Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone may have earned the benefit of the doubt when building a roster due to his 13-4 debut season, but that hasn't stopped many NFL analysts out there from ridiculing him for what many consider to be a wholly subpar 2026 draft class.
Jacksonville's class, headlined by a pair of Texas A&M players in second-round tight end Nate Boerkircher and third-round defensive tackle Albert Regis, was widely viewed as going away against what the consensus said made sense. Gladstone's polarizing class caught the ire of Mel Kiper Jr.
Kiper gave the Jaguars a C grade for their overall NFL Draft class, tied with the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers for the worst such mark of any team in this cycle. Kiper also implied that Jacksonville would have had the worst grade outright if they were unable to nab guard Emmanuel Pregnon at No. 88 overall.
Kiper believes Boerkircher and Regis were reaches and expressed concern about safety and No. 100 pick Jalen Huskey's tackling ability. The big problem for Kiper was who the Jaguars didn't draft, as they eschewed running back and didn't take a linebacker until Parker Hughes in the seventh round.
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Mel Kiper Jr. gives the Jaguars a joint-worst C grade for 2026 NFL Draft performance
Emmanuel Pregnon is the one saving grace for this class in the eyes of many, as the Jaguars landed a player with first-round talent that very few expected to even leave the Top 50 at the end of the third round. Sixth-round wide receiver and Deebo Samuel cosplayer Josh Cameron was considered a steal, and fifth-round tight end Tanner Koziol profiles as an excellent receiver.
The rest of the draft is questionable, to say the least. Regis makes sense stylistically, but could have been added perhaps one round later. Boerkircher is the big one. He will be 25 years old as a rookie, has 38 career college catches in six years, and was widely considered a Day 3 selection.
While it's a bit unrealistic to crash out over late Day 3 picks, Jacksonville used draft capital on two players in Hughes and Stanford wide receiver CJ Williams, who were ranked 679th and 678th on Arif Hasan's consensus big board. That type of extreme reach suggests that Jacksonville could have picked them up as undrafted free agents.
This class could turn out to be great. Perhaps Boerkircker becomes the next Brenton Strange, and both Regis and Pregnon fight their way into starting roles. The national media, however, seems to think that possibility is very unlikely.
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