Jacksonville Jaguars 2026 preview: Trevor Lawrence leads AFC South favorites

• Trevor Lawrence enters 2026 on a high note: He finished 2025 as the NFL's highest-graded quarterback from Week 13 through the playoffs.

• Continuity is the offseason strategy: Jacksonville made few major additions after winning the AFC South and closing the regular season on an eight-game winning streak.

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The Jaguars closed the 2025 regular season on an eight-game winning streak to finish 13-4 and capture the AFC South title. Their season ended with a home wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills, but the way they finished the regular season provides plenty of optimism heading into 2026, particularly after Trevor Lawrence‘s strong play down the stretch.

Here's our 2026 preview of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Key Free Agency/Trade Additions

The Jaguars' approach to the offseason suggests they have confidence in the roster they assembled in 2025, as they did not add a projected starter and instead focused on improving their depth. Ruke Orhorhoro is one of the more intriguing additions as a reclamation project after a disappointing second season with the Falcons. He generated 30 pressures on 390 pass-rushing snaps but struggled badly against the run, with his 30.1 PFF run-defense grade tied for the third lowest among qualifying interior defenders. Still, he will not turn 25 until the middle of the season, leaving room for further development.

Running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. could have the biggest impact among Jacksonville's free-agent additions. Across his three NFL seasons, 3.6 of his 4.6 career yards per carry have come after contact, highlighting his ability to create yards on his own. With Travis Etienne Jr. no longer on the roster and Bhayshul Tuten carrying the ball just 87 times as a rookie, Rodriguez has a realistic path to carving out a meaningful role in the Jaguars' backfield.

2026 NFL Draft Class

The Jaguars drew plenty of criticism for selecting tight end Nate Boerkircher in the second round, given where he ranked on many consensus draft boards. However, the tight end position came off the board earlier than many expected throughout the draft. Boerkircher earned a 72.2 PFF run-blocking grade in his final season at Texas A&M and dropped just two passes during his college career, though he never topped 24 targets in a season.

Guard Emmanuel Pregnon is coming off the best season of his college career, posting an 86.3 PFF run-blocking grade and an 88.1 PFF pass-blocking grade while allowing just five pressures on 471 pass-blocking snaps. He will turn 25 during his rookie season, which likely contributed to his slide in the draft, but don't be surprised if he earns a starting role at some point over the next few seasons.

Reasons for optimism

Trevor Lawrence is coming off the best season of his NFL career, setting career highs with an 83.7 PFF overall grade and an 80.5 PFF passing grade. His overall mark ranked seventh among quarterbacks, but from Week 13 onward he was the highest-graded passer in the league with a 92.6 PFF grade. During that stretch, Lawrence posted a 7.7% big-time throw rate, tied for the third highest in the NFL, while his 1.5% turnover-worthy play rate ranked fourth lowest.

Lawrence's late-season surge coincided with the arrival of Jakobi Meyers at the trade deadline, giving Jacksonville a much stronger receiving corps. Meyers, Parker Washington and Brian Thomas Jr. earned PFF receiving grades of 73.2, 85.1 and 66.6, respectively. Their presence also allows second-year player Travis Hunter to spend more time at cornerback, where he was more effective as a rookie, earning a 73.2 PFF grade compared to a 62.2 mark at wide receiver.

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Reason for pessimism

The Jaguars return two projected starters on the interior offensive line who struggled in pass protection last season. Center Robert Hainsey earned a PFF pass-blocking grade below 60.0 and ranked 34th among the 40 centers who played at least 300 snaps, while right guard Patrick Mekari also finished below the 60.0 mark, ranking 67th out of 81 qualifying guards.

Jacksonville is in much better shape at both tackle spots, but the interior of the offensive line projects as one of the weaker units in the NFL entering 2026.

Breakout Candidate

Parker Washington thrived in an expanded role after Travis Hunter's injury, though his breakout season was somewhat overshadowed by the arrival of Jakobi Meyers at the trade deadline. Washington averaged 2.19 yards per route run in 2025, 0.61 more than any other Jaguars pass-catcher. He also caught fire down the stretch, recording 507 receiving yards over Jacksonville's final five games, including the playoffs—more than double any of his teammates during that span.

Key roster battles

Given Patrick Mekari‘s struggles at right guard, it is fair to wonder whether Wyatt Millum can force his way into the starting conversation before the season begins. The 89th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft made the transition from tackle in college to guard in the NFL and showed encouraging flashes as a rookie, earning a 75.0 PFF grade across 111 snaps. While 34 of those snaps came as an extra tight end, one of the more intriguing storylines this preseason will be whether Millum gets an opportunity to work with the first-team offense at guard. Notably, 37 of his 42 preseason snaps as a rookie came at tackle.