3 Storylines I'm Watching Most in Jaguars' Week 1 Matchup Against Browns

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have just one day left before the 2026 season kicks off, and all of the preparations have been done.

So with the Jaguars' Week 1 matchup with the Cleveland Browns now almost 24 hours away, we are taking a final look at all angles of the contest. This time, we take a look at the three Jaguars storylines we will be watching most closely over the course of the first weekend of the 2026 season.

Will the Jaguars' Running Game Look Improved?

tute — Nov 30, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten (33) celebrates his touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Jaguars' running game is certainly set to look different. Travis Etienne is no longer the team's workhorse running back, and the Jaguars are set to lean on second-year running back Bhayshul Tuten and free-agent addition Chris Rodriguez Jr. to replace him. The Jaguars will also be putting forth a new-look offensive line that has four returning starters on it, but with three who are playing different roles than they did during last year's winning streak. That means there is a lot of unknown around the running game entering the week, even with the momentum it picked up over the course of training camp.

“I'm confident in it. I think that these guys are eager to get it going again and to go put it on tape. Some of the adjustments, things we've done over the offseason, whether it be fundamentals, techniques, scheme, concepts, whatever it is," Coen said. "At the end of the day, it takes all 11 to run the football. Everybody's got a role to play in that. Our receivers need to go put it on tape. Our tight ends need to go put it on tape. Our quarterback has to continue to put us in and out of the right calls and get us into some of those positions. And I'm eager to see what it's going to look like."

If the Jaguars can come out and run the ball against a talented front like Cleveland's, it would bode well for their tough schedule moving forward. If the Jaguars have to continue to be one-dimensional, though, it could make for some tough sledding.

How Big of an Impact Do the Rookies Make?

There will be plenty of focus on Jaguars' rookie guard Emmanuel Pregnon as he makes his first NFL start, but he is not the only rookie I will be watching closely in Week 1. The Jaguars' rookie class is not expected to produce any other Week 1 starters among the rookie class, but players like Nate Boerkircher, Jalen Huskey, and Josh Cameron could all make legitimate impacts as depth pieces.

“I think there's always a little bit of a transition, for any rook going in and playing their first, NFL game. I think the type of guys that we have, I think they'll be fine," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said on Friday. "You look at the way they've performed in some of the joints and some of the competition in practice, I think they've raised their level of competition and been able to kind of rise up and do those things, which is nice. When you have the right kind of dudes, the right competitors, they usually rise to the occasion."

The Jaguars are in a position where they do not have to lean on rookies to make the biggest plays in each week's games like past Jaguars teams. But even though the rookies are not leading the frontlines of the battle against the Browns, I will still be interested to see how the Jaguars intergrate them into the action.

Trevor Lawrence vs. Deshaun Watson

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) rushes for yards during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Browns defeated the Jaguars 18-13. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Most weeks in football can come down to the matchup between the team's signal-callers, and the battle between Trevor Lawrence and Browns' quarterback Deshaun Watson is no different. All signs point to Lawrence having a strong season, and there are reasons to believe he has a favorable matchup against the Browns' defense. This is one of the weeks where the Jaguars have to show they have a clear and sizeable advantage at the sport's most important position, something they failed to show in the Browns' defeat of the Jaguars in Week 2 of the 2024 season.

Simply put, Watson is entering the season as one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL, and the Jaguars can not afford to let him look like anything else. Lawrence is supposed to be a MVP darkhorse, while Watson is supposed to be on borrowed time as a starter in the NFL. If we see this quarterback battle play out in any other way, it will be a dissapointing outcome for Jacksonville.

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