JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Kenneth from Jacksonville
What's the best-case scenario for the Jaguars at No. 56? I know there's no way to know what they're going to do, but I still want to know.
The 2026 NFL Draft is less than two weeks away – and fans understandably are starting to grind through the relative complacency brought on by the Jaguars not having a first-round selection and wanting soooome sort of information relating to their first selection. That selection is No. 56 overall, the 24th selection in Round 2 – which is their first selection because they traded their first-round selection to the Cleveland Browns as part of the deal to acquire wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. As your email indicates, there is no real way to know a "best-case" scenario and there perhaps isn't really such a scenario. The positive for the Jaguars, as General Manager James Gladstone noted during the April 9 pre-draft media luncheon, is that the draft appears deep at positions the Jaguars may want to select. Gladstone didn't offer details on those spots, but most observers believe the draft is deep at off-the-ball linebacker, edge and safety. Those spots do appear to be areas of need for the Jaguars, particularly off-the-ball linebacker and third "edge" defender. It's also very conceivable the Jaguars address safety early in the draft. What's a good scenario for the Jaguars at No. 56? How about a very good off-the-ball linebacker? Maybe Jacob Rodriguez of Texas Tech. Or Josiah Trotter of Missouri. Or Jake Golday of Cincinnati. They also have three more selections in Round 3 – all in the Top 100. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see an edge defender, safety and running back there. Or a quality offensive lineman. Or a receiver. Or …
Al from Fruit Cove
Let's say a player that the Jaguars really like is available late in the first round of the draft. Would you trade your second-round pick (No. 56) and next year's first-round pick to move up there? Then maybe do the same thing a year from now, annually swapping a future first-round selection and then regaining it?
This is a fine idea in theory. But theories can go awry in execution. The 2027 NFL Draft, for example, is considered a very good draft – with many analysts believing it's significantly better overall than the '26 draft. The Jaguars perhaps could execute the first part of your plan – trading next year's first-round selection to ascend into this year's first round. It could under the circumstances be more difficult to trade up from late in Round 2 to Round 1 in a very good '27 draft. A lot more difficult.
Bradford from Orange Park, FL
Speaking on Jimmy Smith, he had nine 1,000-yard seasons and ranks 29th in NFL history with 12,287 yards. Unlike Fred Taylor at running back, there are some wide receivers that have more all-time yardage at their respective positions that are not in the Hall of Fame. I just can't help but feel like their biggest obstacle in both getting into the Pro Football Hall of fame is the small market team for which they played for. "A shame" indeed.
Smith and Taylor should both be in the Hall. Market size probably doesn't help either player. They're also not dead-solid locks – and players who aren't dead-solid locks can fall victim to oversight and other biases/obstacles. Either way, a shame indeed.
Reese from Loyal Jaguar Fan in VA
Is this Travis Hunter Jr. a thing because some people are saying it's a thing or is it a thing until Coach says it's a thing? Let the man get healthy and put his cleats on grass! Go Jags!!!
Hunter is a story because he was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft and because he's trying to play two positions full time – or closer to full time than any NFL player has done in a long time. He's also a story because he only played seven regular-season games as a rookie, which means we don't know yet to what extent he will be able to do what no NFL player has done in a long time. We do as a football-watching world tend to make small stories too big. But that's not what's happening there. This legitimately is a big story.
Tyler from Palm Coast, FL
Where the heck did all our cap space go?!
This is a broad question that is difficult to answer in a one-paragraph O-Zone entry. The Jaguars currently have $6.8 million in salary cap space for 2026. Their nine biggest cap figures – quarterback Trevor Lawrence ($24 million), defensive end Josh Hines-Allen ($23.4 million), defensive tackle Arik Armstead ($19.3 million), linebacker Foye Oluokun ($17.1 million), defensive end Travon Walker ($15.2 million), offensive tackle Walker Little ($14.5 million), defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton ($12.5 million), guard Ezra Cleveland ($11.4 million) and Hunter ($10.6 million) – account for $148.5 million of their $323 million 2026 cap allotment. They also have the NFL's seventh-highest dead cap amount at $53.3 million with the following six former Jaguars players – cornerback Tyson Campbell ($19.5 million), wide receiver Gabe Davis ($14.6 million), cornerback Greg Newsome II ($7 million), safety Darnell Savage ($6.2 million), wide receiver Dyami Brown ($1.9 million) and defensive tackle Khalen Saunders ($1.8 million) – accounting for $51 million in dead cap space. That's not every detail, but it's a big part of why the Jaguars are where they are with the cap.
Joe from Jacksonville
John. Your predecessor, a man who loved a good game of golf and a stubborn draft philosophy, used to argue that the Indianapolis Colts could and should have drafted Tom Brady in the sixth round in 2000 – even with quarterback Peyton Manning in his prime. His logic: if you take the best player, you not only improve your roster, but you "block" your rivals from ever having them. Basically, you win the AFC by hoarding the talent. In today's NFL, with the way the salary cap is managed and the desperation for immediate starters, is that "Draft to Block" logic still even remotely viable? Or was that just your predecessor being, your predecessor?
That's a good theory and an interesting discussion point. It's much more difficult to execute good theories and interesting discussion points in real life.
Gary from St. Augustine, FL
Even when I can't think of why you suck, you still suck.
That sounds right.
Bradford from Orange Park, FL
Have you seen the saga between the Chicago Bears and the league unfold about those compensatory picks? I've read about it and I can't decide if the league squirmed to skirt them those picks or not. It kind of seems like it. There are a lot of Bears fans that think the league skirted them. On the other hand, if Matt Ryan being hired by the Falcons in that role invalidated the rule being fulfilled ... I understand how awarding an additional third round pick over two years wouldn't be something that they should just give them, having come close to satisfying it. Am I correct though that the league basically determined Matt Ryan was the primary football decision maker over Ryan Poles... and that just made that, that?
You're referencing the NFL determining that the Chicago Bears will not receive compensatory third-round selections in the next two NFL Drafts, with the Bears believing they were entitled to the selections under Resolution JC-2A – a "diversity-driven" rule designed to give draft compensation to franchises if they develop minority personnel into coaches and general managers. The Bears believed they should have received the two selections because the Falcons hired former Bears assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham as general manager this offseason. The league's stance is that the policy is designed for the "primary football executive" and not necessarily the general manager. The league determined that Ryan – and not Cunningham – is Falcons' "primary football executive." That, in this case, indeed made that that.
Sam from Orlando
I get the displeasure over former General Manager Trent Baalke, but too many people forget about the Gene Smith years and actively ignoring players from major conferences almost out of spite.
Jaguars observers from this view haven't forgotten former Jaguars General Manager Gene Smith. That's particularly true for those who were old enough to remember and to have followed the team closely during his tenure. It's fair to note that a few of his small-school selections worked out OK, and that his first-round selections – tackle Eugene Monroe (2009), defensive tackle Tyson Alualu (2010), quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2011) and wide receiver Justin Blackmon (2012) – were big-school players, but that's losing the plot a bit. Either way, my sense is Jaguars fans remember Smith pretty well. It's a group with long memories.
Armand from Jacksonville
How are all the players who were on irate the end of the season?
They're not as angry as they once were. Time heals all, as they say.
