Since Liam Coen became the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, he's pulled several tricks out of his sleeve to motivate his team. He'll talk about all the disrespect they get, or how they don't get nearly as much recognition because they're a small market team.
Despite the fact that the Jags went 13-4, they somehow keep flying under the radar, while the rival Houston Texans are showered in praise. You can bet that rubs Coen the wrong way. Similarly, Jacksonville has caught a lot of heat for being relatively quiet in the offseason. You can bet that will give him the perfect bulletin board material to keep his players motivated.
The Jaguars were the only AFC team to get an F for their offseason
Matt Okada of NFL Media graded every AFC team's offseason. He gave the Jaguars an F, arguing that they lost several key agents and didn't make an effort to replacement. He also brought up their 2026 draft class as a justification for his assessment.
"The Jaguars lost multiple key starters in free agency and added very little to compensate," Okada wrote. "Their biggest moves were pure maintenance: extending former No. 1 pick Walker after a 3.5-sack season; re-upping Strange, who put up career highs of 46 catches, 540 receiving yards and three TDs in 12 gamds in 2025, and re-signing Brown."
Okada continued, "Then came the draft. Jacksonville's class took home Gennaro Filice's second-lowest overall grade and was frequently criticized for drastic reaches and a failure to address primary needs -- like linebacker -- until the later rounds. After the last few months, the Jags are under serious pressure when it comes to their division title defense, with other AFC South teams making strides this offseason."
Compounding the issue is that the Jaguars were the only AFC team that got an F. Heck, every other club in the conference got an A or a B.
Nobody will deny that the Jaguars didn't make nearly as many moves as their division foes. That said, they didn't have to. For instance, the Tennessee Titans were active in free agency, but that's because they're at the cellar of the division and needed upgrades across the roster. Similarly, the Houston Texans have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but they had to keep making an investment in the offseason line because it remained a weakness in spite of all the moves they made the past two years.
The Jaguars will be fine without Travis Etienne and Ventrell Miller
It would have been great to see the Jaguars make a run for defensive tackle John Franklin Myers in free agency or acquire a veteran pass rusher to round out their rotation behind Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. However, they're confident that they had a good roster core in place, so the team's brass instead focused on re-signing its homegrown talent and bolstering key areas.
The Nate Boerkircher pick has been under scrutiny, but the former Texas A&M Aggie will allow the Jags to run the two tight-ends set they have wanted since last year. Similarly, they waited until Round 3 to select defensive tackle Albert Regis because this year's class of defensive linemen left much to be desired.
On the other hand, Jacksonville didn't add a linebacker in the draft because it didn't have to. The position was a strength even after Devin Lloyd left in free agency. Sure, Lloyd was a playmaker in 2025, but he was unremarkable the prior three seasons. The expectation is that Ventrell Miller will replace him, and the defense won't miss a beat. The same is true for Bhayshul Tuten on the opposite side of the ball.
Although Tuten averaged just 3.8 yards per carry as a rookie, his average was low because he got the ball in short-yardage situations more than Travis Etienne. But when the former Virginia Tech Hokie was able to showcase his speed, he displayed big-time capability. With Etienne out of the picture, Tuten will be in a position to break out. To complement him, the front office signed Liam Coen's protege Chris Rodriguez in free agency.
When you add it all up, the Jaguars are in a position to defend their AFC South title despite the fact that other teams were more active in the offseason. And the fact that they've been getting so much disrespect will only incentivize them to prove everyone wrong.
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