What James Gladstone Quietly Revealed About the Jaguars During the Draft

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Sometimes, inaction says more than actions do. And while the Jacksonville Jaguars certainly appeared to be one team considering a move up the board in last week's draft, they ultimately stood put.

This is not to say the Jaguars were not willing to be bold and aggressive as ever. It feels safe to say that will never be the case with this regime. But ultimately, the Jaguars entered the draft with 11 picks and made 10 -- something that felt very intentional, and also very telling.

james gladston — Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone speaks during a press conference at the Miller Electric Center, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What the Moves Revealed

While the Jaguars were a team connected to draft-day rumors from both Day 1 and Day 2, the Jaguars held firm and kept all four of their top-100 picks last week. This was especially notable when the Jaguars opted not to move up from No. 56 overall, with the Jaguars instead staying patient and leaving Day 2 with Nate Boerkircher, Albert Regis, Emmanuel Pregnon, and Jalen Huskey.

The Jaguars did end up trading up twice; once in the fourth round for Wesley Williams and once in the sixth round for Josh Cameron. But neither of those deals were really significant in terms of their impact on the Jaguars' draft haul, and there seems to be a simple reason for that: volume.

Simply put, the draft has always been about trying to beat the odds. By adding as many draft picks as possible and getting as many darts to throw as a team can, they increase their chances of hitting on players in a process that is closer to being random than it is an exact science.

Even with the Travis Hunter blockbuster last year, the Jaguars still made a high number of picks with nine overall selections. Manuervers then helped the Jaguars make double-digit picks this year, and they are currently slotted to have 10 picks again in the 2027 NFL Draft. Volume has become key to the Jaguars' team-building process for a very purposeful reason.

"Yeah, that was a big piece to even my walk-through in the interview process. A higher volume of draft capital was what we were seeking, knowing the more at bats you have, the better probability you'll have for successful selections, while at the same time you can have a few more misses than you do hits," Gladstone said after the draft.

"But nonetheless, it was cool to lean into that as a part of this draft. I know with 10 more that lie in front of us in 2027 as it stands, we're going to have a healthy three-year run in terms of count."

james gladstone — Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone speaks during a press conference next to head coach Liam Coen at the Miller Electric Center, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In short, the Jaguars want to keep making high-volume classes the norm. This could look different in a lot of ways, but ultimately it stands to reason that we can now expect the Jaguars to navigate team-building in certain ways.

For example, we just saw the Jaguars spend the first offseason playing the compensatory draft pick game for the first time since 2023 and for one of the first times over the last two decades of the team. Gladstone and the Jaguars were willing to let Devin Lloyd and Travis Etienne to leave in free agency because it helped the Jaguars pick up three draft picks for next season.

That could mean we can expect to see the Jaguars look to make more shrewd moves in free agency. It could mean for some quieter offseasons and for some diffcult departures now and then, but it would help the Jaguars cotinue to make a lot of picks.

Add us as a preferred source on Google