JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — My NFL training camp tour is now at 20 teams, and stop 20 is with the AFC South champions in steamy North Florida.
• There are a lot of reasons for Trevor Lawrence’s improvement last year—the coaches narrowed the offense a bit to get him playing faster, and gave him the green light to run more. Along those lines, the receiver group has kept improving. The in-season trade for Jakobi Meyers has really let the staff slot the other guys in the room into roles that fit their skill sets better, and that vision for the group has taken off this summer. Brian Thomas Jr. has come back with assuredness and decisiveness in his pace, and a comfort level in Liam Coen’s scheme that’s bleeding over into his play. Parker Washington has also taken another step. Travis Hunter (who we’ll get to) should be dangerous in packages. Meyers is heady and smart, and lethal over the middle. And even rookie sixth-rounders Josh Cameron (who has return ability) and CJ Williams have flashed. Bottom line: Lawrence should have no shortage of options to go with the ball.
• The biggest shift offensively will probably come in the run game after the departure of Travis Etienne Jr. to the Saints. Second-year back Bhayshul Tuten is a home run hitter with the ability to run inside with power. And free-agent addition Chris Rodriguez Jr. looms as a very real tone-setter in that regard—a big, physical, efficient runner who has shown great vision in camp. Put these two together, and it’s fair to expect that the run game might look a little more like what Coen and GM James Gladstone were a part of in Los Angeles, with Kyren Williams and (in the case of Coen) Cam Akers and Todd Gurley. They believe that could go a long way toward opening up more things in play-action.
• The offensive line has questions, and the most immediate one concerns the right guard spot, with Patrick Mekari having undergone back surgery. The player to watch at that spot is Emmanuel Pregnon, a third-round pick out of Oregon who has impressed in pads this summer and has earned a shot at filling Mekari’s void (his timetable isn’t quite certain yet, but he’s expected to be back at some point this season). Then, there’s the question of which tackle will play which side. The Jaguars have been working last year’s right tackle, former first-rounder Anton Harrison, on the left side to test his ceiling. If he stays there, then last year’s left tackle, Walker Little, will flip over to the right (that’s how they were lined up at the practice I was at). This is also an area worth watching because the Jags felt great about their depth here, but injuries have hit them hard—they started camp with 16 linemen and were down to nine earlier this week (most of those guys will be back).
• The defensive line, on the other hand, is in really good shape. Arik Armstead, who is going into his 12th year, has had an outstanding summer, and the Jaguars are working former No. 1 pick Travon Walker inside quite a bit—they believe he’ll have a real chance to become even more impactful. Of course, if Walker goes inside on passing downs, that’ll open a job on the edge opposite Josh Hines-Allen, and B.J. Green II, a 2025 undrafted free agent, has emerged as a dark horse to be a big piece of that puzzle. Green looked active as a rusher as his opportunities increased late last year, and he’s been borderline dominant, as I’ve heard, early in camp as a sawed-off end who’s tough to block. The other thing to watch: I’d bet we’ll see more exotic schemes with the linebackers under second-year DC Anthony Campanile. They still have to figure out the Will linebacker spot after the departure of Devin Lloyd, but Ventrell Miller and Branson Combs are in contention for that spot. Still, I’d expect some creativity with malleable guys such as Dennis Gardeck and maybe Jahlani Tavai.
• Finally, the Travis Hunter question—where will he play? He’s majored on defense this year, the way he majored on offense last spring and summer. The belief is that he can be a special player at the position, with his length, ball skills, instincts and everything else. The Jags also know it’d be easier to have Hunter operate as a defensive player chiefly (meetings, drills, practice, etc.) and moonlight as a package player on offense than vice versa; that was his routine at Colorado. But most of all? They need him more on defense. The secondary looks promising, with fourth-year safety Antonio Johnson taking a leap, Eric Murray steady next to him, and Jarrian Jones coming on at corner, with nickel Jourdan Lewis fighting through injury. And where it’d really all come together would be if Hunter becomes who the Jaguars think he can be on defense.
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