Two-way star Travis Hunter has stolen the spotlight since the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to select him with the second overall pick in this year's draft. That said, he's far from the only player who's expected to have a massive impact for the Jags in 2025. Trevor Lawrence should have no trouble bouncing back after suffering a shoulder injury last year. Similarly, wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is in a position to build off an impressive rookie campaign.
There will also be a few other players on the Jacksonville roster who aren't nearly as prominent but will still play key roles. Tight end Brenton Strange is one of them.
A second-round pick in the 2023 draft, Strange was a non-factor as a rookie, hauling in a measly five receptions for 35 yards with one touchdown. Sure, he was the No. 2 tight end behind Evan Engram at the time, but it's possible that he didn't get more targets or playing time because the coaching staff didn't think he was ready. That changed last season.
Engram got hurt, and Strange proved to be a more capable replacement, tallying 40 receptions for 411 yards with two touchdowns. On top of that, he proved to be a better blocker than his veteran counterpart, posting a healthy Pro Football Focus mark of 66.0 in that area.
The Jags cut ties with Engram earlier this year, paving the way for Strange to be TE1 next year. The fact that they didn't sign a prominent tight end in free agency or use an early-round draft pick at the position shows they're confident in him. Not surprisingly, the former Penn State Nittany Lion got plenty of love on a recent list.
Brenton Strange will deliver for the Jaguars in 2025 (but don't expect a massive statline)
Tom Blair of NFL Media drew up a list of underappreciated players, one for each team, and picked Brenton Strange for the Jacksonville Jaguars, pointing out that the third-year tight end should get more targets with Evan Engram out of the way.
"Strange finished third on the team in targets (53) and second in receiving yards and receiving first downs (21), averaging over 10 yards per catch in a passing offense that was basically propelled by one receiver (Brian Thomas Jr.) and frequently led by the likes of Mac Jones," Blair said. "His spot atop the depth chart and the enthusiastic public backing of Coen -- whose previous offenses for the Rams and Bucs featured plenty for tight ends Tyler Higbee (108 targets in 2022, most in Los Angeles that year) and Cade Otton (87 targets in 2024, second-most in Tampa that year) to do -- point to even brighter days ahead."
As Blair pointed out, Strange proved that he's capable of taking on a bigger workload, and he will. Having said that, don't expect him to get as many targets in 2025 as either Tyler Higbee or Cade Otton. The reason is that the latter only saw an uptick in production because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered injuries at wide receiver and had to lean on him more than they would've liked.
Couple that with the fact that Strange will be the fifth or sixth option in the passing game behind Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, Dyami Brown, and Parker Washington, and it's hard to see him finishing the year with more than 55-60 catches.
Then again, Strange should have no trouble racking up 50 catches and around 70 targets next season. That would still represent a noticeable improvement from 2024.
The bottom line is that you won't see Brenton Strange make headlines often, but that doesn't mean he won't be a key contributor for the Jaguars in 2025.
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