic behind the selection makes all the sense in the world, as Boerkircher should be able to come in and see snaps immediately. Jacksonville's offense just got a bit more diverse with this selection.
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