Grading the 2025 Jaguars
James Gladsone
In year one for general manager James Gladstone, he managed to flip a 4-13 team into a 13-4 team by doing exactly what he said he would do, which was to raise the floor. Gladstone did not have many splash draft picks or signings in free agency; his deals were done in the margins, and they paid dividends.
He began free agency by unloading the previous regime's players, releasing Evan Engram, Ronald Darby, Gabe Davis, Devin Duvernay, and Josh Reynolds, as well as not resigning starters Andre Cisco or Brandon Scherff.
The Jaguars 2025 free agency class consisted of 14 players. The best of the group are Patrick Mekari, Robert Hainsey, Eric Murray, and Jourdan Lewis. Many of the signings were used as depth pieces, with only one clear whiff in wide receiver Dyami Brown. A move that went under the radar was the re-signing of offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen. Three starting offensive linemen and two starting players in the secondary were a nice start to improving the roster.
The Jaguars 2025 draft class began with the splash of the night, trading their 2025 5th overall pick, the 36th pick in the second round, the 126th pick in the fourth round, and their 2026 first-round pick to select Travis Hunter with the second overall pick. Hunter would show flashes during the season on both sides of the ball, but his season would be cut short after just 7 games with an MCL tear.
The Jaguars next selection in Caleb Ransaw would face a similar fate, suffering a knee injury in training camp that would sideline him for the 2025 season. There would only be two contributors from the Jaguars 2025 draft class. Fourth-round pick and running back Bhayshul Tuten and seventh-round pick and running back LeQuint Allen.
Free agency and the NFL draft would help to improve the team along the margins, but more moves would be made midseason, starting with Tyson Campbell. In week 6 of the NFL season, the Jaguars traded Tyson Campbell and a 2026 7th-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Greg Newsome II and a 2026 6th-round pick. Greg Newsome did not play well for the Jaguars, but the success of the trade is in the cap sheet, as the Jaguars will not have to pay Greg Newsome II moving forward and will only have to pay $19.5 million against the cap for Tyson Campbell in 2026, with no money on the books beyond then.
The move that catapulted the team was when the Jaguars traded their 2026 4th and 6th round picks for wide receiver Jakobi Meyers. The Jaguars offense took off once Meyers joined the team, and he got rewarded with a 3-year, $60 million contract. Cole Van Lanen also received an extension midseason, signing a 3-year, $51 million contract.
Gladstone made moves along the margins to improve the team's floor and give them a chance to compete. He was not afraid to make bold moves, whether it was trading up to get Travis Hunter, trading Tyson Campbell away, or trading for and signing Jakobi Meyers. The moves Gladstone made throughout 2025 helped the Jaguars win the franchise's most regular-season games since 1999, and for that, he gets an A-.
Liam Coen
Liam Coen joined a team filled with disarray and unknowns. The roster was overhauled, but one key player remained: quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Coen was successful in the Buccaneers' running game in 2024, and many thought that would translate to Jacksonville. The big question was if he could make it work with Trevor Lawrence the way he did with Baker Mayfield, and the question was answered with a resounding yes.
Things started out sunshine and rainbows with the Jaguars jumping out to a 4-1 record, but it slipped away quickly, losing three of their next four. At 5-4, questions rose about Coen's game management, Lawrence's play, and how the rest of the season could play out. They went on to win 8 straight games, averaging 32 points per game offensively, with Trevor Lawrence playing the best football of his career and having the offense feature different players in Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and Travis Etienne.
We see the locker room videos after wins, and that's always great, but things change quickly when the losses begin to stack. Sitting at 5-4 after blowing a 29-10 lead against the Texans, it was easy to think the locker room was gone and the season was over; Jaguars fans had seen this movie many times. Liam Coen made sure that didn't happen, keeping the belief in the locker room, and most importantly, his quarterback, telling him to "let it rip" and instilling the confidence he had lacked for years.
Liam Coen transformed the Jaguars into not just a winner, but a contender in just one season. It was built through his creative schematics, his leadership, and his aggressiveness. Players from just a year ago look totally different, and that is because of coaching. For the 2025 season, Liam Coen gets an A.
Trevor Lawrence
The 2025 season was a tale of two stories for Trevor Lawrence. Through 9 games, Lawrence had 14 total touchdowns and 11 turnovers. He continued to show flashes of his talent and physical ability but lacked the consistency for most to believe he could ever be an elite quarterback. He hesitated far too often and did not trust what he was seeing right away. This was on full display against the Texans in week 10, which led to the Jaguars collapse.
Following the game, Liam Coen told Lawrence to just "let it rip" and stop hesitating. This led to Lawrence having the best stretch of his career, racking up 24 total touchdowns to just 6 turnovers in the final 8 games, with the Jaguars winning by an average of 19 points per game. Lawrence was decisive in his decision-making, fixed his footwork and accuracy, and was willing to stand in the pocket and deliver while getting hit. All the elements that had hindered his game for years were now his strengths.
We have seen stretches of good play from Trevor Lawrence, but none like this. The final 8 games showed a lot of promise for the future and established Lawrence as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. While his 2025 season had its ups and downs, he finished the season on the highest of notes, so for that he gets a grade of B-.
Brian Thomas Jr.
After an excellent 2024 campaign, it appeared that the sky was the limit for Brian Thomas Jr. In 2025, he was his own limit. Thomas played in 14 games and totaled just 707 yards and two touchdowns, a significant dip from his 1282-yard, 10-touchdown campaign in 2024. The most discussed aspect of Thomas's game was the drops, dropping 10 passes in just 14 games, tied for the second-most in the NFL, but there was another aspect where Thomas Jr. was even worse.
The biggest dropoff from Thomas Jr. was his production after the catch, having just 159 yards after the catch, just one season after having 562. The lack of consistent hands, along with virtually no ability to make a play in space after the catch, resulted in a massive sophomore slump. The emergence of Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers, along with Brian Thomas Jr.s struggles, has resulted in him being the third-best receiver on the team. There is still talent and flashes to build off of, but his sophomore slump was a dramatic drop-off from his 2024 season, resulting in a D grade.
Josh Hines-Allen
Josh Hines-Allen had a tricky 2025 season. His sack numbers would suggest he had just an average season, but his impact goes beyond just his sacks. According to Profootballreference, Hines-Allen tied his career high in pressures with 46, had the most quarterback hurries in his career with 20, the second-most quarterback knockdowns with 17, and the second-most quarterback hits with 28.
The lack of interior pressure was a big hindrance in Hines-Allen consistently being able to bring the quarterback down, but that has not stopped him from making an impact on disrupting the quarterback. He began the season slowly, recording just 2 sacks through the first 9 games, but got better down the stretch, recording 6 sacks in the final 8 games. For the season, Josh Hines-Allen gets a B-.