Nate Boerkircher

The Jaguars were without a first-round choice in the 2026 draft due to their 2025 draft-day blockbuster that gave them the right to select Travis Hunter. So Jacksonville was not on the clock this year until pick No. 56, which the team used to select Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher. 

As ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes, that pick was seen as something of a reach, but perhaps not as much as it might appear. Multiple teams graded Boerkircher as the best blocking TE in the class, and NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe (video link) reports the Jags believed there was going to be a run on tight ends around the time they made their pick. 

That turned out to be the case. After the Jets chose Kenyon Sadiq with the No. 16 selection, the next tight end did not come off the board until No. 54, when the Eagles picked Eli Stowers. After Boerkircher went to Jacksonville, four of the next 17 picks were TEs. Per Wolfe, if the Jags did not choose Boerkircher, he would have been taken by the end of the second round (perhaps by the Rams, who share a similar team-building philosophy and who took Ohio State TE Max Klare at No. 61).

Wolfe adds that the Jaguars expect to play more “12” personnel (two-tight end sets) in ‘26. That means Boerkircher will share the field with Brenton Strange, an extension candidate who took over for Evan Engram as Jacksonville’s top receiving TE last year. In just 12 games, the 2023 draftee amassed 540 yards and three touchdowns on 46 receptions. 

Boerkircher, on the other hand, had limited production as a receiver in college. He did have more opportunities in that regard during his one year at College Station than he had during his extended stay at Nebraska, but over the course of 52 college contests, he caught just 38 balls for 417 yards and four TDs.

It sounds as if the Jaguars are bullish on Boerkircher’s pass-catching upside, as Wolfe says he will represent another downfield option for quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Head coach Liam Coen was asked about his top rookie after Day 2 of the draft, and he had high praise for all facets of Boerkircher’s game.

“[Boerkircher is] the type of player, type of person that we’re trying to hunt up here,” Coen said (via Paul Bretl of Jaguars Wire). “Attitude, toughness. Mentally and physically tough. I think has a lot more in his body than was probably displayed throughout the season when they were throwing the ball a lot to those wideouts. Every opportunity he had throughout the offseason process to go put it on tape that he could and that there was that in his body and that he did have those capabilities, it showed up in a major way.”