Rich Eisen explains why Jaguars may fall short of their true ceiling in 2025

When the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Liam Coen as the head coach in early 2025, projecting them to win six or seven games seemed reasonable. After all, they were coming off a 4-13 season and had several glaring needs across the roster. Fast forward to December of the same year, and the Jags are one of the hottest teams, not only in the AFC South, but in the whole NFL.

At 12-4, the Jaguars already clinched a playoff spot, and based on how well-rounded their roster looks, a deep run isn't out of the question. But as good as Jacksonville has been this season, Rich Eisen argues that the best is yet to come.

Rich Eisen belives the Jaguars will be even better after 2025

Following the win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17, Rich Eisen talked at length about the Jags, noting that as good as they've looked this season, it won't be until next year that they reach their true ceiling. The main reason? They've won despite the fact that Travis Hunter has been out since early November.

"And you know what's also impressive when you don't have production, consistent production from your draft choice chosen in the top 5, let alone top 2, let alone you trade up future considerations to get the guy, and you don't get production from him," Eisen said. "That is cause for alarm. It never winds up with 12 plus wins, that's for sure. It gets coaches on hot seats and front offices on hot seats, and they have done all this without Travis Hunter, who blew out his knee in late October."

Eisen continued, "This has all been done without him, and he had the best offensive day of anyone in that game in London; he had his career best game, 100 yards and a score, and it was now time for him to come on. Brian Thomas Jr, he hasn't had a season like last year at all, true, and they're doing this, and they're coming for you."

Hunter suffered a knee injury just before the Week 9 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Not long after the original news dropped, the Jaguars announced that the 2024 Heisman Trophy Winner would undergo surgery to repair his LCL, effectively bringing his rookie campaign to a halt.

Thomas, on his part, suffered a sophomore slump early in the season and hasn't been nearly as electrifying as he was in his rookie season when he took the league by storm. Some of his struggles may have been due to the fact that he was asked to run a more complete route tree in Liam Coen's system.

But with Jakobi Meyers in the fold, Thomas has mostly operated in the perimeter, where he's at his best, and has run more vertical routes. Below are Eisen's remarks about Hunter.

Related: Herm Edwards warns the rest of the AFC that the Jags are becoming dangerous

The Jaguars may be even better once Travis Hunter returns

It's also worth noting that nearly all of the Jaguars rookie class, not just Travis Hunter has been hurt. Travis Hunter is done for the year. Third-round pick Wyatt Milum missed a good chunk of the early season, while their other third-round pick, safety Caleb Ransaw, sustained a leg injury in training camp that ended his rookie campaign before it even began.

Fourth-round pick Jack Kiser also ended his first NFL season on Injured Reserve. Running back Bhayshul Tuten has also missed time with a finger injury, while sixth-round pass rusher Jalen McLeod virtually spent the whole campaign on IR. The only rookies who are seemingly unscathed are seventh-round picks LeQuint Allen and center Jonah Monhaim.

This brings us back to Rich Eisen's original comments. Imagine how good the Jaguars will be once Travis Hunter and the rest of their 2025 classs is back in the fold? The team's brass will also add reinforcements next offseason, and you can bet that general manager James Gladstone will once again do a good job of addressing the larger scale roster.

The bottom line is that the Jaguars are in a position to enjoy sustained success with Liam Coen and James Gladstone at the helm. So don't be surprised if this is the first of many seasons they make the playoffs.