Jacksonville Jaguars News

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. has seen his name floated in trade rumors since last season's trade deadline, despite repeated claims from the front office that they are not shopping their former first-round pick following a disappointing second season. After making 87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie, Thomas was held to 707 yards and two scores on only 48 receptions in 2025. Regardless of where he plays in 2026, he could be viewed as a buy-low candidate. Stuck in a muddled receiver room after a down year, he is currently being drafted as a low-end WR2 in dynasty startups, less than a year after topping out as a top-five receiver in most dynasty circles. The talent he displayed both in college and as a rookie is real, though motivation issues have hounded him since his time at LSU. Should he remain in Jacksonville, Thomas has the explosive playmaking abilities to regain the most fantasy-relevant role on the team, while a new home and a fresh start would likely also see his value spike.

A fourth-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2025 NFL draft, running back Bhayshul Tuten racked up 386 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns on 93 touches across 15 games as a rookie. The 23-year-old flashed high upside at different points throughout the year, but his path to consistent production was blocked off by the presence of former Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. Etienne Jr. departed Jacksonville for the New Orleans Saints in free agency, seemingly opening the door for Tuten to emerge as the team's clear RB1. However, the Jaguars signed former Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. in free agency, and a recent report suggests that the team plans to hold an open competition for the lead-back role in training camp. Still, Tuten is in a much better position for a breakout season than he was entering 2025. If he can outperform Rodriguez Jr. in the preseason, Tuten has the talent to emerge as a top-24 fantasy running back in 2026 and beyond. RotoBaller currently ranks him as the 21st-best running back for dynasty formats.

After a mid-season trade sent wide receiver Jakobi Meyers from the Raiders to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the seventh-year wideout played the final eight games of the year on a full-season pace of 83 receptions for 939 yards and six touchdowns, numbers that would have all led the team in 2025. With a full team offseason under his belt, Meyers will enter 2026 with a realistic shot of becoming the go-to receiver in one of the league's most ambiguous rooms. Following the trade, Jacksonville locked up Meyers with a three-year extension, and while the team has denied floating Brian Thomas Jr.'s name in recent trade talks, rumors that he still might be moved refuse to go away. 2025 second overall pick Travis Hunter is expected to spend more time on the defensive side of the ball in his second season, and while Parker Washington offers more upside potential, Meyers is likely the safest bet to lead the team in targets in 2026.

Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com writes that "it'll be a while" before the Jacksonville Jaguars' backfield dynamic gains any clarity. Jacksonville lost Travis Etienne Jr. in free agency and replaced him with Chris Rodriguez Jr., who will compete for the lead-back role with Bhayshul Tuten. Although it might seem like Tuten has an early leg up on the competition because of his familiarity with the Jaguars' offense, we must also acknowledge that Jacksonville deliberately went out and paid Rodriguez $10 million, so they want to get him involved. He also has a connection to head coach Liam Coen, who was his offensive coordinator at Kentucky in 2021. The Jaguars are no strangers to complicated backfields. They entered last season with no clear frontrunner between Etienne, Tuten, and Tank Bigsby. The good news is that there are now only two names in the mix, instead of three. Still, it sounds like it will be a while before we gain any clarity in this backfield. Both Rodriguez and Tuten should be viewed as low-end RB3/flex options, and whichever player wins the starting role will jump to the low-end RB2 tier given how strong Jacksonville's offense looked last year.

With running back Travis Etienne Jr. no longer in town, the Jacksonville Jaguars could be eyeing a timeshare in their backfield in 2026 with Bhayshul Tuten and newcomer Chris Rodriguez Jr. ESPN's Michael DiRocco writes that "it'll be a while before it's determined what the workload share between Tuten and Rodriguez will be." Behind Tuten and Rodriguez is second-year back LeQuint Allen Jr., seven-year veteran DeeJay Dallas, and Ja'Quinden Jackson, an undrafted rookie free agent in 2025 who spent all of last year on the practice squad. Tuten, a fourth-rounder last year, ran for 305 yards and five touchdowns while catching 10 passes for 79 yards and two scores as a rookie. Rodriguez had 4.8 yards per carry and ran for 500 yards and six rushing touchdowns in 2025 with Washington. He had 920 yards and 10 TDs in mostly a reserve role in his three years in D.C., which makes him the Jags' most experienced back. He also has experience in head coach Liam Coen's offense after working with him in 2021 at Kentucky. DiRocco writes that could make Rodriguez "an early leader to be the Jags' No. 1 back" going into the summer.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington finds himself in a very crowded position group. However, he has likely done enough to defray any concerns about his volume going forward. Washington opened 2025 as the clear-cut No. 3 receiver behind Travis Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr., and he continued to face heavy competition when Hunter tore his ACL and the Jaguars brought in Jakobi Meyers. Still, Washington ended up breaking out with a career-high 58 catches, 847 yards, and five touchdowns. Not only did he lead the Jaguars in receiving yards and touchdowns, but at WR27 overall, he was also the team's highest-scoring fantasy receiver. Given his consistency over the back half of the season in a crowded position group, we can confidently say that Washington's third-year breakout was not a fluke. He should remain one of Lawrence's favorite targets even with Hunter, Meyers, and Thomas all present next year. That may result in an occasional dud game from Washington, but for the most part, we expect him to be a reliable fantasy contributor in a Jacksonville offense with plenty of targets to go around. We would advise against selling high on Washington in dynasty leagues, because his fantasy relevance is just getting started. He remains a high-end WR3/flex option for 2026 fantasy football.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is coming off a very strong 2025 season, and that trend should continue into 2026. Plenty of the credit belongs to Lawrence himself, who took off for a career-high 359 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. The threat of his legs forced defenses to adjust their game plan and perhaps play a little more conservatively in pass coverage. However, the Jags' receiving corps also deserves plenty of praise. What started as an already encouraging duo of Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter blossomed into an exciting trio of Thomas, Jakobi Meyers, and Parker Washington (with Hunter landing on injured reserve). These four receivers complemented each other nicely and picked up the slack when one was underperforming, which was helpful given that Thomas specifically had a down year. The Jags' receivers (plus tight end Brenton Strange) led to a career-high 29 passing touchdowns from Lawrence. This same pass-catching group will be back in 2026, and Hunter should be fully healthy, even if he plays fewer snaps on offense and more on defense. Not only can Lawrence repeat his strong season, but he could push for 30-plus passing touchdowns for the first time in his career. He remains firmly entrenched as a mid-range QB1 in redraft and dynasty leagues.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Chris Rodriguez Jr.'s new landing spot should benefit him long-term, and it also bodes well for his fantasy football managers. Rodriguez, a former Washington Commander, hit free agency this offseason and ultimately signed with the Jaguars. It was a very intriguing offseason move, as Jacksonville had recently lost Travis Etienne Jr. and was looking for someone to share the backfield with Bhayshul Tuten. While Tuten's one year of experience in the Jags' backfield gives him an early advantage on the lead-back role, we fully anticipate that Rodriguez will also be heavily involved. Rodriguez should play at least one-third of the snaps, and we'd have to imagine that Tuten still has somewhat of a short leash given his youth and lack of a track record. In other words, there's a path for Rodriguez to land the lead-back role if Tuten struggles or gets injured. Plus, Rodriguez already has a connection to head coach Liam Coen. At Kentucky in 2021, when Rodriguez was running for Kentucky and Coen was Kentucky's offensive coordinator, the former amassed 1,440 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns. All in all, Rodriguez is a very appealing "buy" in dynasty leagues this offseason.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brenton Strange continues to rise in the latest dynasty fantasy football rankings. Between his own talent and the Jaguars' impressive offense, Strange has the potential to be a heavily-targeted option in the passing game with plenty of yards and touchdowns coming his way. We saw a glimpse of that in 2025, as he averaged 3.8 catches and 45 yards per game. However, he also missed five weeks due to injury, limiting his ceiling over the course of the season. He finished as the overall TE23, which is probably his floor in 2026. On the other hand, he has top-12 upside while catching passes from Trevor Lawrence, especially given how highly the Jaguars think of him. This past weekend, John Shipley of Jaguars On SI reported that the Jaguars believe Strange could be the most underrated tight end in football and "know just how important he is to everything they do." That's an encouraging sign that he'll get even more involved next year. These comments from Shipley were followed by a report that the Jaguars might look to draft a tight end to pair with Strange. That sounds concerning at first, but we don't think dynasty managers should panic. Strange remains the No. 1 tight end in Jacksonville, and the Jaguars don't have the 2026 draft capital to select someone who would immediately steal a big portion of his volume. As it stands, Strange is a top-18 fantasy tight end for 2026, and he has clear top-10 upside.

Jacksonville Jaguars two-way player Travis Hunter (knee) saw nearly a 2:1 offense-to-defense snap-count split in his rookie campaign and appeared to be on the verge of a breakout before an LCL knee injury ended his season in Week 7. With reports out of Jacksonville that Hunter will spend year two as a full-time defensive back with part-time offensive usage, the 22-year-old has slipped outside the top-100 dynasty players in consensus rankings. The Jaguars remain adamant that they will not trade receiver Brian Thomas Jr., creating a bit of a bottleneck at the position with Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington, and making Hunter more valuable to the team on defense. Even in IDP formats, cornerbacks often rely on outlier seasons to gain fantasy relevance, and Hunter's limited work at receiver might not be enough to make him anything more than a late-round upside-play.

A seventh-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, Jacksonville Jaguars running back LeQuint Allen Jr. did well to carve out any sort of role in his team's offense as a rookie. While Allen Jr. logged only 33 touches across 17 games, he played double-digit offensive snaps in 15 contests and seemingly earned the trust of his coaching staff in a third-down role. Former Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. recently signed with the New Orleans Saints in free agency, leaving a significant number of backfield touches in Jacksonville up for grabs heading into 2026. The Jaguars have a promising young back in Bhayshul Tuten and also signed former Washington Commanders rusher Chris Rodriguez Jr., both of whom could block off Allen Jr.'s path to early-down work. However, neither Tuten nor Rodriguez Jr. profiles as much of a receiver out of the backfield. Allen Jr. could emerge as Jacksonville's primary receiving back and may be worth rostering in deep dynasty formats heading into 2026.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. was not being shopped in recent trade talks, general manager James Gladstone said on Thursday. Gladstone said rumors of Thomas being shopped were "fraudulent claims" and that the team never received an offer for the wide receiver. The second-year general manager went as far as to say that Thomas will be a big part of the Jaguars' offense going forward. Fantasy managers should be excited to hear that, but the comments should obviously be taken with a grain of salt. Thomas is coming off a very frustrating second season in the NFL, catching just 48 passes for 707 yards and two touchdowns across 14 games. To make matters worse, he faces plenty of competition in the passing game from a crowded receiver room that features Jakobi Meyers, Travis Hunter, and Parker Washington. Managers who trust Gladstone's comments might consider buying low on Thomas in dynasty leagues. Otherwise, he's probably more of a "hold" for the time being. UPDATE: Gladstone also said when asked about trading Thomas, that, "We have no interest in disrupting the momentum."

The Jacksonville Jaguars are signing former Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. to an undisclosed two-year deal on Wednesday, sources told Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. Rodriguez will head to the AFC South after three years in Washington. The 25-year-old former sixth-round pick by the Commanders in 2023 out of Kentucky had his best year in 2025, carrying the ball 112 times for 500 yards and six touchdowns, which were all career-highs. He also caught three passes for 30 yards in 13 games played (seven starts) in D.C. In his three years with Washington, C-Rod had 10 rushing touchdowns while averaging a healthy 4.6 yards per tote. Jacksonville lost Travis Etienne Jr. to the New Orleans Saints in free agency and will now go into the 2026 campaign with Rodriguez, Bhayshul Tuten, and LeQuint Allen Jr. as their backfield options, barring another RB addition in the upcoming draft. Tuten figures to be the Jags' RB1, but Rodriguez could easily have flex appeal in a complementary role in a rising offense. UPDATE: Rodriguez will make $10 million on his two-year deal.

The Jacksonville Jaguars do not appear to be shopping wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. "by any means," according to John Shipley of Sports Illustrated. There is "definite interest" around the league in Thomas, according to a league source with knowledge of the situation, but some teams thought to be previously interested have moved on to other options because the Jags don't seem to be in a rush to trade Thomas. The widely held belief across league circles is that the Jaguars have an "extremely high" asking price for Thomas and "do not see any reason to budge." The Buffalo Bills entered the offseason "extremely high" on the idea of trading for Thomas, but their acquisition of DJ Moore suggests they are out on Thomas. Teams believe Jacksonville's price for Thomas is "at least one premium pick." The former LSU star might have trouble reaching the heights of his rookie season again (87-1,282-10 line) with Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington around, but a rebound from last year's 48-707-2 line is possible if he stays with the Jags heading into his third NFL season.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.'s name has been floated around this offseason as a possibility of being traded after his down year in 2025, but the Jaguars don't seem to be interested in dealing him. "I've been told that the Jaguars aren't interested in trading Brian Thomas. His name continues to be floated out there, but the Jaguars have no interest in moving on from him," ESPN's Adam Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. There was some speculation that the New York Jets had interest in acquiring the 23-year-old former 23rd overall pick from LSU. A move to New York would be really bad news for Thomas' fantasy managers in dynasty/keeper leagues. Thomas was a Pro Bowler in 2024, catching a whopping 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns in 17 games, but he had a disappointing 48-707-2 line in 2025 in Year 2. Staying in Jacksonville might not be the worst thing for Thomas, but his fantasy ceiling will certainly be limited with Meyers in the picture and Parker Washington also looking for a bigger role.

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten appears to have benefited from the first day of the NFL's legal tampering window, watching former teammate Travis Etienne Jr. agree to a four-year deal with the New Orleans Saints to leave him presently atop the depth chart. With most of the bigger-name free agent backs already finding new homes in the first 24 hours of open negotiation, and the Jaguars likely picking too late in the draft to add an impactful Day 1 rookie, Tuten has a strong chance to enter his second season as the team's number one option out of the backfield. Currently joining him on the depth chart are 2025 seventh-round pick LeQuint Allen, who spent much of his rookie year relegated to special teams, handling only 23 rushing attempts, and seventh-year journeyman DeeJay Dallas.

ESPN's Rich Cimini says to keep an eye on the New York Jets potentially trying to acquire Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. via trade. Cimini thought that the Jets would target wideout Michael Pittman Jr. from the Indianapolis Colts, but the Colts traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday for a late-round draft pick. The Jets could really use a No. 2 wideout behind Garrett Wilson going into the 2026 season, and Thomas would definitely be a solid pickup as a WR for Gang Green. The 23-year-old former 23rd overall pick out of LSU in 2024 looked like a star his rookie season, catching 87 passes on 133 targets for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. But he fell in Year 2, going for a 48-707-2 line in 14 regular-season contests. There's rebound potential for him in 2026, but that could be thrown out the window if he goes to the Jets, a team without a firm plan at quarterback right now.

The New Orleans Saints are signing former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. to a four-year, $52 million deal on Monday, sources told Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports. It's a major addition for the Saints' offense, as Etienne had over 1,000 rushing yards in 2025 and contributes in both the run and pass game. The addition of the former Clemson star is a sign that the Saints could be releasing veteran Alvin Kamara this week after he ended last season with a knee injury. New Orleans also has Kendre Miller (knee) and Devin Neal (hamstring) at RB on the roster, but Etienne will be the clear lead back going into next season. The 27-year-old has gone over 1,000 rushing yards in three of the last four seasons and will join a New Orleans offense that was scrappy with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough running things to close out the year. Etienne's speed and three-down skill set will give him clear RB1 upside in 2026 in the Big Easy.

Cornerback Montaric Brown re-signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars on a three-year, $33 million deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Brown, a former seventh-rounder in 2022, would have had a strong market had he made it to free agency. The 26-year-old from Arkansas has had a bigger role in Jacksonville the last two seasons, combining for 126 tackles (98 solo), six tackles for loss, three interceptions, and 20 pass breakups in 32 total games (22 starts). Last year, Brown had 51 tackles (43 solo), a career-high two interceptions, and a career-high 12 pass breakups in 15 regular-season games (12 starts) for the Jags. He had a strong Pro Football Focus coverage grade in 2025 and will now stay in Jacksonville as an outside cornerback through the 2028 season.

CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones thinks it would be a surprise if the Jacksonville Jaguars traded wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. this offseason, considering how the Jaguars' offense flourished down the stretch last year. There have been rumors that the Jags could look to move Thomas after a very disappointing sophomore season in 2025, but the team still values the 2024 first-round pick. The 23-year-old former 23rd overall pick out of LSU made a name for himself immediately in his rookie year and was a Pro Bowler, catching 87 of 133 targets for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns in 17 regular-season games. Thomas only caught 48 passes in 2025 for 707 yards and two touchdowns on 91 targets in 14 regular-season games. If he stays in Jacksonville, Thomas could be a rebound candidate for fantasy managers in 2026, although it won't be easy with Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington, and former Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter (knee) taking targets away in the passing game.