The five Jacksonville Jaguars veterans with the most to prove in 2025

Even though the Jacksonville Jaguars missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, expectations in Duval County are sky high heading into 2025.

Owner Shad Khan went against his typical norm and cleaned house in the front office and sidelines earlier this year, firing head coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke. The club also parted ways with numerous veterans, including wide receiver Christian Kirk and tight end Evan Engram

A lot of attention will be focused on two-way Travis Hunter and how he fares at two positions, while many will be curious to see how well Brian Thomas Jr. and Maason Smith will get on in their sophomore seasons. The former had a stellar rookie campaign, and the latter progressed nicely down the stretch of 2024.

While there is a lot of promise for the youngsters on this team, some of their more experienced players must step up if the Jags are to get rid of their loser label and compete for a postseason berth. With that in mind, here are the five Jaguar veterans who need to prove themselves more than anyone this upcoming season.

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars quarterback

Four seasons into his NFL career, it’s hard to believe the Clemson quarterback will still become the generational talent many had anticipated in college. Trevor Lawrence, however, still has a solid career completion percentage of 63.3 and has reached double digits for touchdowns in every one of his campaigns.

He’s gotten a pass in two of his four seasons as a pro, one because of Urban Meyer and another last season due to his concussion. The 25-year-old may not be the Peyton Manning-like quarterback Jags fans were promised by many scouts, but he’s got a team that should be good enough to contend for the playoffs.

The Jags beefed up their offensive line, plus they’ve got two receivers that should be marquee players in this league for years to come in Thomas Jr. and Hunter. In addition, Travis Etienne appears to be healthy, while Tank Bigsby and Bhayshul Tuten should be able to contribute out of the backfield.

Now, Lawrence has weapons at nearly every position and should have more time to throw the ball. Now, it’s up to him to clean up his turnover issues, particularly in the red zone.

Travis Etienne, Jaguars running back

Lawrence’s college teammate, Travis Etienne, also saw limited action in 2024 because of injuries. While on the sidelines, the former three-time All-American running back saw Tank Bigsby emerge in the backfield.

Bigsby showed he could step into Etienne’s shoes and carry a big load. He’s not just a solid short-yardage back but also has lots of flashiness to his game. Etienne was invaluable to this team’s success in his first two campaigns, and when he was productive, this team usually emerged victorious.

When healthy, Etienne can still be productive, and has done a great job of holding onto the ball.

At the same time, the 26-year-old is in the last year of his contract, and after the season Bigsby just had and the Jags selecting the highly touted Bhayshul Tuten in this year’s draft, Etienne could be trade bait during this upcoming season or after the 2025 campaign.

Unlike Lawrence, the club hasn’t invested big money in him, and probably more than any veteran offensive player on this team, Etienne needs to prove his worth to this franchise in 2025.

Walker Little, offensive tackle

More often than not, the Jaguars’ offensive line has done at best an average or mediocre job when it comes to pass protection.

With Mitch Morse retiring and the club moving on from Cam Robinson in 2024, they’re putting a lot of faith in 26-year-old offensive tackle Walker Little. In three of his four seasons behind centre, Lawrence has taken 25 or more sacks, and the 18 he had in 2024 probably would have been higher had he played the entire year.

The Jaguars were 20th in the NFL for red zone scoring percentage (touchdowns only) last season, while they ranked 10th in red zone turnovers. Lawrence is no Patrick Mahomes, who can be magical when under duress, and he simply cannot be running for his life when this team is in scoring position.

It’ll be on Little to ensure his quarterback has the proper time to throw and make a lane for a team that appears to have every intention of running the ball often in 2025.

Travon Walker, edge rusher

The former first overall pick out of Georgia has had a solid three seasons on the Jags defensive line, registering double-digits in sacks in 2023 and 2024.

It would be rather harsh to suggest Walker has been a bust, even though he was such a high-end talent in college, but he must become a Pro Bowl pass rusher next season. That won’t be easy given that the AFC has stars on the defensive line, such as Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, and Trey Hendrickson. At the same time, Walker’s got help on that side of the ball with Josh Hines-Allen and Maason Smith, and hopefully a healthy Arik Armstead.

Even with Walker’s solid 2024 season, the Jags were still 28th in the league regarding sacks (34). This group of defensive players has a lot of potential to get back to the Sacksonville status we saw in 2017, and it starts with Walker.

Tyson Campbell, cornerback

As a team, the Jaguars were abysmal in pass coverage last season, and though Tyson Campbell can hardly shoulder much blame for their failure, the club made a high investment in him last year. With Travis Hunter playing both ways, Campbell, the stalwart veteran at that position, will be entrusted to help groom him into an elite cover man.

Jacksonville committed over $76 million in Campbell last year, and yet the Jags were awful in pass coverage, allowing a league-high 257.4 yards per game. Again, it’s hard to put that all on Campbell or much at all, though he didn’t have a single interception in 2024 for the first time in his NFL career. That needs to change next season.

Campbell is not in danger of being shipped off somewhere else, but whether he likes it or not, he’s one of the leaders in the secondary for this group and needs to set an example with elite pass coverage.

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