The Jacksonville Jaguars will have until 4:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, August 26th to cut their 90-man roster down to 53 players. In the inaugural offseason for the Liam Coen/James Gladstone/Tony Boselli regime, Jacksonville will soon receive a glimpse of how leadership views a few prior-year roster staples. But before we get to cutdown day, we have one final roster prediction for you.
* = see IR section for explanation
Quarterbacks (2): Trevor Lawrence and Nick Mullens
In probably one of the easier roster decisions, the Jaguars roster just two quarterbacks. With Nick Mullens’ knowledge of the Liam Coen system, he gets the nod at backup quarterback.
Running backs (4): Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby, Bhayshul Tuten, and LeQuint Allen
While the Jaguars coaching staff hasn’t telegraphed this position group like the tight end or quarterback spots, who makes the roster seems more than clear. Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby look to be 1A and 1B with Bhayshul Tuten as the likely heir apparent and LeQuint Allen as a strong candidate to work in on passing downs. The primary question that remains is who will be the RB to not dress on gamedays, and will there be a true week-to-week “starter” in the group?
Tight ends (4): Brenton Strange, Hunter Long, Johnny Mundt, Quintin Morris
With the offseason release of Evan Engram and the free agent signings of Long and Mundt, the tight end room pecking order looks to be set with Strange leading the group. Long and Mundt will presumably be package or role-specific options at the TE2 spot. Hunter Long provides a decent pass-catching option along with incredible blocking ability while Mundt offers upside in the passing game. With their 2024 history of injuries in Tampa Bay, and the Jags’ wish to be versatile, I see the team going with four tight ends. Morris, in limited action, has shown a solid ability to both catch down the field and potentially contribute on special teams.
Wide receivers (5): Brian Thomas Jr, Dyami Brown, Travis Hunter, Parker Washington, Austin Trammell
The Jaguars receiver pecking order looks clear on paper with Thomas heading up the group with Brown and Hunter. Parker Washington’s role as the WR4 seems to be a strong bet, with potential to push Dyami for the WR3 spot. However, the WR5 spot for Trammell is the one spot that feels the shakiest, with recent reports of the team reportedly discussing adding a WR4/5 option via trade. Due to his special teams value, ability out of the slot, and consistency in catching the ball when provided opportunities I’m going with Trammell over Trenton Irwin and also not rostering six receivers. However, I would not be shocked if the team added a receiver after cuts from other rosters or via trade in the coming weeks.
Offensive line (10): Walker Little, Ezra Cleveland, Robert Hainsey, Patrick Mekari, Anton Harrison, Fred Johnson, Wyatt Milum*, Jonah Monheim, Chuma Edoga, Cole Van Lanen*
The presumed starting five of Little, Cleveland, Hainsey, Mekari, and Harrison are obviously on the 53. Wyatt Milum, who was recently listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury and swing-tackle Cole Van Lanen’s injury status could both throw a monkey wrench into this decision. With the assumption that both will be healthy for week one, each would make the roster. Jonah Monheim’s dominant preseason play clearly secured his roster spot, with the team trading away Luke Fortner to the Saints. Fred Johnson and Chuma Edoga have both had a quality game week this preseason in run blocking and wrap up the offensive line depth here.
Defensive line (8): Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, Davon Hamilton, Khalen Saunders, Arik Armstead, Maason Smith, Dawuane Smoot, Emmanuel Ogbah
The Jacksonville defensive line group looks reasonably strong on paper. Is this partly due to Arik Armstead and Maason Smith both returning to practice with early offseason injury concerns? Sure. It is also due to the Jaguars’ front four having quality depth at all four spots for the first time since maybe 2017. With the acquisition of Khalen Saunders to spell DaVon Hamilton, Smith to spell Armstead or cycle in on passing downs for Hamilton, and Ogbah and a resurgent Smoot as additional options at edge the arrow is pointing up for the potential of this group. If the team were to choose to go with nine linemen here, B.J. Green likely would’ve been the final choice, edging out Tyler Lacy. However, he just missed the cut with the cutoff being at 8.
Linebacker (7): Foye Oluokun, Devin Lloyd, Dennis Gardeck, Jack Kiser, Ventrell Miller, Yasir Abdullah, Chad Muma
Foye, Lloyd, and Kiser each seem to be guaranteed roster spots, as of publishing. Dennis Gardeck’s ability to rush the passer and his special teams prowess have been on display since his return from the PUP, securing him his roster spot and potentially a starting role. Ventrell came through with a strong preseason Week two showing against the Saints, provides depth at multiple backer spots, and plays on special teams. Yasir Abdullah and Chad Muma round out the group for 2025. While Muma had a day to forget in the preseason finale, I still believe he makes the initial roster in the final season of his contract, and his special teams play. Meanwhile, I slot rookie LB Jalen McLeod, who has been injured throughout much of camp with a lower body injury to be placed on IR.
Cornerbacks (5): Tyson Campbell, Jourdan Lewis, Jarrian Jones, Montaric Brown*, Christian Braswell
I have the team going with five cornerbacks on the initial roster, with the top four being pretty clear choices of Campbell, Lewis, and Jones. With Travis Hunter being listed with the receiver group this is effectively six rostered corners, taking up just five spots. The Montaric Brown training camp injury puts the CB5 conversation under review, as he has been listed as week-to-week for weeks with a lower body injury. It is currently unknown if he will be available early into the season or later, which opens the door for Christian Braswell and/or someone not currently on the roster. Nevertheless, Braswell has shown enough this offseason to argue that he belongs and only time will tell what the team will do, if anything concerning Buster’s injury status and role as he looks to return in this contract year after looking good early on.
Safeties (5*): Eric Murray, Andrew Wingard, Caleb Ransaw*, Darnell Savage, Rayuan Lane, Daniel Thomas
With Eric Murray and Dewey Wingard as the starting safeties, the injury status of Caleb Ransaw gets a bright spotlight. As the third-round pick has been injured throughout much of training camp, similar to the Montaric Brown situation, the question of how long he is expected to be out becomes of major importance. If Ransaw will likely be available early in the year, then Darnell Savage’s roster spot would be in jeopardy. Savage has played little, if any special teams in Jacksonville and as a backup safety the new regime could decide to go with the younger guys there. However, without knowing the details of the week-to-week lower body injury, I lean Savage making the initial roster with Ransaw continuing to be out until known otherwise. The last two spots go to Daniel Thomas Ray Lane as heavy special teams contributors. With Dewey taking on a starting safety role, Lane could slot in into Wingard’s depth safety and special teams ace role with little potential drop-off.
Special teams (3): Cam Little, Logan Cooke, and Ross Matiscik
Cam, Logan, and Ross are easily locked in as possibly the strongest position group on the team. As a note: I have Tank Bigsby & Parker Washington as the starting kick returners with Bhayshaul Tuten as backup. Additionally, Washington is penciled in as the starting punt returner with Austin Trammell as his backup.
Potential IR Considerations* (5): OT Cole Van Lanen, OL Myatt Milum, CB Montaric Brown, LB Jalen McLeod, S Caleb Ransaw
These potential injured reserved options should be considered in the makeup of this 53-man roster, as no advanced injury information has been provided by the team on these players, which could considerably alter the roster decisions.
IR - Designation to Return?
OT Cole Van Lanen was ruled out for the duration of training camp and is on a one-year deal. I have Van Lanen making the active roster and not going on IR. Obviously, if he heads to IR and does not return, the team may look to fill that spot with Ricky Lee, from another roster, or via the waiver wire.
OL Wyatt Milum was recently listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury after showing dominant preseason play. I have Milum making the active roster and not going on IR. If he were to head to IR without returning, the team could retain Sal Wormley or Javon Foster instead.
CB Montaric Brown has been ruled out for training camp with a lower body injury & is on a contract year. I have Brown not going on IR due to the limited depth of the CB room and his contract year status. However, if this were to take place, he would likely be designated to return, and the team would likely look to add another corner via roster cuts or trade.
IR?
LB Jalen McLeod has been listed as week-to-week for weeks with a lower body injury. Depending on the severity of the injury, the team could look to keep him on the initial roster just to then put him on IR the next day. I have McLeod going on IR due to the depth of the room, the limited offseason reps, and being listed week-to-week currently while on a first year of a rookie contract.
S Caleb Ransaw was ruled out for the duration of training camp with a lower body injury. I have Ransaw going on IR due to the limited offseason reps, being listed week-to-week for weeks, while on a first year of a rookie contract.
As a secondary note, if needed, the team has significant flexibility available to them in terms of multiple rostered veterans on the final year of their contracts who may be willing to be released on cutdown day, then re-signed with the team after players have been placed on IR. Due to this, a few veterans could theoretically be released on cutdown day, while avoiding waivers, with handshake agreements in place to return to the team on the same, similar, or new contracts.
Notable Predicted Cuts:
WR Eli Pancol
WR Trenton Irwin
RB Ja’Quinden Jackson
DT Jordan Jefferson
DT Tyler Lacy
DE Myles Cole
DE BJ Green II
CB De’Antre Prince
WR Eli Pancol
WR Trenton Irwin
RB Ja’Quinden Jackson
TE Shawn Bowman
OG/OT Javon Foster
OG Sal Wormley
OT Ricky Lee
NT Jordan Jefferson
DT BJ Green
DT Tyler Lacy
LB Branson Combs
CB De’Antre Prince
CB Jabbar Muhammad
S Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig
Acquired from other teams’ rosters
Acquired from other teams’ rosters
While Wolford is familiar with the offense, I also would not be surprised if the team decided to bring in an outside QB option also. Additionally, with all of the extra attention given to DT BJ Green due to his very productive preseason, I’m unsure that he would make it through waivers to the practice squad.
Roster Expectations
While this may be the initial roster prediction, as I see it, I do not expect the roster to look this way for long. As the 2025 season progresses, I expect the team to remain aggressively active on the waiver wire for developmental depth at multiple positions such as wide receiver, cornerback, safety, offensive line, defensive tackle, and potentially quarterback. I also don’t rule out multiple trades for depth from this bold James Gladstone front office at a few positions (wide receiver and cornerback).
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