The Jacksonville Jaguars, despite their 13-4 record a season ago, still have plenty of room for improvement.

The run game, which has been the subject of immense criticism by analysts for months, was nowhere near as good last year as the team's doubters are acting like it was.

If you only listen to the people predicting the Jaguars will decline this season and miss the playoffs, you'd think Jacksonville had a top-5 rushing offense in 2025, and replacing Travis Etienne with a combination of Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. has doomed the team to finishing 20th in the league this year.

However, the Jaguars finished 20th in the NFL in rushing last year, averaging 115.1 yards per game and a very modest 4.0 yards per carry.

It's a better bet that Jacksonville will finish higher in the rushing standings this year than lower.

Another area where there is also plenty of room for improvement is the pass defense. 

The Jaguars finished 21st in the league in passing defense, allowing 218.1 yards per game. The team also finished with only 32 sacks, 27th in the NFL.

Imagine if the team's passing defense can come anywhere close to being as good as its run defense, which was the best in the NFL last year.

That is what head coach Liam Coen and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile are diligently working towards. They have already decided that two-way phenom Travis Hunter will have cornerback, not wide receiver, as his full-time job this season.

That's a good start.

On Wednesday, Coach Coen spoke with reporters about several different subjects as the Jaguars head into Week 1. One of the questions he was asked was about the defense switching up its coverage schemes more this season. 

Jacksonville played zone more than almost every other team in the league last year. However, Coen admitted they may be playing more man coverage in 2026.

Coen talked about the defense showing more man looks this season than a year ago, but insisted the defense will be "remaining true to our core." 

"We played man coverage last year...That's been a point of emphasis all offseason. Yeah. You want to see it come to fruition. You want to see it have the impact on the front that you're hoping that it can have. And while still, I mean, we're remaining true to our core. I mean, that was pretty successful for us, obviously, is being able to play vision zone. Have our eyes on the quarterback. Get tips and overthrows. Be able to cause some of those tight window throws that zone coverage can do, and can be challenging on any quarterback. But also knowing that, hey, man, there's times where we might need to go and challenge these guys and be able to get up in there. It's always that balance, especially in zone coverage...It's always a balance, but you always want to see things you've been working on come to fruition in Week 1."

It will be very interesting to see just how much man/match coverage Jacksonville plays this season, and what effect it will have on the entire defense.

The defense was very dependent on forcing turnovers last season. As Bill Barnwell of ESPN has noted several times in his reasons for doubting the Jaguars, turnovers are not sustainable from year to year. He doesn't believe Jacksonville will be able to create as many this season, but that it doesn't necessarily mean the defense is actually playing worse.

How will the different coverage schemes affect the defense's ability to get turnovers this season? How will Hunter's ball-hawking ability being on the field full-time on defense affect turnovers?

Coen and Campanile have been doing anything they can to find a way to improve the pass defense. It wasn't terrible a year ago, but there is certainly plenty of room, and enough talent on the field to take a leap forward this season.

The amount of man versus zone coverage Jacksonville plays in Week 1 will be one of the game's most intriguing subplots, as it may offer a glimpse into the defense's strategy and potential for the entire season.