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Jacksonville Jaguars 2025 NFL Season Preview

[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 NFL Preview Magazine. Order your copy today online or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

The Jaguars’ bold, new era is upon us. It’s an aggressive, confident era — and while quarterback Trevor Lawrence remains the key to the franchise, there will be far more to the Jaguars moving forward.

That became clear in April, when the Jaguars traded up three spots to select wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft — stunning the NFL world and showing how the franchise will operate under head coach Liam Coen, general manager James Gladstone and executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli. “This was certainly a statement for how we plan to move, how we plan to operate,” Gladstone says.

The focus: building around Lawrence and helping the fifth-year veteran fulfill the promise that made him the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. “This will all be about Trevor right now,” Coen said.

If bold is one theme around the Jaguars, youth is another, with the 39-year-old Coen — who spent last season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator — the NFL’s fifth-youngest head coach and Gladstone at 34 its youngest general manager.

Also on hand are 43-year-old defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile (former run game coordinator and linebackers coach with the Green Bay Packers) and 29-year-old offensive coordinator Grant Udinski (former assistant offensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings).

More NFL team previews

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Jets | Patriots

AFC North:Bengals | Browns | Ravens | Steelers

AFC South:Colts | Jaguars | Texans | Titans

AFC West: Broncos | Chargers | Chiefs | Raiders

NFC East:Commanders | Cowboys | Eagles | Giants

NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings

NFC South: Buccaneers | Falcons | Panthers | Saints

NFC West: 49ers | Cardinals | Rams | Seahawks

That young group focused on the offensive line in free agency, then added speed elsewhere in free agency and the draft. The goal was to improve a running game that has struggled in recent seasons and enhance the offense’s quick-strike ability. Adding Hunter was a major step. He will play both offense and defense, becoming the first NFL player in six decades to do so extensively — and Gladstone’s expectation is that he “has the capacity to alter the trajectory of the sport itself.”

Offense

What’s new in 2025? Everything, but notable is the offense that Coen and Udinski will install around Lawrence — an offense rooted in the principles of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay. Coen served as the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2022, and Udinski spent the past three seasons working for Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell, the Rams’ coordinator in 2021-22.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence drops back to pass against the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter at EverBank Stadium.

Trevor Lawrence

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Coen’s offensive philosophy centers around a strong offensive line, with a focus on the running game that was evident as the Buccaneers improved from last in the NFL in the category in 2023 to No. 4 in 2024, Coen’s lone season with the team. That emphasis figures to ease the pressure on Lawrence, who enters 2025 searching for more consistency and needing to remain healthy after dealing with injuries late in 2023 and 2024.

A major focus of the Jaguars’ offseason was to improve an offensive line that — while adequate in pass protection last season — struggled enough in the running game that it hampered the entire offense.

Toward that end, the Jaguars signed center Robert Hainsey (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), left guard Patrick Mekari (Baltimore Ravens), tackles Fred Johnson (Philadelphia Eagles) and Chuma Edoga (Dallas Cowboys) as free agents. They also selected guard Wyatt Milum in Round 3. Projected starters are Hainsey and Mekari, along with right tackle Anton Harrison, left guard Ezra Cleveland and left tackle Walker Little. But this is a unique situation in which talk of training camp competition at all spots is more than just speculation.

A major difference for the Jaguars in 2025 figures to be speed and big-play potential. Second-year wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. has the ability to be one of the NFL’s best players at his position, and Hunter — who will begin his career working full-time with the offense — possesses rare playmaking ability.

The Jaguars also signed former Washington Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown in free agency. The belief within the organization is that all three receivers can stretch the defense and beat single coverage.

Running back, too, will be an area to watch. Bhayshul Tuten, a fourth-round selection from Virginia Tech, has rare speed, and he and seventh-round running back LeQuint Allen Jr. could push veterans Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne Jr. for snaps in an offense that figures to use three backs extensively.

Defense

The theme here, too, is new — with Campanile and a mostly new staff reshaping the defense after a disastrous 2024 season in which the unit repeatedly gave up big, explosive plays while failing to pressure the passer or force turnovers consistently.

Travis Hunter at Jaguars practice.

Two-way rookie Travis Hunter

Look for the Jaguars to play a 4-3-based scheme under Campanile with a heavy emphasis on zone in the secondary.

Key to the unit: ends Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen, the defense’s best players and one of the NFL’s better edge tandems. Also key in 2025: Veteran Arik Armstead is expected to start at tackle after rotating with Walker and Hines-Allen in his first season with the team in 2024. That means for Armstead a return to the natural position where he excelled in his first nine NFL seasons with the Sam Francisco 49ers.

Second-year tackle Maason Smith also could be critical to the defensive interior, and he must continue to build on the improvement he showed as a penetrating pass-rusher late last season. Middle linebacker Foyesade Oluokun is a consistent presence against the run, but one of Campanile’s tasks is to improve the run defense — an area that has been too inconsistent under two different staffs the past two seasons.

Cornerback Tyson Campbell is the top player in a reshaped Jaguars secondary, and he must stay healthy to be the core player the team envisioned when he signed a long-term extension in the 2024 offseason. Nickelback Jourdan Lewis and safety Eric Murray are expected to provide experience and consistency, with starters at the other safety spot and outside corner uncertain entering training camp. The Jaguars love rookie third-round selection Caleb Ransaw at safety, and he could win the job in camp.

It will be intriguing to see how the Jaguars use Hunter. While the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner will play full-time offensively, he likely will also be on the field extensively in passing situations on defense, with the Jaguars wanting to use his high-end ball skills to create turnovers after the team finished last in the NFL in takeaways in 2024.

Specialists

Special teams are a team strength entering 2025, with punter Logan Cooke a Pro Bowl selection in 2024 and long-snapper Ross Matiscik a Pro Bowl selection each of the past two seasons. Placekicker Cam Little also showed high-end leg strength as a rookie in 2024, and it would be a surprise if this isn’t the Jaguars’ long-term snapper/punter/kicker trio for the foreseeable future.

Final Analysis

Look for the Jaguars to be much different — and much improved — in 2025. The belief within the organization is that they can compete for the AFC South title.

To do so, Lawrence must stay healthy, and a running game that has struggled in recent seasons must improve. Toward that end, the Jaguars added significant speed at the skill positions and veterans along the offensive line. If those moves pay off, and if Lawrence can return to the form he showed late in 2022 and early in 2023, the Jaguars can improve quickly.