Why Wyatt Milum Has Plenty at Stake Entering Jaguars' OTAs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- This month marks the first time the Jacksonville Jaguars will be back on the practice field as a team since their season ended in the playoffs in January. For a number of players, the stakes are raised, and Jaguars offensive lineman Wyatt Milum is one of them.

As the Jaguars prepare for the next offseason phase and OTAs, it is up to the 2025 draft class and other key young pieces on the roster to start to take their steps toward serious development. Now is when the '25 draft class specifically should be prepared to become more intregal to what the Jaguars do on both sides of the ball.

WYATT MILUM — Nov 23, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Wyatt Milum (64) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The most important member of last year's draft class is clearly two-way star Travis Hunter, who the Jaguars still expect to play both offense and defense in 2026. But Milum, a third-round selection and the third player drafted by the Liam Coen/James Gladstone/Tony Boselli era, will have to show the Jaguars this year whether he can be the short- or long-term answer, or the projections for the line could look a lot different.

What Milum Has at Stake

This is not to say Milum's place on the roster is in question. The former West Virginia product can play both tackle and guard and has even taken practice snaps at center with the Jaguars, so he clearly will be on the team and provide some value in his second season. The question is, though, just how important Milum might be to the Jaguars' success. Jacksonville values having a deep offensive line and Milum needs to find his place in it.

"The nice thing is we always said since being in LA in '22 in that tough year that we're never going to put ourselves in a position to not have depth up front and to not have great competition, depth," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said during the NFL Draft last month.

With that in mind, the Jaguars just drafted Emmanuel Pregnon in the third-round of this year's draft. Pregnon is an All-American who could change the entire trajectory of how the Jaguars approach their interior offensive line plans, and Milum will have him right on his heels at the same time that Milum should be pushing Ezra Cleveland and Patrick Mekari for a starting job.

The offseason is not exactly when offensive linemen seperate themselves, of course. That has to wait until the pads come on during training camp. But Milum needs to show now more than ever that he deserves to be in the conversation to start for the Jaguars, whether that happens this year or next season alongside Pregnon.

"Wyatt has got a ton of flexibility for him to go out, particular out at tackle and play on the inside at guard. The nice thing is we've got a lot of depth and competition coming up for -- obviously this being a little bit more of a learning phase throughout the spring, that you're not going to probably be able to see maybe what Wyatt's best traits are with a helmet on and shorts or maybe same thing with Emmanuel," Coen said.

"We have to wait until training camp to let that stuff play itself out. But shoot, I know in the last two years, getting two interior linemen with a little bit of flex that are 320, 315 plus that have that ass and mass that we're looking for, that's helpful to the cause."

In short, Milum will have to prove himself once the pads come on because there are other players waiting in the wings if he does not respond. Milum gradually played more and more as the year went on last season, but the Jaguars seemingly were not able to learn much about Milum in limited snaps as a whole, largely due to injuries in training camp.

This is not to say the Jaguars have any reason to be down on Milum, but the sample size right now is not much greater than it is for Pregnon, who has yet to participate in his first practice with the Jaguars. There seems to be a real chance for Milum and Pregnon to be the Jaguars' starting guard duo of the future, but Milum needs to start building the positive momentum now.

With that in mind, the Jaguars do need depth at offensive tackle and Milum could be the Jaguars' top option at swing tackle as Cole Van Lanen recovers from his knee injury. If Milum can show that he can take that role and ascend at guard, then the Jaguars have a potential building block.

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