The Jacksonville Jaguars expected big things from wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter last year. However, it was Parker Washington who showed out and led the team in catches and receiving yards. But as impressive as he was in 2025, he could be even better next season.
Head coach Liam Coen has made it clear that he wants Washington to get deep more often next season. Couple that with the fact that he's entering a contract year, and he's in a position to explode.
On the other hand, Washington doesn't get much praise as other more prominent Jaguars players. This is why it was refreshing to hear Trevor Lawrence speak highly of him.
Trevor Lawrence says the Jaguars have a special player in Parker Washington
Trevor Lawrence joined former NFL center and former teammate Mitch Morse on his podcast. During the exchange, he heaped praise on Parker Washington, pointing out that he hasn't stopped grinding from the moment he joined the Jaguars in 2023.
"It's cool to see, because he came in 23 and hadn't had many opportunities, just based on depth at receiver opportunity, all those things, it wasn't in that starting role to see how much he's grown and gotten better every year," Lawrence told Morse (29:50 mark). "But also, he's so naturally talented, so it's not like he's had to like find it somewhere."
Lawrence continued, "Like he's had it, but to really hone his craft and become so dependable, like in this new system, like it was a challenging system to learn in the way he prepared himself, and he wasn't the starter trapped quite a lot early in the season. Tra played a lot early in the season, and Parker was coming in and rotating some, but when he got his opportunity, like he was so ready for it that it wasn't a huge weight on his shoulders, like he couldn't handle, like he was, he prepared that way already. And I'm just so happy for him. He's, I mean, you guys know, the nicest guy in the world."
Earlier in the podcast, Morse asked Lawrence who the most underrated Jaguars player was. Lawrence said Robert Hainsey, but Morse would have chosen Washington based on his stint with the Jags in 2024.
A sixth-round pick in 2023, Washington was stuck behind Christian Kirk early in his career. However, he flashed whenever he was thrust into action. Once Jacksonville cut ties with Kirk in 2025, the Sugar Land, Texas native finally took off, reeling in a team-best 58 receptions for 847 yards with five touchdwons.
The Jaguars will be thrilled if Parker Washington has another banner year
While it's hard to say that Parker Washington is flying under the radar, he doesn't truly have huge name recognition in the NFL. That's beginning to change, though. After his banner 2025, the former Penn State Nittany Lion is drawing interest in Fantasy Football. And if he keeps improving, it will be a matter of time before he ascends to superstar level.
As noted before, he's entering a contract year, so he'll most definitely be incentivized to post good numbers once again. If he does, the Jaguars will have trouble justifying not giving him a new deal.
The truth is that it may not matter whether Parker Washington gets or doesn't get love. As long as he keeps making plays like he did in 2026, the Jaguars won't care.
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