The Jaguars sent their first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in the 2025 draft in exchange for Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, an aggressive swing made with a transformative future in mind. Hunter fell short of that mark as a rookie before his season ended prematurely due to injury, but with the former No. 2 on the road to recovery — he’ll be limited in offseason sports, according to Gladstone — the Jaguars have no regrets.
They are comfortable feeling the draft from the sidelines. Their time with Rams GM Les Snead and coach Sean McVay has prepared them well.
“No, we make scenarios,” Gladstone said when asked if the Jaguars still return similar drafts without a first-round pick. “We go through, hey, if this pool of players is there, who do we feel most comfortable targeting knowing that at our next pick point or our next pick points, those are the players that we feel could be in scope. What do we think about the combination of these different players together, and so on and so forth.
“We’re working through it a little bit. Obviously on draft night, there’s no telling. All it takes is one team to take a player you want and you’re moving on to the next one you were looking at. And that could change what you do at the pick point behind that and the pick point behind that, so we try to cut through that as best we can.”
Such an approach can be seen as dysfunctional, especially after the Jaguars largely stood pat during free agency. But there is value in showing faith in the current roster and retaining core contributors, and that appears to be the foundation of Jacksonville’s approach as the club moves into its second season under Gladstone and Coen.
As the Jaguars see it, they like what they have. They are eager to add when their time comes during the draft. Unlike last season, a big swing isn’t necessary to build on what was a remarkable turnaround in 2025.
Most importantly, they can’t wait to get back to work.
“You’re chomping at the bit, especially after going to the owner’s meeting and talking a little bit and having fun, but also you feel like it’s a little closer, right? Coen said. “Getting the guys back into the building. The whole message is that we are attacking this off-season. We are attacking the details, we are attacking the relationships, we are attacking our communication. Because it’s new, it’s a change. Different interactions and relationships that need to be mixed and matched. Pouring into each other from a detail perspective, I think that’s the key and critical time.
“We were fortunate last year as a first-year staff to get an extra week. We maximized the whole summer with less time as a coaching staff and with the players being extremely selective in everything we’re trying to improve on. Those areas that I talked about are stinkers that we need to work on, and then continue to focus on fundamentals and techniques that we always want to coach, but we’re always coaching that.”