In Defense of James Gladstone and the Jaguars, Pt I

Author's Note: I started writing this back in March, and I never finished it because I didn't really have a thesis, but my new thesis is that I love everything the Jaguars are doing as an organization, and we should let James Gladstone and Liam Coen cook.

When the 2026 NFL Draft ended on Saturday night with the selection of LB Red Murdock (Go Bulls) by the Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars had made 10 picks, and the reviews were mixed!

Listen, I am not a scout. I play fantasy football. I didn't know who Nate Boerkircher was before Friday, and I still don't know who Zach Durfee is, but I want to give Coen, Gladstone, and the Jaguars front office the benefit of the doubt.

In 2025, the Jaguars traded up from the fifth overall pick to draft CB/WR Travis Hunter at number two, with the 35-year-old first time GM saying Hunter had the potential to "alter the trajectory of the sport itself."

Travis Hunter would end up suffering a knee injury in practice just a few days after an 8 catch, 101-yard, and 1 TD performance against the Rams in week 7. Those same Rams once employed Gladstone as a scout, or what Wikipedia calls "various scouting positions."

That November, the day after a narrow 30-29 OT victory over the Raiders, the Jaguars traded for WR Jakobi Meyers. In week 10 against Houston, Meyers' first game as a Jaguar, he played under half of the snaps, but caught all three of his targets for 41 yards. In December, Meyers would sign a three-year $60 million contract extension, keeping him in Jacksonville through 2028.

After that week 10 loss to the Texans, the Jaguars won every game until ultimately losing to the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round. While the season didn't end the way the team or their fans had hoped, the future looked bright. In addition to the boost from Travis Hunter and Jakobi Meyers, QB Trevor Lawrence had come alive in the second half of the season, throwing for 20 TDs in the final 9 games of the season and rushing for 5 more. Third-year WR Parker Washington had a career year, with 58 catches for 857 yards and 5 TDs. In that stretch from week 9 to 18, Washington was WR12 in total receiving yards with 640. Soon-to-be free agent RB Travis Etienne finished as .5 PPR RB10, even more impressive when you consider he played around 60% of snaps, with rookies Bhayshul Tuten and Lequint Allen contributing down the stretch. Both of those guys were acquired as part of the Travis Hunter trade with Cleveland, by the way.

The Jaguars made the decision not to re-sign Etienne, who inked a 4-year deal with the New Orleans Saints, as well as former first-round LB Devin Lloyd, who ended up in Carolina. Some role players like WRs Dyami Brown and Tim Patrick, EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah, and IDL Austin Johnson also hit the bricks, while DBs Greg Newsome and Andrew Wingard went on to greener(?) pastures, joining the Giants and Cardinals, respectively.

The Jaguars did retain some players, as well, giving CB Montaric Brown a 2-year $20M contract, extending LT Cole Van Lanen through 2028, and bringing back a LB named Dennis. Notably, at least to this sicko, the Jaguars only made one outside signing in free agency, bringing in former Washington Commanders RB Chris Rodriguez on a 2-year $10M deal, puzzling the Tuten-heads, and delighting Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, who had coached Rodriguez at Kentucky.

When asked about the lack of moves in free agency, Gladstone acknowledged the benefit of receiving future compensatory picks, citing the Jakobi Meyers trade as a move they were able to make thanks to the flexibility of having multiple draft picks.

Neither Coen nor Gladstone attended the NFL Scouting Combine in February. They didn't conduct any top 30 visits, with ESPN reporter Michael DiRocco explaining that they "don't want their opinion of a player to be changed or altered in any way based on a 15-20 minute visit."

The Jaguars seem to have their own process or model for evaluating players, and while it may be different than what the NFL is used to, it is working. That is why I was not terribly surprised when the Jaguars' draft board deviated so far from consensus player rankings, because I actually think they might be ahead of the rest of the league rather than behind it.

I'll save that for Part II...