Albert Breer’s Notes: Why the Jaguars Will Be Fascinating When Training Camp Arrives

In this story:

Jump to a topic

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. New York Giants
4. New York Jets
5. Arizona Cardinals
6. Detroit Lions
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. New Orleans Saints
9. Denver Broncos

With the NFL spring now complete, let’s empty out the notebook from the past couple of days …

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars will be a fascinating team when we get to training camp, one that had the same sort of uptick under a new coach that the Patriots and Bears did in 2025, with a lot less hype. I think one player worth watching, who could be a swing factor for them, is Brian Thomas Jr.

The two-year start to his career has been a weird one. He came into the league in 2024 with a shoulder issue, and the perception that he was this raw ball of upside-laden clay, and he responded with an 87-catch, 1,282-yard, 10-touchdown rookie season, despite his starting quarterback missing seven games and his head coach (and play-caller) walking the coaching green mile. Then, in a demonstrably better situation, with Trevor Lawrence breaking through, Thomas slumped to 48 catches, 707 yards and two receiving touchdowns in his sophomore season.

As a result, though most of the rumblings weren’t more than just that, discussion picked up externally that GM James Gladstone and coach Liam Coen, who both arrived after Thomas’s big rookie year, might consider moving him. But in all the digging around I did, it became abundantly clear that the Jaguars were never selling low on a guy with that sort of talent.

And the past five months have shown why. Thomas never really left after his disappointing 2025, establishing a constant presence in the Jaguars’ building, first to rehab a couple of lingering injuries (that were part of the equation last year), and then to get as much time on task with Lawrence as he could. The benefits manifested in the spring, with a pretty apparent uptick in the connection between Thomas and Lawrence.

We’ll see how that carries over to camp and then the season.

But given what the Jaguars have at the position, the idea of Thomas returning to form is interesting. They traded for Jakobi Meyers in midseason last year, and have since extended him through 2028, at $20 million per year in new money. They also saw Parker Washington come alive at the end of his third year, with two 100-yard games in the season’s last three weeks, then another in the playoffs, after having one 100-yard game in his career before that.

Shoehorn Travis Hunter in there as a spot player whose focus is shifting to defense, and you suddenly have the makings of a pretty fearsome group—and everything Lawrence will need to build on a strong 2025.

• One other note on the Jags’ No. 1 pick in 2022: Travon Walker, now headed into his fifth year, showed signs that he’s taken another step as a pass rusher through the spring. Which is something to file away, given how the current regime rewarded him with an extension.

Baltimore Ravens

A lot of the focus for the Ravens this offseason has been on fixing the pass rush—first with the failed trade for Maxx Crosby, then with the signing of Trey Hendrickson and drafting of second-rounder Zion Young. But one area, based on the spring, where Baltimore is expecting a good level of improvement is actually on the back end of the defense.

Former first-rounders Malaki Starks and Nate Wiggins are big reasons why.

Starks, whose football IQ was part of what got him drafted that high, is now seeing his play speed catch up with his knowledge—and Jesse Minter’s arrival has allowed him to build on a rookie season through which he actually led the team in snaps played (1,065). Wiggins, similarly, has grown in his understanding of the scheme, and his work habits under the new staff have jumped out. There’s a feeling now that he can become a dominant corner.

Add Kyle Hamilton in the role that Derwin James played for Minter in Los Angeles, and there’s a really good foundation for the Ravens to work from when camp starts.

New York Giants

Speaking of former first-round picks in that scheme: Maybe there is still hope for Deonte Banks with the Giants?

The 24th pick in the 2023 draft has had a pretty rough indoctrination to the NFL. After starting all 15 games he played as a rookie, one of his biggest champions before draft day, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, was let go. Banks wound up regressing in his second year, then got benched last year, playing only 44% of the team’s defensive snaps despite being active for 16 of 17 games.

The Giants then, predictably, declined Banks’s fifth-year option for 2027, turning this year into a contract year. And the fourth-year pro has responded with a nice spring, flashing confidence that seemed to have left him, and may be a product of going back to a system, run by John Harbaugh’s new DC Dennard Wilson, that’s like Martindale’s.

Now, if Banks is going to start, he’ll have to earn it. Paulson Adebo is locked in at one spot, Greg Newsome II is coming aboard from Jacksonville, and the team got what was widely seen as a steal in Colton Hood in the second round. But so far, so good for the 25-year-old.

New York Jets

Down I-78, the Jets had a couple of bright spots of note.

First, their receiver depth looks better for a team that’s had Garrett Wilson and not a whole lot else the past few years. Adonai Mitchell, acquired in the Sauce Gardner trade, built on the flashes that he showed last year after the deal (he had 24 catches for 301 yards and two scores in eight games), and looks like a nice complement to Wilson as a big-bodied target.

And second, on defense, a unit that needed an infusion certainly got it, with Demario Davis and Minkah Fitzpatrick coming on to lead the front and back ends, respectively. But the real key here: Both look like they can still play. Their leadership wouldn’t matter as much if that didn’t show to be the case.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals will need some of the young talent they’ve accumulated over the past four drafts to level up this year, and the spring showed that starting to happen at corner.

Max Melton, a 2024 second-round pick, always had the physical ability and drive, and he has pushed himself to another level over the past couple of months. Will Johnson, a 2025 second-rounder, looked instinctive and confident coming back for Year 2. And Denzel Burke, the team’s fifth-rounder last year, who’s always been scrappy and tough, showed that same sort of feel and assuredness through OTAs.

Remember, the Cardinals had a ton of capital over the three years before Mike LaFleur’s arrival—28 picks, 14 of them in the top 100—so, this is where they were going to have to see some improvement to compete in the rugged NFC West. So, it’s certainly good to see a premium position like corner trending toward becoming a team strength.

Detroit Lions

One interesting twist in Detroit is new OC Drew Petzing coming in and making a real effort to meld his own system into what Ben Johnson built there before leaving after 2024.

It allowed Jared Goff to get really good work in and shine through the spring, and Amon-Ra St. Brown to be featured properly, as he has been and should be. It’s also set up for Jameson Williams to take another step. Williams’s effort and engagement stood out through OTAs, the speed is what it is, and he’s become a better route runner than most guys with that sort of speed usually are. So, Detroit’s pretty excited about his trajectory.

Indianapolis Colts

Colts third-round pick A.J. Haulcy is a rookie to watch. His instincts and feel for the game have shown up right away. And while there’s only so much you can see from a rookie before the pads go on, it’s trending now toward the LSU product starting opposite Cam Bynum at safety. If he hits, it could give DC Lou Anarumo the best pair he’s had at the position he puts a lot on, since Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell helped lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl.

While we’re there, second-year corner Justin Walley put together an outstanding spring, too. He lost his rookie year to a torn ACL, but was expected to start before he got hurt, and got through OTAs and minicamp without limitation. The staff sees him as a future Pro Bowler.

New Orleans Saints

A lot of the Saints’ hope at receiver this year is pinned to Chris Olave and rookie Jordyn Tyson, two undeniable, top-half-of-the-first-round talents. But a couple of scrap-heap pickups from last summer gave New Orleans the belief that there might be a little more depth at the position than people would’ve anticipated, and maybe insurance against Olave’s medical status (he was just cleared after missing the end of 2025, due to blood clots).

To refresh your memory: In August 2025, the Saints acquired Devaughn Vele from the Broncos for a 2026 fourth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-rounder; and in September, they got Ja’Lynn Polk, plus a 2028 seventh-round pick from the Patriots for a 2027 sixth-rounder. Both asserted themselves with Olave missing spring work, and the plan is for both to play a lot in the spring.

Denver Broncos

Finally, with Jonathon Cooper’s situation still in flux in Denver, Que Robinson looked ready to take advantage of any opportunity that’s put in front of him—the 2025 fourth-rounder showed the ability to emerge as a disruptive force on the Broncos’ front. Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman should give DC Vance Joseph more depth there, too. All are good examples of how George Paton and Sean Payton have found talent in a lot of different ways.

---

More NFL from Sports Illustrated

---

Published 1 hour ago | Modified 1 hour agoALBERT BREER

Albert Breer is a senior writer covering the NFL for Sports Illustrated, delivering the biggest stories and breaking news from across the league. He has been on the NFL beat since 2005 and joined SI in 2016. Breer began his career covering the New England Patriots for the MetroWest Daily News and the Boston Herald from 2005 to ’07, then covered the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News from 2007 to ’08. He worked for The Sporting News from 2008 to ’09 before returning to Massachusetts as The Boston Globe’s national NFL writer in 2009. From 2010 to 2016, Breer served as a national reporter for NFL Network. In addition to his work at Sports Illustrated, Breer regularly appears on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, FS1 with Colin Cowherd, The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show. A 2002 graduate of Ohio State, Breer lives near Boston with his wife, a cardiac ICU nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, and their three children.

---

Home/NFL