Ranking the 5 Best Jacksonville Jaguars Players of All Time

The Jacksonville Jaguars came into the NFL in 1995 as an expansion franchise, and while the team has had some periods of success, it also has one of the worst winning percentages in league history. That tough record isn’t due to a complete lack of talent, though, and these five best Jaguars players of all time prove that.

The Jaguars actually got off to a fast start under head coach Tom Coughlin. The former Boston College and future New York Giants headman went 4-12 out of the gates before making the playoffs in his second season and reaching the postseason three more times in a row after that.

In the 25 seasons that followed that impressive opening run, the Jags only made the playoffs four more times after that initial four in a row. While that’s not very good, these players who plied their trade in Duval County really were.

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1

Tony Boselli

Who else but the Jaguars’ first draft pick and first true Hall of Famer would lead this list?

The first-ever Jaguars draft pick was their best so far, which is kind of a perfect analogy for their organization. Tony Boselli was a highly-touted offensive tackle out of USC who went No. 2 in the 1995 NFL Draft behind Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter.

Boselli, a 6-foot-7, 324-pound left tackle, was a perfect prospect to start a franchise with, and when healthy, he was easily one of the best linemen in the game. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, an injury cut his career to just seven seasons.

The tackle started 90 of 91 games he played in Jacksonville and made five Pro Bowls and three First-Team All-Pro squads. He was the first player inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars (team Hall of Fame) and made the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.

Interestingly, Boselli was actually the first pick of two expansion franchises. In 2002, after playing just three games the season prior due to his left shoulder injury, the Jags decided not to protect him in the expansion draft, and the Houston Texans took him with their first selection. He spent the entire ’02 season on injured reserve and retired the following offseason.

2

Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith’s name may not have stood out among all the incredible WRs he played against, but his play on the field did

Wide receiver Jimmy Smith played for the Jaguars in their first NFL season, but he wasn’t a rookie like Boselli. In fact, he wasn’t even in the NFL when the Jags signed him.

Smith was a second-round pick out of Jackson State in 1992, going 36th overall to the Dallas Cowboys. After a broken leg, complications from an emergency appendectomy, and a legal battle between the NFLPA and the Cowboys over the way the team dealt with his contract, Smith was out of the league by 1994.

However, Tom Coughlin saw the talent in the free-agent WR and signed Smith for his expansion squad. That was a shrewd move.

Smith ultimately became the best WR in team history, playing 11 seasons and becoming the still-franchise-leader in receiving yards (12,287), receptions (862), and receiving touchdowns (67). In that time, he made five Pro Bowls and two Second-Team All-Pro squads.

Playing with the Jags from 1995 to 2005 meant that Smith was in a WR generation that included everyone from former Cowboys teammate Michael Irvin to Jerry Rice to Randy Moss to Terrell Owens. So, Smith didn’t always get the national attention he deserved, but Jaguars fans know just how good he was.

3

Mark Brunell

Trading two late-round picks for the best QB in franchise history was a pretty sweet deal

Another player who, like Tony Boselli and Jimmy Smith, was in Duval County from day one was quarterback Mark Brunell. The lefty signal-caller was a fifth-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1993 and spent two years on their roster behind Brett Favre before the Jaguars traded a fifth and a sixth-round pick for the QB in 1995.

That was a shrewd deal, as Brunell started 10 games in the team’s inaugural season alongside Steve Beuerlein and Rob Johnson. He went 3-7 in those games, but the next season, he won the starting job outright. Jacksonville went 9-7 and not only made the playoffs but made it all the way to the AFC title game, where they lost to the New England Patriots.

Brunell would go on to play a total of nine seasons for the Jags, making three Pro Bowl appearances. When he left in 2004, the QB’s final numbers were 25,698 passing yards, 144 touchdowns, and 86 interceptions. The mobile signal-caller also had 2,219 rushing yards and 14 rushing TDs.

Brunell is never going to make the Hall of Fame, but as the QB to get a franchise started, he was perfect for the Jaguars.

4

Maurice Jones-Drew

From 2006 to 2013, the Jaguars were defined by three letters: M-J-D.

The bowling ball of a running back was a second-round pick out of UCLA and quickly established himself as a feature back with over 900 yards as a rookie, earning a second-place finish (behind Vince Young) for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

For the next two seasons, Jones-Drew stayed in the 700-800 rushing yard range as he continued to split time with Fred Taylor, who we will get to momentarily on this list of the best Jaguars players of all time.

In 2009, when Taylor moved on, “MJD” took over as the primary ball carrier and he took off. Two 1,300-plus-yard seasons were followed by a 1,606-yard campaign in which Jones-Drew led the league in rushing yards. The RB made his third consecutive Pro Bowl that season and his one and only First-Team All-Pro squad.

Unfortunately for Jones-Drew, he also led the league in carries (343) and total touches (386), which is over the dreaded curse of 370 (touches) for a back. As many RBs who get that much usage do, “MJD” started breaking down after that and was never quite the same physically.

Still, especially for that three-year stretch, Jones-Drew was a (real and fantasy football) monster.

5

Fred Taylor

Despite his “fragile” moniker, Fred Taylor was a great running back

Fred Taylor shared the stage with Maurice Jones-Drew in the latter stages of his Jaguars career, but that actually helped the running back produce some of his best seasons. While Taylor has the longevity (11 seasons in Jacksonville) edge over “MJD,” the younger back’s heights were much higher, which is why Taylor is slightly lower on the list of the best players in Jaguars history.

Taylor joined the Jags as the No. 9 overall pick out of Florida in the 1998 NFL Draft. Over the course of more than a decade, he ran for 11,271 yards, scored 62 rushing touchdowns, and 70 total TDs.

As good as he was for as long as he was, the knock on “Fragile Fred” was that he could never stay healthy. He only played 16 games twice in his 11 years with the Jaguars. When he was healthy, though, he was excellent, and Jones-Drew coming in to split time benefitted the veteran back.

Taylor had one of his best seasons in 2007, rushing for 1,202 yards to make his only Pro Bowl while also earning Second-Team All-Pro honors.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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