James Gladstone Reviews First Jaguars' Draft Class

The Jaguars saw three of their rookie picks finish the year with season-ending injuries (Travis Hunter/Caleb Ransaw/Jalen McLeod), but they did see the rest of their draft class at least contribute in some fashion. For the Jaguars, the volume of rookies who made an impact became a telling point.

"The idea of the rookie contributions, it's a fun one to talk through and obviously as we think back to our priorities headed into the draft and really where we wanted to place our points of emphasis, it's certainly a clear sign when he you wrap up a season and have double-digit rookies take either an offensive or defensive snap throughout the course of a season that you can feel good about the experience heading into year two," Gladstone said.

Moving into 2026, it will be imperative for the Jaguars to simply get more snaps out of Hunter and Ransaw. Hunter only played seven games due to a knee injury, while Ransaw underwent season-ending foot surgery before the regular-season ever began.

"Beyond that, obviously injuries are something that take place over the course of a natural season, right? And for it to happen to a few of our rookies over the course of this first year is, on a level, disappointing." Gladstone said. "Would have loved to see more and obviously with Travis [WR/DB Travis Hunter] having gotten to a place midseason where he felt like he was starting to peak and really make a real dent and the plan for post bye was to continue to enhance that. Tough not be able to see that come to life down the back stretch."

"With Caleb [CB Caleb Ransaw], obviously the fact that he never got a chance to even step on the grass for a regular season game was not ideal, but both of those guys are attacking their rehab process in the way that you would expect and really looking forward to what their future holds for us and their place on the football team into 2026 and beyond."

There was also an injury to the Jaguars' third draft pick third-round pick Wyatt Milum. Milum did eventually settle into a role during the second-half of the season, and the Jaguars and Gladstone were encouraged by that.

"Obviously with Wyatt [OL Wyatt Milum], having experienced an injury in pre-season game three that impacted the first half of his season. By the end of it, being able to see levels of his game take steps was really a positive sign," Gladstone said.

Most of the Jaguars' rookie production came from Day 3, with running backs Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen playing valuable roles on the offense and Jack Kizer, Rayuan Lane, and Jonah Monheim filling depth roles on the team. The Jaguars will hope to see Day 3 linebacker Jalen McLeod back at 100% in 2026 after a lost rookie season due to an ankle injury.

"Beyond that, obviously got some contributions from day three players, which is always a helpful piece to the puzzle," Gladstone said.

"In particular with [LB] Jalen McLeod, not unlike Caleb, not getting a chance to step on the grass was not ideal, but nonetheless getting experience and taking steps throughout his recovery process in a way that makes you feel optimistic about what the future holds for him."

Finally there were the undrafted free agents, The Jaguars had two who made notable contributions this season: defensive ends BJ Green and Danny Striggow, who made the first 53-man roster and then did not spend a day off it during the season,

"And then beyond just the draft selections themselves, to get contributions from undrafted college free agents like we did in two defensive ends was certainly cause for optimism, especially knowing that that was not just through special teams but also on the defensive side of the ball," Gladstone said.

"It's not easy to find people at that position in particular in undrafted college free agency, so to walk away with two, got to give a lot of credit to our coaching staff and our scouting staff who worked through the undrafted college free agent committee process to identify those players and be able to walk away with signing them."

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