March 25, 2026, 11:24 a.m. ET

The Jacksonville Jaguars are preparing for the NFL Draft after a relatively quiet free agency, with drafting new talent seemingly their priority over signing free agents.

Now, with the initial wave of free agency complete, analysts are releasing their new power rankings, and for the Jaguars, it’s a mixed bag. For the most part, however, the Jags continue to be disrespected by the league.

In Mason Cameron’s post-free agency round-up, Jacksonville came in near the middle of the pack, largely due to the loss of Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd.

The Jaguars’ list of departing free agents wasn’t as long as that of some teams, but the losses they did suffer are easily the most impactful, with Devin Lloyd and Travis Etienne both heading to new destinations. That leaves Jacksonville down a key playmaker on both sides of the ball. Chris Rodriguez Jr. will somewhat supplement the backfield — but likely not to Etienne’s level. Third-year linebacker Ventrell Miller will likely step into Lloyd’s role with big shoes to fill after the latter ranked third among linebackers in PFF overall grade last season.

All things considered, the Jaguars showed significant growth in Liam Coen’s first year at the helm and can build on that in 2026.

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.

The Texans were ranked above the Jaguars, despite having a worse 2025 record and the Jaguars walking away with the AFC South title. This is mainly due to the Texans’ signing running back David Montgomery, but ultimately, it seems to be another sign of how little respect Jacksonville continues to get.

Like with PFF, SI’s Conor Orr ranked the Jaguars well below the Texans, largely because Houston was more aggressive in free agency than Jacksonville was. Orr doesn’t believe that there was much progress made:

The Jaguars came and left free agency without making much of a statement. While this is all well and fine, Jacksonville doesn’t have a first-round pick thanks to the Travis Hunter trade, and Hunter is now almost assuredly going to be a full-time cornerback. Getting cornerback Montaric Brown back was an important part of the Jaguars’ offseason checklist, but I’m struggling to see the evolution taking place here. 

The issue with this take is that Jacksonville didn’t need to evolve much; the team already made huge progress in 2025, and running it back with the existing roster makes sense. The Jaguars were enormously successful in 2025, and there’s little reason to believe James Gladstone and Liam Coen needed to overhaul much to continue seeing success.

Pete Prisco appears to be the first to rank the Jaguars appropriately. While the Jags fell a spot following free agency, Prisco acknowledged that they are still one of the best teams in the league.

They didn’t do much in free agency, but bringing back corner Montaric Brown was key. Losing linebacker Devin Lloyd and running back Travis Etienne won’t be the big losses you might think.

It’s undeniable that losing Lloyd and Etienne was not what anyone wanted, but as Prisco pointed out, it’s not exactly a devastating setback. There is still plenty of talent in the locker room, and the biggest reasons for the Jags’ improvement in 2025 — Coen and Gladstone — are still around.

Another middling grade comes courtesy of Eric Edholm, and once again, Jacksonville is ranked below Houston, even with the Texans falling two spots.

This was never going to be a bonanza free agency for the Jaguars, salary cap-strapped as they are, and they lack a first-round pick, thanks to last year’s draft-day trade for Travis Hunter. But even so, the draft should be able to provide some help, as Jacksonville holds 11 total picks, including three third-rounders. The Jags’ list of extremely-pressing needs isn’t long, but they did allow some notable players to walk in free agency, including Devin Lloyd and Greg Newsome II on defense and Travis Etienne on offense. I have to imagine they’re looking to beef up the defensive front one way or another. They stopped the run well last season, but they’ll want to find more pressure sources. Can Jacksonville remain among the contenders? Too early to definitively say yes or no.

Of course, it’s too early to know if the Jaguars are contenders, but that’s true of any team. And “stopped the run well”? Edholm may have forgotten, but Jacksonville had the best run defense in the league. With some added help on the pass rush in the draft, and Coen continuing to get the best out of Trevor Lawrence, there’s no reason to believe the Jaguars won’t continue to dominate the AFC South.

Ultimately, despite such an incredible 2025 season, Jacksonville is still not getting any measure of respect. Fortunately, though, Coen instilled a measure of grittiness and resilience in the team, and the constant disrespect only fueled them more. Hopefully, the same thing happens again in 2026.