The Jacksonville Jaguars confirmed that Brenton Strange is an integral piece of their offensive puzzle when they gave him a three-year deal worth $36 million in the offseason.
Strange posted career numbers last year despite the fact that he missed five games. He's now back at full strength, so he should be even better next season. But leaving aside the fact that the former Penn State Nittany Lion is healthy, an offseason acquisition could help unlock his best version.
Nate Boerkicher could help the Jaguars unlock Brenton Strange's potential
Robert Mays said on The Athletic Football Show that he believes having Nate Boerkircher around will allow Brenton Strange to take on a role that better suits his strengths, pointing out that he's one of the best vertical receivers among tight ends in the NFL.
"I love what he is in the offense, and we talked about, alright, the Parker Washington, Jacoby Myers, Brian Thomas parts of this. Brenton Strange was the only guy who couldn't play the role he's supposed to last year because of what their tight end room looked like," Mays said (6:56 mark). "He hit 336 in-line snaps last year. That's not the player that Brenton Strange should be. The Boerkircher part of this, to me, is not just about adding a big body Y to the offense."
Mays continued, "It allows you to use Brenton Strange the way he should actually be used, which, in my opinion, I think Brenton Strange is like one of the three or four best vertical tight end receivers in the NFL. If you look at the numbers last year, among tight ends with at least 50 targets, there were two guys that had a better EPA per target than Brenton Strange last year: George Kittle and Colston Loveland."
The Jaguars plan to use more 12 and 13-personnel sets next season, something they weren't able to do because they didn't have tight ends who could block and catch the football aside from Strange.
One big reason the Jaguars want to run more multiple tight-end sets is that they want to keep defenses on their toes. Last year, opposing teams knew that the Jags were running the ball because they ran six offensive-linemen packages. With Boerkircher and Tanner Koziol in the mix now, they will no longer know whether Jacksonville will throw or run.
You may also like: Michael Wilson just gave the Jags 75 reasons to extend Parker Washington ASAP
Nate Boerkircher gives the Jaguars an intriguing chess piece
The Jaguars caught heat for drafting Nate Boerkircher in Round 2 instead of addressing the interior defensive line or the pass rush. However, they knew that he was their guy, and if the team's decision-makers hadn't picked him at No. 46, they would've risked losing him to another team that wanted him as well.
Now, Boerkicher won't put up jaw-dropping numbers next season, but if he doesn't have to. Instead, he'll give Jacksonville a movable chess piece that can stay at the line of scrimmage to block or run routes across the middle of the field.
One reason general manager James Gladstone was under scrutiny for drafting the former Texas A&M Auggie was that he only caught 19 passes for 198 yards with three touchdowns. However, his separation rate of 86.4 confirms that he simply wasn't targeted enough despite the fact that he was consistently open.
Although the Jaguars had made it clear from the get-go what their strategy was coming out of the 2026 draft, analysts blasted them for ignoring the consensus. The good news is that they're slowly starting to change their tune. The rest will follow suit if Nate Boerkircher and Brenton Strange make an impact next season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google