Dallas Cowboys 2026 Opponent Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

Right around this time in the NFL calendar, with the first full Sunday of games looming, there is one specific thing many fans are eager to do, and that’s be among the first to identify teams that did well last year that will regress in 2026. One such team that’s had this unfortunate label slapped on them is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will play at the Cowboys in Week 16 for a primetime game.

Short of making the Super Bowl, the Jaguars will be the last AFC opponent the Cowboys see this season. This game comes directly after the “murderer’s row” stretch that’s drawn a ton of attention, at the Seahawks in Week 13, the bye in Week 14, then at the Rams in Week 15, making it really easy to scroll right past this first Cowboys-Jaguars meeting since 2022.

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Likely the biggest similarity of note between these teams going into 2026 is they both have head coaches going into year two after being first-time head coaches in 2025, while also calling plays on offense. Liam Coen won the second most games in the AFC in year one on the job, finishing 13-4 atop the division. Weirdly enough, this was the Jaguars’ first AFC South title since 2022, which was also year one for a new head coach at that time, Doug Pederson.

Let’s take a look at what the Jaguars have done this offseason to try and build off their best win total since 1999.

Jaguars Key Free Agent Signings/Departures

*SIGNED IN FREE AGENCY

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*DEPARTED IN FREE AGENCY

This free agency coming and going list doesn’t exactly read like that of a team dead set on staying the team to beat in their division, with more big names leaving rather than coming to Jacksonville.

With Trevor Lawrence setting a career high in touchdowns in Coen’s system last year, the pressure is firmly on his shoulders to continue being the catalyst for this Jaguars team to remain in contention. This free agency cycle marked 2025 as the last season Lawrence would have his former college teammate Travis Etienne at running back, as he signed with the New Orleans Saints. The Jaguars have strong continuity all over the depth chart offensively, but have remade the backfield with Bhayshul Tuten stepping up into the starting role and Chris Rodriguez plus Ameer Abdullah brought in.

The Jaguars should have more physicality with this running back group, and added ability to control games and win in short-yardage situations without having to drop back to pass. This bodes well for a defense with it’s best players up front in the pass rush group, but also year two of Travis Hunter in the secondary and former Cowboy Jourdan Lewis still at cornerback.

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Jacksonville was among other successful teams like the Bears and rival Texans in turnover differential a year ago, and while this stat can be extremely volatile and point to where regression may happen, the Jaguars have the right pieces in place to be a good team in this metric yet again.

Jaguars 2026 Draft Class

• Round 2, Pick 24 (56 Overall): TE Nate Boerkircher

• Round 3, Pick 17 (81 Overall): DT Albert Regis

• Round 3, Pick 24 (88 Overall): G Emmanuel Pregnon

• Round 3, Pick 36 (100 Overall): SAF Jalen Huskey

• Round 4, Pick 19 (119 Overall): EDGE Wesley Williams

• Round 6, Pick 10 (191 Overall): WR Josh Cameron

• Round 6, Pick 22 (203 Overall): WR C.J. Williams

• Round 7, Pick 17 (233 Overall): EDGE Zach Durfee

• Round 7, Pick 24 (240 Overall): LB Parker Hughes

The wait for the Jaguars to come on the clock in April’s draft was a long one without a first-round pick, and a run of wide receivers plus Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers going two picks ahead of them put them in a bit of a corner. The Jaguars still landed a tight end in Nate Boerkircher that can do a lot for them, mostly being versatile enough to help them in heavy personnel as a pass catcher and blocker but also playable in spread looks as a detached tight end.

The Jags double-dipped at tight end later in the fifth round, and also added an enforcer to the offensive line in the third round with Emmanuel Pregnon. This team’s draft reinforced they are all in on Coen, who will be under the microscope in the way he adapts to new personnel and evolves the offense a step further from last year. Jacksonville found the right parts to do this in the draft after perhaps a quieter than expected free agency period.

Jaguars 2026 Coaching Staff

*New to staff this season:

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• Run Game Coordinator Brian Picucci

• Defensive Pass Game Coordinator Mathieu Araujo

Another very interesting note about Liam Coen going into year two as the Jaguars head coach is that 2026 will be the first time he’s spending at least a second consecutive year with the same team in any coaching capacity since 2019-20 with the LA Rams. With that, the overwhelming majority of his initial staff from last year has stayed on as well, with just these two new faces in Duval.

Brian Picucci was the Buccaneers offensive line coach in 2024 and 2025, and in that first season Coen was offensive coordinator. We’ve highlighted running back as the position that’s undergone the most change for the Jaguars this offseason, so Coen landing a coach he has direct experience with to coordinate the run game is very well done.

Mathieu Araujo was most recently with the Dolphins, staying in the state of Florida to now be passing game coordinator for the Jaguars.

The Cowboys own coaching staff will have already been through a gauntlet of opposing coaching staffs to really know how they stack up by this December primetime game, but not sleeping on what the Jaguars can bring as the sandwich game in between those two hard road tests, and then the Giants and Commanders to finish will be critical.

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This will be the first ever primetime meeting between these two franchises.

Thank you for following along with this preview series taking us right up to Cowboys kickoff on a new 2026 season! Stay tuned for scouting notes following every Dallas game, and see all of the opponent previews below.

Previous 2026 Opponent Previews:

Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Washington Commanders

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Indianapolis Colts