12 Jacksonville Jaguars players who would be at risk if the NFL decided to have another expansion draft

The Jacksonville Jaguars are entering a new era with a new coaching staff and front office at the helm. 

Fans seem to be excited to see the duo of head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone leading the charge going forward. And they added to that by making one of their first moves since being hired, trading up to select Travis Hunter in the 2025 NFL Draft. Now they have to focus on perfecting what his role will look like and hope it elevates them back into the conversation to compete for an AFC South title in 2025 and beyond. 

While they worry about that, our staff decided to perform a hypothetical NFL expansion draft. The last time the NFL had an expansion draft was when they introduced the Texans in 2002. But what would happen if the 33rd team in the NFL were introduced, and how would it affect the Jaguars directly? Early next week, A to Z Sports' Wendell Ferreira will be sharing the results of our hypothetical expansion draft, including the team's name and their roster. Before that could happen, though, each team had to make players available to be drafted.

Hypothetical NFL Expansion Draft Rules

1. Each current NFL team has to leave 12 players unprotected.
   
   
2. ⁠Players with 0 or 1 accrued seasons are automatically protected and can't be on the list. Players with no-trade clauses also aren't eligible.
   
   
3. ⁠If the player is selected, the expansion team will absorb both his future salaries and signing bonus prorations.
   
   
4. ⁠The list is final, meaning that teams can't withdraw a player after another one has been selected.
   
   
5. ⁠The expansion team can get a maximum of two players from each NFL team, and a maximum of 40 players.

12 unprotected Jaguars' players

Offensive unprotected players

• John Wolford, QB
• Austin Trammell, WR
• Quintin Morris, TE
• Johnny Mundt, TE
• Cole Van Lanen, OT
• Chuma Edoga, G
• Dennis Daley, G
• Cooper Hodges, G

The Jaguars' offense had to make multiple solid players available due to so many on their roster not being eligible via the rules you can read above. Of the eight unprotected players above, Austin Trammell, Quintin Morris, Johnny Mundt, Cole Van Lanen, Chuma Edoga, and Dennis Daley all seem to have a pretty solid shot at making the Jaguars roster. The hope here would be that the Jaguars don't lose two of their key offensive line depth players in the hypothetical expansion draft. If they do it would hurt the team tremendously and would force the team to add elsewhere. 

Defensive unprotected players

• Tyler Lacy, DT
• Zech McPhearson, CB
• Daniel Thomas, S
• Yasir Abdullah, DE

On the defensive side of the ball, a pair of defensive linemen were the toughest ones to include here. Tyler Lacy and Yazier Abdullah both will compete to make the roster this year, and both have the upside to become primary backups. The Jaguars drafted both players in the 2023 NFL Draft, Lacy in the fourth round and Abdullah in the fifth round. Of the two, Lacy seems the closest to being able to play meaningful snaps in 2025 and would be a significant loss for the team.