What the NFL Draft Told Us About Liam Coen’s Real Plan for Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If there has been one central theme that Jacksonville Jaguars head coach, Liam Coen has seemingly tried to instill this offseason, it has been that he wants his team to not only continue to find their edge on the field, but to be even tougher than the physical group that they were a year ago.

The Jaguars took on the personality of their head coach last season, with the Jaguars playing with a brand of physicality, aggressiveness, and even chippiness that we have not seen from a Jaguars team in some time.

The fiery Coen, who is never afraid to wear emotions on his sleeves, demanded that kind of physicality and toughness from his locker room from day one of being hired by the Jaguars last offseason, and it showed itself on the field. It is exactly that toughness that resonated through the Jaguars' decisions in this year's draft.

Coen's Vision

But while the Jaguars had an impressive turnaround last season and finished the year with a 13-4 record and an AFC South championship, it is clear the Jaguars know that they ultimately did not get the job done. That stings from that loss, and the only four other losses the Jaguars had last year, have obviously carried over into the offseason.

liam coen — Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen speaks during a press conference at the Miller Electric Center, Monday, April 20, 2026 in Jacksonville, Fla. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jaguars lost in the first round of the playoffs in a home defeat to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card, a loss that in many ways felt self-inflicted and not indicative of what the Jaguars believe that they can be moving forward.

That is why, from the Jaguars' very first offseason additions to the 10 draft picks they just made, there has been a central theme to what Coen has wanted from the Jaguars. It was clear when the Jaguars signed Chris Rodriguez Jr. in free agency that they wanted to be a more physically imposing team on offense, with Rodriguez expected to be the type of power back the roster perhaps lacked a year ago to set the tone.

That theme carried on through last week's NFL draft, with most of the Jaguars 10 draft picks going toward exactly that idea. The Jaguars started off with the selection of Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher at No. 56 overall, taking the physical tight end seemingly because of how well he fits into the idea of a tougher team at the line of scrimmage.

When Coen spoke alongside Jaguars general manage James Gladstone following Day 2 of the draft, his first words made it clear what the franchise's intentions and vision are.

"Yeah, we definitely got tougher tonight. The type of player, the type of person that we're trying to hunt up here, attitude, toughness, mentally and physically tough," Coen said after the Jaguars took Boerkircher.

"I think has a lot more in his body than was probably displayed throughout the season when they were throwing the ball a lot to those wide-outs and Concepcion and those guys, when every opportunity he had throughout the off-season process, to go put it on tape, that he could, and that there was that in his body and that he did have those capabilities, it showed up in a major way.

Three of the Jaguars' next four picks were then trench picks: defensive tackle Albert Regis and offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon went No. 81 and No. 88, and the Jaguars then traded up for physical and versatile Duke defensive end Wesley Williams with their first Day 3 selection. At each turn, the Jaguars made it clear what their focus would be and why they are not deviating from it.

Does that focus earn them the draft grades and offseason report card winners that other teams get this time of the year? Probably not, but it is not like the Jaguars' offseason a year ago was being lauded before it helped build a winning foundation. The Jaguars have a process they believe in, and that process led Coen and Gladstone to adding to the team's level of physicality this offseason.

Whether Coen and the Jaguars have accomplished that goal won't fully be known until they kick off in Week 1. The franchise's brass knows they are judged on what happens on the field on Sundays, and that is where the Jaguars' new additions will have to make that mark.

But while we have to wait to see the Jaguars line up and play in 2026 to know whether they truly are a tougher team, all signs from Coen and Gladstone indicate they will be.

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