In the weeks preceding the Jacksonville Jaguars game against the Carolina Panthers in the season opener, you have surely heard your fair share of bold predictions. Some surely included Travis Hunter becoming the first player ever to win Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year. Others may project Trevor Lawrence to seize the MVP award.
On the other hand, you haven't probably heard anything about fourth-string running back LeQuint Allen leading the team in yards, or backup Nick Mullens helping the Jags win the Super Bowl. That's probably because those predictions would be a stretch. That said, you should always expect the unexpected in the NFL, and there are a handful of things that may be uncanny but still have a chance to happen.
With that in mind, here are three weird predictions for the Jaguars in 2025.
Brenton Strange will lead the Jaguars in receptions
Under head coach Liam Coen, tight ends are expected to be equally adept at blocking and catching the football. That means that even though Brenton Strange will see a bigger role with Evan Engram out of the mix, he won't see a massive uptick in his target share... Unless Trevor Lawrence does a good job of spreading the ball.
See, Lawrence will have a myriad of weapons. Brian Thomas Jr. is the unquestioned No. 1 receiver on the depth chart, but Travis Hunter and Dyami Brown should also get plenty of opportunities. Ditto Parker Washington, who's made a strong impression in training camp.
Meanwhile, Brenton Strange will probably be the only tight end on the Jaguars depth chart who will have a big role in the passing game. With Thomas, Brown, and Hunter all having to share targets, Strange could end up leading the team in receptions.
Strange, indeed.
The Jaguars will register a shutout (and will win because of Cam Little)
There weren't many bright spots during the ill-fated Urban Meyer era, but a pretty encouraging one came in Week 9 of the 2021 season. In that game, the underdog Jacksonville faced off against the mighty Josh Allen-led Buffalo Bills.
The bout was supposed to be lopsided, and the Bills were expected to steamroll the Jaguars. But in a surprising turn of events, the Jags held their ground and limited Allen and the Buffalo offense to six points. In fact, the defense was so dominant that Josh Hines-Allen pulled off a hat trick (a sack, a fumble recovery, and an interception).
Of course, the Jaguars offense struggled, but they still managed to get on field-goal range to put kicker Matthew Wright in a position to score. In the end, Jacksonville won 9-6.
Fast forward to 2025, and the Jaguars have a pretty good kicker in sophomore Cam Little, who's shown that he has the strength to nail attempts of 60+ yards when he successfully made a 70-yard kick against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason opener.
Little will turn out to be the difference in close matchups next season, and there will be one in which the Jaguars will win by exclusively kicking field goals, like they did in Week 9 of the 2021 season.
Travis Hunter will have more interceptions than drops in 2025
Larry Fitzgerald was a Hall-of-Fame receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. Leaving aside that he was highly productive throughout his whole career despite the fact that he caught passes from underwhelming quarterbacks such as Max Hall or John Skelton, he got the spotlight because of a unique stat.
In his illustrious career, Fitzgerald had more tackles (whenever his quarterbacks threw a pick) than receptions. That goes on to show just how reliable he was. Travis Hunter is in a position to pull off a similar stat.
Given that the reigning Heisman Trophy winner will play two ways, he'll get plenty of opportunities to catch the football and pick quarterbacks off. And if he's as much of a game-changer as he was at Colorado, he'll finish his rookie campaign with more interceptions than drops.
Weird? You bet, but not out of the relm of possibility and you heard it here first.
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