Brian Thomas Jr., Gabe Davis Named Jaguars' Top Offseason Additions

The most revamped room on the Jacksonville Jaguars' entire roster is the wide receiver room, which means it is only natural that the Jaguars' biggest offseason additions came at the position.

In a review of the AFC South from NFL.com's Bucky Brooks, the Jaguars' new wide receiver duo of Gabe Davis and first-round wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. were named exactly that.

"Free-agent signee Gabe Davis and first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. could give Jacksonville's offense the big-play element it lacked in 2023. Davis is a proven deep threat, boasting a career average of 16.7 yards per catch. In four regular seasons with the Bills, he notched 27 touchdowns, with 17 of them coming on passes that traveled 20-plus air yards, per Next Gen Stats. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder teams with Thomas (6-3, 209 pounds) to give the Jaguars more size, speed and athleticism outside, which should create more space for WR Christian Kirk and TE Evan Engram to work between the hashes. If BTJ plays like the home-run hitter who finished his final season at LSU with an FBS-best 17 receiving scores, the Jaguars' new perimeter playmakers could help the offense regain its explosiveness in 2024."
Bucky Brooks, NFL.com

The Jaguars signed Davis to a three-year deal worth $39 million in March, but the deal's max value could be as much as $50 million.

Davis, a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of UCF, caught 163 passes for 2,730 yards and 27 touchdowns in four years in Buffalo. In 2024, he caught 45 passes for 746 yards and seven touchdowns. Davis never caught fewer than six touchdowns in a season.

The Jaguars selected Thomas with the No. 23 pick in April, originally trading down from No. 17 and picking up a 2024 fifth-round pick, 2025 third-round pick and 2025 fourth-round pick. Thomas is the first wide receiver the Jaguars have selected in the first round since 2012.

Thomas caught 28 passes for 359 yards and two touchdowns for LSU in 2021. In 2022, he caught 31 passes for 361 yards and five touchdowns. He then exploded in 2023, catching 68 passes for 1,177 yards and 17 touchdowns.

"Obviously having Brian's length and speed was a big thing that was a strength of his through his college career. And then something Gabe [Davis] has always brought," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said last month.

"You're not going to have a super high pass completion percentage if you're pushing the ball way down the field. We feel like we've done a good job of that when we've called the play-action stuff. We have been particularly explosive when you look at our numbers in terms of concepts we've called and opportunities to push the ball. We've done a good job with that. And also Evan [TEngram] and Christian [Kirk] from the inside, working inside out and being able to get matched up on safeties at times depending on the principles of the coverage. We feel like we have people that we're able to push the ball down the field. Just got to get the opportunity and call those types of plays throughout the course of games."