Better first down runs will give Jaguars offense more diversity

Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen’s mind and work flow were on parallel tracks in the weeks and months following his successful debut season.

Look ahead to 2026? Absolutely. There were free agents and draft prospects to evaluate and NFL-wide trends to analyze.

But it was just as important to look back at 2025 and not in a revelatory sense. There was no time to celebrate the 13-5 (including playoffs) season because a deep dive was required into what went right (and make it better) and what went wrong (and make it better).

A back-and-forth between Coen and myself at the league meeting in March …

Coen: “What are the areas that we need to improve? Where was the stink that was covered up by winning? And how do we actually improve that stink to get

better as a team?”

Me: “Was the run game — 30th in yards per attempt over the last nine games — one of the stinks?”

Coen: “One hundred percent. If we want to be great, if we want to go to the next level, if we want to win playoff games, we have to be clicking on all cylinders and that’s the marriage of the run and the pass.”

In Weeks 1-9 (5-3 record), the Jaguars ranked 11th in rushing yards per game (123.6) and per carry (4.5).

In Weeks 10-18 (8-1 record), they ranked 21st in yards (107.4) and 30th in yards per carry (3.6).

Thus was the mental gymnastics Coen wrestled with in real time: His passing game, led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, was ablaze. Why call more rushes?

“Toward the end of last year, I kept wanting to address it, but we were winning and scoring points,” Coen told The Times-Union before training camp. “Early in the year, the run game led us. And then there was a shift, but things were good — we were winning.”

The lack of run-game success remained front-of-mind for Coen and the Jaguars sprang into action during the offseason. Out was running back Travis Etienne, replaced by newcomer Chris Rodriguez Jr. and second-year players Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr. Drafted were left guard Emmanuel Pregnon and tight end/enforcer Nate Boerkircher. And hired was long-time Coen ally Brian Picucci to coordinate the run game.

The Jaguars’ first test for their running game (21st last year) is Sept. 13 against the Cleveland Browns, a defense which ranked 16th against the run last year.

“As a team, we want to be physical and run the ball and own the line of scrimmage,” said Jaguars executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli, a Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle. “We did that very well at times last year, but it wasn’t to the standard that any of us wanted.”

Coaching, personnel changes

Picucci was the first addition, hired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When Coen was the quarterback at UMass from 2004-08, Picucci was on the offensive staff. Upon being hired for his first offensive coordinator job (Maine in 2016), Coen tabbed Picucci to be his offensive line coach and they re-connected with Kentucky (2023) and the Buccaneers (2024).

In 2023, Tampa Bay was last in rushing (88.8 yards per game), but in Coen’s only season running the Buccaneers’ offense, they improved to fourth (149.2).

“(Picucci) knows what I like and I know what he can help coach and teach and it’s not just the five o-linemen,” Coen said.

An example: Coen uses the phrase “hard down,” to describe a running play. If the Jaguars run to the left behind tight end Brenton Strange and left tackle Anton Harrison, they are the “hard down,” players. That responsibility must be distributed throughout the line and tight ends.

“You’re constantly trying to move the ‘hard down’ around and that’s where Picucci helps me a lot because he sees the five (linemen) in the box, but he also sees the big picture of the receivers and the tight end and the quarterback,” Coen said.

Picucci on board, the Jaguars addressed the depth chart. Etienne signed with the Carolina Panthers and the Jaguars chose to stand-just-about-pat. They signed Rodriguez, who played for Coen at Kentucky in 2021, to a two-year contract and expressed trust in Tuten and Allen.

In the draft, the Jaguars used their initial pick (second round) on Boerkircher (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), who doesn’t just shy away from contact in the run game, he invites it. His arrival will allow the Jaguars to run true “12” personnel (two tight ends) instead of utilizing a sixth offensive lineman who isn’t a threat to run a route.

“Nate’s natural physicality, it stood out (on video),” tight ends coach Richard Angulo said. “A lot of guys don’t have that. Brenton Strange has it, too. It’s a big help as a coach when you don’t always have to push them about the physicality factor.”

Later on Night 2 of the draft, the Jaguars added Pregnon, who started camp as a second-team player, but finished as the starting left guard.

“He’s a people-mover,” Coen said. “You can’t teach the size (6-foot-5, 318 pounds) and strength and ability to stay connected to (defenders), whether it’s at the first or second level. He will grow a ton throughout this season, but we’re excited about maybe being able to run (behind) in ways, too.”

Scheme, player or philosophy issue?

A few days before training camp, I asked Coen if the run-game puzzle can be solved by a scheme change, a players-must-be-play-better change or a philosophy change?

“It’s a combination,” he said.

Scheme: “Maybe it’s less volume,” Coen said. “Do we have to find out the three runs we’re really good at and then just have some of the auxiliary runs from there? Sometimes, we had too many moving parts in the run game.”

Player performance: “I think we can block better up front,” Coen said.

Compared to the 2025 regular-season finale, the Jaguars will have new linemen at left tackle (Harrison, over from right tackle), left guard (Pregnon), right guard (Ezra Cleveland, over from left guard) and right tackle (either Cole Van Lanen from right tackle or fill-in Walker Little).

Philosophy: “You have to be open to evolving and adjusting while also having a foundation of what you believe in and what you want to do,” Coen said.

Does Coen have to be stubborn in calling run plays even if the pass game is humming? He probably thinks so.

“What’s great is (Coen) is not scared to call runs,” offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett said. “I’ve been around people who get a negative run and maybe that next run isn’t coming for a while, but it’s not like that with him. He wants to establish the run game and he lets the coaches and players know that.”

Everything starts on first down.

Last year, the Jaguars had 205 first-and-10 rush attempts and 24.4% were “bad” plays (gain of 1 yard, no gain or lost yardage) and they had only a 6.3% explosive rate (gain of at least 12 yards). In the playoff loss to Buffalo, the Jaguars’ first-and-10 rushes went for -3, 3, 20, 14, 13, 7, 4, 26, 5, 3, 2 and 5 yards. Win on first down and everything in Coen’s playbook is available on second down.

Coen wants to have a more efficient running game because the former college quarterback in him knows the importance. It controls the clock. It sets up the play-action pass. It wears down the opponent’s defensive line, etc. Anything to take a little pressure off the quarterback.

To wit (Part 1): Over the last decade, quarterbacks have won the NFL MVP award and seven were supported by top-10 running games.

To wit (Part 2): Run-game emphasis is on an uptick as teams play downfield “shell” coverage to limit big pass plays, but also moves an extra defender away from the line of scrimmage. From 2019-23, the Super Bowl champions finished 23rd, 29th, 25th and 19th in rushing. The last two years, Philadelphia and Seattle finished second and tied for 10th, respectively.

Improve the run game and the Jaguars can take another step offensively and another step in the postseason. Period.

The quest to remove The Stink starts against Cleveland.

Contact O’Halloran at [e-mail] or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays (4-7 p.m. on "First Coast Football Friday").

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Better first down runs will give Jaguars offense more diversity