JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

NFL Futures Betting Odds:

To Win Super Bowl +10000 (100-1)
To Win AFC Championship +3300
To Win AFC South +275
Regular Season Wins -- Over 7.5 wins -125, Under 7.5 -105

The Jacksonville Jaguars were formed in 1995, and in four of their first five seasons, under the direction of Tom Coughlin, they reached the playoffs.

They have only gotten to the postseason four times since.

Along the way they have had to navigate around extended periods of irrelevance, the low point being the short and bizarre reign of Urban Meyer. When they tried things with a Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson, things looked good at first, with a playoff win his first year out of the gate, but regressed thereafter.

And perhaps people have forgotten how good QB Trevor Lawrence can possibly be.

Now, as the slate is being wiped clean, comes a new regime, and this one might be a little different than the others.

Will the new people bring a new level of confidence?

Owner Shad Khan, understanding that confident had to be rebuilt among the fan base, chose Tony Boselli as Executive Vice President for football operations. Boselli, as you may know, was the team's first-ever draft pick, multiple times an All-Pro, and a local icon who became the first member of the organization to gain entrance into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

With all respect to Boselli, however, there were more important hires yet to come.

But first there had to be a firing. As Khan explored the head coaching possibilities, he found that the most desirable candidates did not want to work alongside general manager Trent Baalke. One of those candidates was Liam Coen, who decided that he was going to go back to his offensive coordinator job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had employed him in 2024, rather than get involved with a potentially uncomfortable situation with the Jags.

Well, Khan got the message loud and clear. He felt he had no choice but to give Baalke his walking papers. Two days later, Coen agreed to a contract to become the head coach.

Prior to Tampa Bay, Coen had spent a total of four seasons as an assistant coach under Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams became known as an energetic, progressive organization, and it was someone who worked in the same building as Coen who got the call as the new Jacksonville GM.

James Gladstone was the Director of Scouting Strategy for the Rams, and at age 34, he became the youngest general manager in the league when he blew away Khan and Boselli in the interview process. It did not hurt that Les Snead, the Rams' GM and Gladstone's mentor, sang his praises to Boselli when the Jags showed interest.

And so the Jags had their brain trust in place, ready to move ahead.

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New head coach brings some background into the picture

Coen is an interesting proposition as a head coach. For someone who is only 39, he's been in quite a few places. In the NFL, he had won a Super Bowl ring with the Rams. And he also made two separate stops at the University of Kentucky, where he deserves a great deal of credit for developing Will Levis, a Penn State transfer who eventually wound up drafted in the second round by the Tennessee Titans. In Tampa Bay, he won an NFC South title with the Bucs while working with Baker Mayfield.

Jags may have hit upon something with Gladstone

It is Gladstone who may wind up to be the real story when all is said and done, however. If you looked at him walking around, you wouldn't take him to be a high-powered NFL executive, because he is so youthful-looking and unassuming.

Yet he brings an awful lot of ammunition into the job.

Gladstone essentially ran the draft process for the Rams over the latter part of his tenure in Los Angeles, holding down the positions of Director of Scouting and Director of Scouting Strategy. His reputation preceded him into Jacksonville. Not a guy who is known to stick his chest out there in staff meetings, Gladstone is regarded as driven curious, conscientious and unusually composed, with a motor that doesn't stop.

He is very much a proponent of analytics, and that type of individual has sometimes drawn the ire of the "old school" people in the NFL,. But he's not a nerd; Gladstone is roundly applauded for his ability to communicate and deal with people. Inasmuch as Jacksonville represents a wide-open opportunity for him, he's fortunate to have an employer like Khan, who can think out of the box. The owner has described Gladstone as somebody who can innovate and roll with the punches in the ever-changing NFL.

Gladstone could be at the forefront of all that is changing. He could be what's next; he could be what's new.

Right from the beginning, he said:

“If there's an opportunity to be bold, we won't flinch.”

And he proved it, quickly.

The Jaguars got their big prize

Gladstone swung the bat in a big way when it came to getting the one player the Jaguars wanted in the draft. It was his thinking, and the thinking of everyone else in the building, that Travis Hunter was the "generational" player that could get the team over the hump when it came to competing in their division, and beyond. Of course, it was no secret that Hunter was an outstanding pro prospect; after all, he was the Heisman Trophy winner by virtue of being a legitimate two-way player, even a three-way player, if you will, if you want to include what he could contribute in the return game.

Hunter was seen as a potential shutdown cornerback, and had really shown out as a wide receiver at Colorado, catching 96 passes for 1258 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.

About a month in advance of the draft, Gladstone, who controlled the fifth pick in the draft, starting having conversations with Andrew Berry, the general manager of the Cleveland Browns and the NFL's second-youngest GM, who had the #2 overall selection. They talked about scenarios in which they could make a deal. The Browns needed a quarterback, for sure, but the pick of the litter, Cam Ward of Miami, was going to be taken by Tennessee with the first pick. Cleveland loved Hunter, but they also loved the opportunity to gain some draft capital.

So the deal was struck - the rights to draft Hunter went to Jacksonville, along with a fourth and sixth-round pick. In exchange, the Jags sent the #5 pick, plus a second and fourth-rounder this year and a first-rounder next year, to the Browns.

Nobody on the J-Ville side felt they overpaid one bit.

New GM knows Jags need to defend the pass

As part of Gladstone's plan, he recruited Jake Temme, with whom he worked in Los Angeles, as the Jags' new Vice-President of Analytics. It is obvious that they have a lot of faith in their ability to hit on draft picks, and had nine choices this time around. Jacksonville was last in the league in pass defense last season, surrendering almost eight yards per attempt. Aside from Hunter, they addressed things in the secondary, with some free agent signings and also the third-round selection of Caleb Ransaw, a corner out of Tulane.

They went after more defensive help with linebackers Jack Kiser (Notre Dame) and Jalen McLeod (Auburn). And they hope safety Rayuan Lane III, who played at the Naval Academy, can be of assistance on the kick coverage units. So we'll see how the "scouting strategy" worked out for this year.

The plan for Hunter is to initially utilize him as a wide receiver, since they are comparatively thin at the position. But they have also been giving him sone snaps at cornerback, and the defensive staff wants to see more of that.

In the latest odds posted at BetOnline, Hunter is priced at +900 to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year, and +1100 to be Defensive Rookie of the Year.

2025 Jacksonville Jaguars Prediction

It's a new deal in Jacksonville. And the club is being largely overhauled; change is the order of the day, as more than half of the roster they'll be taking to training camp consists of newcomers.

We know that Coen knows how to run an offense, and the Jags will have to score more points. Fortunately, part of their rebuilding efforts don't have to include the quarterback, because of the presence of Lawrence.

The Jags have gotten some respect from the oddsmakers, as they are priced at +275 to win the AFC South. They're also listed at +170 to make the playoffs. Can they reach eight wins (over 7.5 is -125)? I'm thinking maybe they can.


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