Seahawks’ Super Bowl Makes Jaguars’ Offseason Priority Clear

Jaguars have to upgrade their secondary this offseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Seattle Seahawks were incredibly similar in a lot of ways throughout the 2025 NFL season. They're both led by upstart head coaches, with Mike MacDonald and Liam Coen being honored as finalists for the Coach of the Year award. They each have a well-balanced roster that equally values offense and defense. However, the Seahawks just had more talent in one crucial area.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Jaguars and Seahawks were eerily analogous. They were both committed to the ground game, even if they didn't have the most efficient rushing attacks. Jacksonville and Seattle featured talented blue-chip quarterbacks who had come into the season as unproven and doubted figures. Trevor Lawrence had a better overall campaign than Sam Darnold, but the latter ended up hoisting the Lombardi.

The difference wasn't Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Offensive Player of the Year would have been a huge boon for the Jaguars' attack — for any team, really — but Jacksonville was able to replicate his production as a receiver in the aggregate, especially after acquiring Jakobi Meyers. No, the distinction was on the other side of the ball.

Like Seattle, Jacksonville featured a stout defensive line and athletic, versatile linebackers in its front seven. Neither team was especially lethal in rushing opposing passers, but both generated tons of pressure and neutralized ball-carriers on the ground. The true separator between the Seahawks' defense and the Jaguars' was their secondary.

Between Nick Emmanwori, Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Josh Jobe, Julian Love, and Coby Bryant, Seattle fielded the deepest and most talented defensive backs in the NFL. That unit led them to a Super Bowl. Jacksonville has some talented young pieces in place in its secondary with Antonio Johnson, Jarrian Jones, and Travis Hunter Jr. on the roster, but it needs to round out its back end this offseason, especially with Montaric Brown, Greg Newsome II, and Andrew Wingard all hitting free agency.

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