J'Mari Taylor

Taylor enters a six-man RB room with Bhayshul Tuten entrenched as starter and Chris Rodriguez Jr. signed in free agency as the clear backup. LeQuint Allen, DeeJay Dallas, and Ja'Quinden Jackson all rank above Taylor on the depth chart, making even a 53-man roster spot far from guaranteed.

Taylor signed as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2026 — just four days ago. The vast majority of UDFAs are released in final cuts, and Taylor's profile (no elite athleticism, crowded room) gives him a very low probability of surviving to Week 1 on the active roster.

At 24 years old entering the league as a UDFA, Taylor has a compressed development window relative to peers who entered as drafted rookies at 21-22. RBs already face shorter value curves; starting from the bottom at 24 leaves little margin for a slow development arc.

Taylor has drawn early OTA/minicamp attention from OC Liam Coen and was named Bleacher Report's most exciting Jaguars UDFA on the strength of a 1,062-yard, 14-TD, first-team All-ACC season at Virginia as a three-down, pass-protecting back.

Travis Etienne Jr.'s departure to New Orleans (4yr/$52M) removed the franchise's lead back and theoretically opened volume in the offense. However, the Jaguars directly addressed the gap by signing Chris Rodriguez Jr., so this opportunity is already largely absorbed.

Jacksonville did not spend any of their 2026 draft picks on a running back, meaning Taylor faces zero newly-drafted RB competition for depth spots — a mild positive in an otherwise crowded room.

Under HC Liam Coen and OC Grant Udinski (both retained), Jacksonville's offense ranked top-10 in 2025 (27.9 PPG, 6th; Trevor Lawrence threw 38 TDs). Any RB who earns meaningful snaps in this system does so in a high-quality, run-supporting environment.