3 Things That Must Happen This Offseason for Jaguars to Return to Playoffs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If the Jacksonville Jaguars want to get back to the playoffs next season, they have a few clear things on their checklist they have to hit.

The Jaguars' new regime got off to a heck of a start in 2025, with Liam Coen leading the team to a 13-4 record and Trevor Lawrence to a career season. But to ensure that season doesn't become just a blip in time, the Jaguars will need to address these three critical areas over the course of the offseason.

Improve the pass-rush

campanil — September 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Jaguars' pass-rush question is an interesting one. The Jaguars had a genuinely dominant pass-rusher in Josh Hines-Allen and they finished No. 7 in the NFL in total pressures. With that said, the pass-rush metrics weren't very kind to the Jaguars as they finished No. 23 in pressure rate, No. 27 in sacks, and No. 29 in sack rate according to NextGenStats. Even with a blue-chipper like Hines-Allen, the Jaguars need to get to the quarterback more.

This showed up in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, where it felt like the Jaguars were just a tick slow to get to Josh Allen, who more or less singlehandedly won the game for Buffalo. The Jaguars will need to add more pieces around Hines-Allen and Travon Walker this offseason to avoid a repeat in next year's field.

Build out the cornerback room

travis hunte — Sep 21, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter (12) before the play against the Houston Texans at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

One of the strongest position groups for the Jaguars' down the stretch was the cornerback room, where breakout seasons from Jarrian Jones and Montaric Brown joined the strong additions of Jourdan Lewis and Travis Hunter. Greg Newsome gave the Jaguars some solid snaps over the second half of the season as well, but there are some new questions for the Jaguars to answer about the unit in 2026.

Brown and Newsome are both set to be free agents next month if the Jaguars don't sign them to long-term deals. If the Jaguars lose both, that is nearly 1,200 snaps the Jaguars have to replace in the secondary. Hunter playing more defensive snaps will solve some of that, but he will play offense as well, so the Jaguars will need to add multiple pieces to fill out the room.

Replace lost production

The Jaguars have not officially lost Devin Lloyd and Travis Etienne to free agency, but the expectation around the league as of today is that both will be signing elsewhere in 2026. It makes sense for the Jaguars to not pay up in either case, but that doesn't change that each player was arguably one of the most impactful players on the roster in 2025.

The Jaguars will have internal options to replace both with guys like Ventrell Miller and Bhayshul Tuten, but it takes a bit of projection for each to be near what the Jaguars got out of Lloyd and Etienne last season. To get back to an AFC South title, the Jaguars will need contingency plans in place.

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