Jaguars double up on tight ends in NFL draft in hopes of using more heavy sets in 2026 season

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars doubled up on tight ends and landed two very different players in the NFL draft: a bruising blocker and a bigger guy with some moves.

General manager James Gladstone said it was part of a leaguewide trend to get more tight ends on the field at the same time.

Now, though, the Jaguars are heavy at the position — and still need to sign starter Brenton Strange to a long-term contract.

Jacksonville opened the three-day draft by selecting Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher in the second round Friday night and added to the room Saturday by picking Houston’s Tanner Koziol in the sixth, No. 164 overall.

Gladstone and coach Liam Coen added four guys in between, including Texas A&M nose tackle Albert Regis and Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon. But the team's draft class could ultimately be defined by the tight end duo.

“We definitely got tougher,” Coen said.

Gladstone said “heavier tight end sets” have become a trend and “something that got prioritized.” He pointed to the Los Angeles Rams as a team that used three tight-end sets throughout the season, most notable in a victory against Jacksonville in London in which L.A. was without All-Pro receiver Puka Nacua.

The Jags also have made it clear they need to improve a ground game that ranked near the bottom of the league in 2025, averaging 115.1 yards rushing a game and 4.0 yards a carry.

Boerkircher should help. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder was the 56th overall choice, at least a round earlier than most prognosticators had him getting drafted.

“We felt certainly a heavier tight end run throughout the course of the back end of the second into the third, and typically that’s a window where the wide receiver run is really occurring,” Gladstone said. “I think that certainly showed itself. But he was the one we were hunting up, and we weren’t going to allow that to ever be something that we risked.”

Boerkircher played four seasons at Nebraska before transferring to A&M for his final year. He caught 19 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns as a senior.

His career highlight came while blocking former Colorado cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter in a game in 2023. Boerkircher, playing at Nebraska, bullied Hunter for more than 15 yards before Hunter ripped off his helmet.

“That’s his demeanor,” Gladstone said. “That is a great visual for how he operates. … It was certainly something that caught our attention and led to why we ended up choosing him.”

Jacksonville added the 6-foot-7, 250-pound Koziol three rounds later. He caught 74 passes for 727 yards and six touchdowns in his lone season at Houston. He spent three years at Ball State and a semester at Wisconsin.

He was one of 17 tight ends drafted in the first five rounds.

“Yeah, it’s awesome to see tight ends get the love,” Koziol said. “The position has been undervalued for a little bit and … it’s been going up and up in trends that you’re seeing in offenses. How many tight ends, how much more they’re getting on the field and more bigger sets in the run game, it’s really cool to see and I’m really excited where the position continues to go.”

Third-round pick Regis credited his tap-dancing skills as the main reason he's so light on his feet as a 317-pound nose tackle. He starred in the musical “Newsies” in high school and still believes he could put on a show despite now wearing size 16 shoes.

Fourth-round pick Wesley Williams, a 6-foot-4, 256-pound defensive end from Duke, blocked five kicks (punts or field goals) during his time with the Blue Devils.

“Honestly, I would say simply because I care," he said. "A lot of people take that as a play off, and it’s kind of just not how I was taught to play the game. You’d be surprised how many extra plays you can find just by always being on.”

The Jaguars chose Baylor receiver Josh Cameron in the sixth round. The 6-foot-1, 224-pound Texan caught 69 passes for 872 yards and nine TDs last year. He also squats a whopping 528 pounds.

“That is very real,” he said. “From me, you’re going to get a physical, tough receiver, someone who likes to do the dirty work, someone who likes to do it all and someone who is really a unicorn. I’m not your stereotypical receiver body-type-wise.”

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FILE - Houston tight end Tanner Koziol (15) runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

FILE - Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher (02) runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard made it clear in January he was going to make the defense younger and faster.

He delivered on that promise repeatedly during the three-day NFL draft.

Indy beefed up its thinnest position by using two of its first four picks on linebackers then added a hard-hitting, playmaking safety and a speedy edge rusher as the next steps in what has become a a major offseason overhaul.

Now the Colts will see how it all fits, starting with top selection CJ Allen of Georgia who is expected to be an immediate starter at middle linebacker.

“One of the good things about the system he’s coming from (Georgia) is they put a lot on the (middle linebacker), a lot of adjustments,” Ballard said of the first team All-American after making his first selection at No. 53 overall Friday. “So we think he’s going to be able to handle (the transition) pretty well. We spent a lot of time — I know, (James) Bettcher, our linebackers coach, I know he grilled him pretty hard and came across raving about his IQ”

The 21-year-old Allen ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash and called defensive plays each of the past two seasons at Georgia, making him an ideal match to replace 29-year-old Zaire Franklin, a former team captain who was traded to Green Bay in March after his fourth straight 100-tackle season.

Indy's second pick, A.J. Haulcy of LSU, also fit the mold. The 6-foot, 222-pound safety was clocked at 4.52 seconds in the 40 at the scouting combine and earned all-conference honors at three different colleges.

“A.J. is interesting,” Ballard said. "What I love the most is — especially in the transfer world — he goes to New Mexico, starts, goes to Houston, starts, goes to LSU, starts. Takes the ball away. He’s physical. No, he’s going to be a good addition. We think we got younger and faster on defense.”

Indy's most intriguing pick might be the selection of Bryce Boettcher from Oregon. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound middle linebacker was taken in the fourth round, No. 135 overall, and it wasn't the first time he was drafted.

Boettcher was a 13th-round pick of the Houston Astros in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft but turned down the chance to pursue a baseball career to continue playing football. He wound up leading all Power 4 players with 131 tackles last season.

"There’s no better feeling than inflicting pain on someone legally,” he said while explaining why he bypassed a baseball career.

Boettcher noted, his position coach with the Colts pronounces his last name the same way — “Bet-cher” — despite the different spellings.

Ballard also used the first of his two fourth-round picks on guard Jalen Farmer. Indy listed the 6-5, 312-pound offensive linemen from Kentucky as a guard, though some draft analysts think his long body and arms could help him play tackle in the NFL.

He's likely to start out playing multiple positions after Indy lost versatile backup lineman Danny Pinter in free agency.

Indy closed out the draft by selecting Caden Curry of Ohio State in the sixth round, a 6-3, 257-pound defensive end who played high school football in suburban Indianapolis and former Purdue receiver Deion Burks in the seventh round. Burks finished his career at Oklahoma.

“I feel like this is the next step in my career and I can't wait to do it in the city I grew up,” Curry said, wearing a Peyton Manning Super Bowl jersey. “We're just happy to be here and happy to be so close to home.”

Indy also took George Gumbs Jr., who started his career as a walk-on receiver at Northern Illinois before moving to tight end before eventually finding a home — and earning a scholarship — at defensive end. He finished career at Florida and was taken No. 156 overall.

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FILE - Georgia linebacker CJ Allen (01) speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)