Jaguars roster group finds themselves at the top of a list that no one wants to be on
The Jaguars have to clean up mistakes with one positional group in 2026.
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a terrific first season under head coach Liam Coen in 2025. At 13-4, they secured their first AFC South title in three years as well as the No. 3 seed in the AFC.
However, it wasn’t a season without some issues and head-scratching moments, and part of those issues came at wide receiver. 2024 breakout rookie Brian Thomas, Jr. fell off statistically in his second year. His targets (133 to 91), catches (58 to 48), yards (1282 to 707), and receiving touchdowns (10 to 2) all plummeted dramatically. Thomas also missed four games with a high ankle sprain.
But it was more than just Thomas’ drop off that was noteworthy. According to NFL stat/analytics guru Warren Sharp, the Jaguars’ wide receiver group led the league in highest percentage of “receiver error causing incompletions” last season. Per Sharp, that encompasses drops, slips, and failing to get two feet down where possible, among other things.
Jaguars led the NFL in “receiver error causing incompletions” in 2025, per Warren Sharp
The Jaguars leaned on Parker Washington last season, who delivered a breakout third year for Jacksonville. The Jags’ sixth round pick from the 2023 NFL Draft led the team in targets (95), catches (58), and receiving yards (847). He also led all wide receivers with five receiving scores. He posted the second-highest Pro Football Focus offensive grade on the team with an 82.1 mark last year.
Still, he was credited with six drops last year by PFF, with Thomas also being on the hook for eight. And regarding Thomas, Coen noted on Monday that balance in his offense was part of the reason for Thomas’ drop off. He also talked about the offseason chemistry between Thomas and Trevor Lawrence.
“Yeah, I mean, I think that anytime you have a, I guess, quote-unquote setback, I don’t know,” Coen said. “I mean, I guess fantasy and people care a lot about that, but I know we won 13 games, so I’m sure if you’re a competitor, I know you want your stats and your contributions to be at an all-time high. And yes, that is a part of this, it’s a part of the puzzle. But the ball gets spread out in this offense to multiple different players. It doesn’t really just feed through one person. So, I think that that’s something that he had to work through, we all had to work through.
“And I’ve been very pleased with the way that he has attacked this offseason, the way that he takes the meeting room to the practice and how that’s looked. We’re being a little bit more intentional about usage and chemistry with him this spring and trying to get a true connection that we didn’t quite have last spring or last training camp, if you will. So, I’ve been very pleased with how he’s taken the things that we asked him to do, to get better at, and to be intentional about those reps. But I know everybody’s, ‘Ah, it’s a down year,’ and fantasy and this, that and the third. I mean, when you’re on a good team, I think that typically matters a little bit more.”
Regardless of the reason, the Jaguars have to get cleaner play from their wide receiver group as a whole in 2026. And if Thomas can come into the season looking more like the 2024 version than the 2025 one, it should help the unit take that step forward that they need in order to turn 2026 into a potentially special one.