Don't Be So Quick To Mislabel the Jaguars' Offensive Transformation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars' offense is changing ... right? That was the takeaway many people had after the 2026 NFL Draft, at least, since the Jaguars made tight end such an emphasis.

Two of the Jaguars' first six picks of the draft were spent on tight ends, including the highest draft pick the Jaguars had in 2026 and the second-highest pick this regime has made with No. 56. That pick, of course, went on to be Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher.

As a result of picking Boerkircher and even fifth-round tight end Tanner Koziol, the Jaguars have been tabbed as a team that is about to expand their usage of multiple tight end sets.

Is it actually fair to label that as the direction the Jaguars' offense is heading? Is Liam Coen's unit even transforming from the unit it was a year ago? These are all fair questions after the selections of Boerkircher and Koziol, and Coen addressed the long-term outlook of such questions on Saturday after the rookie minicamp.

Coen's Take

The entire idea behind the Jaguars shifting to more sets with multiple tight ends is that it would make the offense more unpredictable. The Jaguars were hit by explosive plays out of heavy tight end sets last year vs. the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams, and it is clear the Jaguars want to get in on the offensive advantages that such formations bring.

“I think the interesting thing about the tight end position or getting bigger is if you can get a bigger grouping on defense, but your tight ends have the ability to spread out and do different things in the pass game, well, you can present 13-personnel pictures or even 12," Coen said.

"I like 12 a lot personally, but you can also present 11-personnel pictures, 10-personnel pictures, spread open, empty formations. Now you're just challenging the defense in base defense to have a lot more calls. You have to have a lot more checks, a lot more adjustments."

With that said, the Jaguars were one of the league's top 11-personnel teams a year ago for a reason. Yes, the Jaguars had to do it out of sheer necessity at times due to injuries. Coen has noted several times how the Jaguars had to play some games with only two tight ends last year. But the Jaguars also looked like they were going to feature three receivers from the second they traded for Travis Hunter.

So, it does seem fair to suggest you might see more 12-personnel looks from the Jaguars this year compared to a year ago. More 13-personnel seems like a given just based on having a healthy tight end room alone. And with the increase of volume, the Jaguars will be hoping for improvements in terms of execution and production.

But it also does not seem fair to assume this is what the Jaguars' offense is about to major in. It should be an important piece, but does this mean the Jaguars are now going to significantly shift away from a receiver room that has Hunter, Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers, and Parker Washington? That doesn't seem likely, either.

"And look, I believe that there is going to be an uptick probably in the NFL next year in heavier personnel groupings. I'm not sure we're going to over rotate to a point where we want to get slower or less explosive," Coen said. "We still have some pretty damn good wideouts that I like to use, so I just think it'll be interesting to see the trends.”

Coen and the Jaguars' offense should certainly look different, but the changes might be closer to tweaks than they are wholesale changes to the Jaguars' entire offensive ideology. Just because the Jaguars invested at the position does not suggest they are not going to feature wideouts, especially considering they have now drafted three receivers in the last two drafts and paid one a significant contract with Jakobi Meyers.

Plus, it needs to be remembered that it is not like the Jaguars were stacked at the tight end position and decided to add to it. The Jaguars had three veteran tight ends in Brenton Strange, Quintin Morris, and Hunter Long, but they had already released Johnny Mundt. Coen has brought up last year's injuries at the position more than once, too.

"It was up there. It was definitely up there. We kind of went into it looking back at – not necessarily our group as a whole as why we need more – it's more, I mean, we had two active for three, four games, whatever it was. And that's just not a world I want to live in and what it limits you," Coen said.

"I really appreciate Chuma [OL Chuma Edoga] and Cole [OL Cole Van Lanen] for doing that stuff, but you limit what you can do. I was really excited about this draft class of tight ends. I think there were a lot of really good ones. I think we got two really good ones as well.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow