The Jacksonville Jaguars have a handful of undervalued players. Tight end Brenton Strange is one of them. The fact that he played under the shadow of Evan Engram in 2024 is probably a big reason why. But with Engram now gone, Strange is ready for a featured role with the Jags. Then again, John Kosko of Pro Football Focus doesn't think the third-year pro has done enough to warrant a place on a recent ranking. That said, one of his teammates is extremely high on him.
Kosko drew up a list of the top 32 tight ends, and Strange was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Engram popped up at No. 11, with Kosko pointing out that he's just one year removed from this monster 114-catch season.
In general, the top 10 looks solid. George Kittle came out on top while Travis Kelce slid to No. 2. Brock Bowers finished second while Trey McBride was third. The one surprise was Mark Andrews at No. 4. Although he's been one of the best tight ends in the NFL in recent years, he struggled in 2024. It's fair to assume that he earned a high spot because of the goodwill he's built. Heck, Konso hinted at something along those lines.
Circling back to Strange, his omission is understandable. A second-round pick in the 2023 draft, he was a non-factor as a rookie, posting five catches for 35 yards with one touchdown. However, the former Penn State Nittany Lion showed massive improvement when he filled in for Strange last year, hauling in 40 receptions for 411 yards with two touchdowns.
The Jaguars paved the way for Strange when they released Engram in the offseason. And while he won't get as many targets as his veteran counterpart did in previous years, he's putting in the work to be even better in 2025. His hard work hasn't gone unnoticed. In fact, it's led defensive tackle Arik Armstead to make a bold proclamation: "Brenton Strange will be a top 5 tight end this year."
Of course, you could make the case that Armstead is a biased observer. That said, John Shipley of Sports Illustrated had high praise for the Parkersburg, West Virginia native, pointing out that he had a highlight-reel worthy play on Day 4 of Jaguars OTAs when he caught a pass of 20+ in spite of Jarrian Jones' tight coverage.
Brenton Strange may not be a top 5 tigth end but will have a big impact for the Jaguars
In Liam Coen's system, Brenton Strange will be asked to block, which is one of the reasons why he's a better fit than Evan Engram for the Jacksonville Jaguars. With Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, and Dyami Brown in the fold, he will have trouble finishing 2025 with more than 60 catches. Having said that, he will still have an increased role and will be a mainstay of the offense, a situation he's embracing.
Just recently, Strange had a sitdown with John Oehser of the team's official website and said that he's yet to play his best football.
"I think I have a lot of untapped potential," Strange told Oehser. "And obviously, like that comes with reps, that comes with growth and everything. But there are spurts last year where I felt like I did a really good job in the receiving game and being there for the team being a reliable pass catcher, so I think I have room to grow, for sure, and I have room to grow everywhere, like, that's not just as a receiver, that's being a blocker, like being a leader on this team."
Strange continued, "Like, I have so much more room to grow, and I'm excited for that. It's going to be challenging, but I'm up for the challenge. I know I'm capable."
The bottom line is that you probably won't see Brenton Strange at the top of many rankings in 2025, but that doesn't mean he won't make a massive impact for the Jaguars next season.
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