JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Yeti Daddy from Somewhere and Yet Nowhere
"O," how soon we forget. Coen and Co. have taken a team with a losing record and turned them into winners, and now they appear to be building on that for the long-term while still addressing needs. I know we have been burned before, but I am willing to trust the process. I know we all want a Secretariat, but sometimes a Clydesdale is better. If we finish this coming year with the same record as last year, that will be a major step forward for this franchise. Consistent winners are not built in one season, it takes time and the right horses. As you haunt the not yet-so-hallowed halls of The Duval DNA Laboratory, do others share the same overall optimism and patience about the team's direction?
We remain deep in post-2026 NFL Draft analysis here in the O-Zone, which is understandable given the time of year – and the vehemence with which those who didn't grasp the Jaguars' draft strategy analyzed the team's efforts last weekend. It indeed is somewhat odd that the same regime lauded for a remarkable turnaround in 2025 is being so roundly criticized just four months after the conclusion of a 13-4 AFC South Championship season that marked perhaps the second-best season in franchise history. Making that criticism a bit more curious is that the criticism has nothing to do with anything tangible – such as on-field results – and seemingly everything to do with the Jaguars' draft somehow not lining up with the opinions of outside/internet/television draft analysts. The latter curiosity seems from this view an aftereffect of how draft coverage has changed in the last few decades. Whereas once the draft was seen for what it is – an important piece of building a roster with an eye on the long term – is it now seen as an entity of itself with its results being judged even as the draft is taking place. That view doesn't mesh with how teams see the draft, just as the reaction of draftniks this past week doesn't remotely mesh with how the folks in the Duval DNA laboratory see the 2026 NFL Draft. And those folks absolutely see the draft and the future with optimism. Why in the world wouldn't they?
Wes from Ponte Vedra, FL
There is a lot of talk about targeting "tough" players. What makes a player at this level "non-tough?" If you are elite enough to not only be playing Division I football, but be in the upper echelon in consideration for the NFL, I would argue that you can't make it to that point without being tough. As a former D-I athlete myself (in a non-contact sport), I would have survived playing about two downs of football at my peak before having to be carted to the hospital. From my cozy armchair, I would say that every single player getting his named called last weekend is tough – by definition. Calling any drafted player "tough" is like calling water "wet." (Of course it is, it literally can't be any other way!) So why does "toughness" seem to be the favorite attribute this regime has for its draft picks when it is arguably the most ubiquitous trait throughout the field of prospects?
All NFL players indeed are tough – tougher at minimum than your average fan or podcaster/sportswriter. But when NFL head coaches and personnel types "hunt" for players, they are looking for edges or characteristics to differentiate players within the small part of the population that might be professional football players. Within that population, there are degrees of anything. Just as some NFL wide receivers are a bit faster than other NFL wide receivers and therefore a little more dangerous on the deep post, some NFL players are a bit tougher than their counterparts. Get enough of those "bit toughers" on your roster and you're a tougher team than your opponent. The Jaguars got tougher last season and they will continue trying to get tougher still. The average fan may not see the difference on television, but it's felt on the field to a degree that matters to this organization.
JayPee from The Vortex
Can someone look up all these experts' records on how their drafts boards ended up turning out years down the road? I would, but I just don't care enough.
No one does, really. Irony can be pretty ironic.
Charles from Riverside
Hello, John. Thanks for the explanation on the Jags following the league regarding more tight end-centric offensive plays per game – and the need during the draft to augment our tight end position. It was very helpful. Additionally, the Florida Times-Union posted these interesting stats: "In terms of 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends), Jacksonville used it on just 2.8 percent of its snaps, 21st in the NFL by percentage. The league average for 13 personnel in 2025 was 5.3 percent. In 2025, the Rams carried a league-high 30 percent usage in 13 personnel, while they held a 10.5 percent 12 personnel percentage." Is this a major shift with long-lasting effects or will the defenses quickly adjust?
Many teams intend to play more multiple tight-end formations moving forward. It's a trend that shone through the early rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft and one that will be seen in games next season. It's a major shift with long-lasting effects and defenses will adjust. Offenses will then adjust. And then defenses will adjust. And then offenses will adjust. And then defenses …
John from Ocala, FL
Mr. O, Kind Sir, possessor of all Jaguar knowledge and wisdom…
Nailed it.
Chris from Mandarin
This felt a little bit like a Gene Smith draft to me … feigning being the smartest guys in the room, over-drafting based on outside expert assumptions, focusing on character as a defining trait. I'm not saying their approach won't work, but something similar has been tried here and it has failed miserably. At least there was only one small-school player drafted and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli is a decision-maker, so a poor offensive lineman being drafted is less likely. I guess we will just have to see. Their methodology could be the first chunk in the armor.
I never have been around a general manager who bases a draft on outside expert assumptions and I never have been around a good general manager who doesn't take "off-field intangibles" – particularly character – into major account. I understand there is a perception out there that what fans and readers read on the internet about draft-eligible players are "the rankings." I don't know how to make people understand that is not the case except to repeatedly remind people that that is not the case. The Jaguars' draft "methodology" is to draft the best players that they believe fit what they're trying to do with the idea of winning. That's it. That's the methodology.
Gary from Springfield
Regarding our "last-place draft" I thought this was surely something AI could figure out. The Reality Check: Over the last decade, seven of the 10 teams labeled as having the absolute worst draft went on to have winning records and make the playoffs the very next season. Media draft grades measure how well a team's picks align with public mock drafts, not actual roster construction or future on-field performance.
Pretty much.
Jadon from Raleigh, NC
Why did the Jaguars draft Prospect X if he hasn't even played but one year? What must they know?
Prospect X is an annual pre-draft ESPN story highlighting the draft's "most overlooked talent." Washington defensive end Zach Durfee was this year's Prospect X. The Jaguars selected him in Round 7 of the 2026 NFL Draft because they believe he has traits that could allow him to develop into an effective edge defender. Maybe that will happen. Maybe it won't. The chances are against it because Durfee is a seventh-round selection and the chances are always against seventh-round selections developing into great players or even starters. But there is a chance and he will get that chance.
Chris from Fleming Island
OZONE: I remember all the years we "won the offseason" and ended up with an early draft pick. Maybe it's time to try a different approach.
Some teams that get good draft grades are good a few of the next few seasons. Some teams that get good draft grades are not good a few of the next few seasons. Some teams that get bad draft grades are good a few of the next few seasons. Some teams that get bad draft grades are not good a few of the next few seasons. Sometimes one has something to do with the other. A lot of times it doesn't. Good teams don't worry about winning the draft. They worry about winning games.
JWG from Aurora, CO
We are Jags. We have the wisdom of the collective. You are intangibly rich. Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is futile. DUVAL.
Indeed.
