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The Jacksonville Jaguars are the best team that not enough people are talking about.
And, this week, the AFC frontrunners got exponentially stronger following an NFL trade deadline spending spree.
On the surface, it feels like general manager James Gladstone and the Jaguars are gambling with their future by trading a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for versatile run-stuffer Jordan Davis, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for thumping safety Jessie Bates, and a conditional pick to the New Orleans Saints for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.
But, these moves weren't just luxury acquisitions. They were accelerated by an unfortunate bout with the injury bug, and a bigger-picture view of what it takes to win in mind.
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With defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton and starting safety Eric Murray both sidelined for the season, Gladstone was forced to act, paying premium pick prices to keep Jacksonville's championship trajectory firmly on track.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen put it much more simply after Monday’s trades went down.
“We got better today,” Coen told reporters.
That feels like underselling it.
Bullying the AFC Gauntlet by Beefing Up the Front Seven
Gladstone and the Jaguars are in the throes of a Super Bowl window that may merely be opening around ascendant quarterback Trevor Lawrence and an explosive offense, so if not now to throw every chip into the middle of the table, when?
Jacksonville enters Week 10 as the No. 1 team in the NFL by DVOA (which measures a team’s own success against a baseline league average weighted against their opponents’ success), sixth in Offensive DVOA, and third in Defensive DVOA, with a league-best plus-nine turnover differential.
Now’s the moment, as the current No. 3 seed in the AFC, to swing for the fences.
However, beyond a significant effort to shore up what Gladstone, head coach Liam Coen and the Jaguars may view as some weaknesses on the roster, Jacksonville very clearly made these moves with both eyes trained on the path they’ll be forced to navigate to a Super Bowl out of the AFC gauntlet.
NFL Coach Gets Real on Jordan Davis’ Jaguars Scheme Fit
Trading two premium picks for Davis was this week’s biggest swing, and will be Jacksonville’s most scrutinized move.
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