Unlike most expansion teams, the Jacksonville Jaguars were an immediate success. After their inaugural season in 1995, the Jaguars reached the playoffs four seasons in a row — including a pair of AFC Championship Game appearances. Since then, the franchise has been less prosperous. Jacksonville has just four playoff appearances over the last 24 seasons, with an equal number of postseason wins.
With Trevor Lawrence at the helm, fans hope the young quarterback can help turn this squad around and return them to glory — and, in doing so, establish him among the franchise's elites. While the list of Jaguars legends is surprisingly light, here are the 10 greatest Jacksonville Jaguars players of all time.
10 Greatest Jacksonville Jaguars of All Time
Honorable Mention:
Brad Meester, Tony Brackens, Rasean Mathis
10) Keenan McCardell
Jaguars honors: One-time Pro Bowler
The thunder to Jimmy Smith's lightning — Keenan McCardell's arrival in Jacksonville in 1996 birthed the best wide-receiving duo in Jaguar's history. In six seasons with the Jags, McCardell averaged better than 1,000 yards per year, eclipsing that mark on four occasions. While McCardell never bettered Smith's season total, he was a reliable second option for the Jags and a vital part of the offensive that established the franchise as a team to beat in the NFL.
9) Jalen Ramsey
Jaguars honors: Three-time Pro Bowler, one-time First Team All-Pro
Tenure or honors? That is the problem we face on this list. The Jaguars do not have a history of long-tenured players or faces of the franchise. Trevor Lawrence could achieve that status but is still searching for consistency as he enters his fourth NFL season. Instead, the Jaguars have forgotten big names with short tenures or overlooked stars without the honors to back their lofty performances.
Jalen Ramsey falls in the former category, having played 51 career games for the Jaguars. He was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2018, then traded late in 2019 while earning another Pro Bowl spot. The Jaguars corner was also a First Team All-Pro in 2017.
8) Calais Campbell
Jaguars honors: Three-time Pro Bowler, one-time First Team All-Pro
Calais Campbell's tenure in Jacksonville was short (just three seasons). But, the free agent signing from the Arizona Cardinals proved to be one of the most impactful additions in team history. In his first season with the Jags in 2017, Campbell recorded a career-high 14.5 sacks with 30 quarterback hits and three forced fumbles. Campbell finished second in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, voting behind only Los Angeles Rams lineman Aaron Donald (despite having more sacks and QB hits than the Rams DT).
The Jaguars made the AFC Championship Game that season and came agonizingly close to defeating the New England Patriots before a late fourth-quarter collapse. Campbell earned Pro Bowl honors in all three seasons in Jacksonville and the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2019.
6) Marcus Stroud
Jaguars honors: Three-time Pro Bowler, one-time Second Team All-Pro
5) John Henderson
Jaguars honors: Two-time Pro Bowler, one-time Second Team All-Pro
The best defensive tandems in Jaguars history played together for six seasons, so it is only fitting to include them together on this list. Marcus Stroud stood 6-6 310 pounds yet paled compared to the 6-7 335-pound John Henderson. This defensive tackle duo helped form one of the NFL's most fearsome front fours.
While suiting up for the AFC South squad, the Jags averaged seventh in the league in total yards allowed and 10th in points given up. With five Pro Bowls between them, Stroud and Henderson were a pair of bad dudes who deserve recognition. While they have similar career numbers, Henderson was slightly more productive in Jacksonville, giving Big John the edge.
5) Mark Brunell
Jaguars honors: Three-time Pro Bowler
Long before the days of Trevor Lawrence, Blake Bortles, David Garrard, or even Byron Leftwich, the Jaguars had one of the NFL's best QBs under center. Mark Brunell led the Jags to the AFC Championship game in his second season as a starter — beginning a stretch of two AFC title games and three Pro Bowl appearances in four seasons.
The lefty holds the franchise records for passing yards, touchdowns, touchdown-to-interception ratio, and wins. Trevor Lawrence could someday approach those totals, but for now, Mark Brunell is the best quarterback in Jaguars history.
4) Maurice Jones-Drew
Jaguars honors: Three-time Pro Bowler, one-time First Team All-Pro
While his peak was brief, few running backs in the NFL could match Maurice Jones-Drew between 2009 and 2011. Jones-Drew topped 1,300 yards on the ground and 300 receiving yards each of those years — leading the NFL with 1,606 rushing yards in 2011. MJD was second only to Chris Johnson in total rushing yards during this stretch while topping the league in yards per game.
The UCLA product earned AP First-Team All-Pro honors in 2011 and is still the Jaguars' only offensive skill player to earn AP1 status. Few Jaguars reached the heights of Maurice Jones-Drew, but his lack of consistent, long-term success keeps him from breaching the top three.
3) Jimmy Smith
Jaguars honors: Five-time Pro Bowler, two-time Second Team All-Pro
A second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1992, Jimmy Smith's NFL career nearly ended before it even started. A broken fibula kept Smith sidelined most of his rookie year, and then a severe bout of appendicitis forced the wideout to miss the entire 1993 season. Smith spent 1994 without a team, then earned a tryout with the expansion Jaguars ahead of the 1995 campaign.
After a modest first season in Jacksonville, Smith broke out in 1996, totaling 1,244 receiving yards. It was the first of seven straight 1,000-yard campaigns for the Jackson State product — who recorded nine seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards. Even with the three seasons missed at the beginning of his career, Jimmy Smith is still 26th all-time in the NFL in receiving yards.
2) Fred Taylor
Jaguars honors: One-time Pro Bowler, one-time Second Team All-Pro
Playing alongside future Hall-of-Famers like LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, and Marshall Faulk, among others, Fred Taylor never got the credit he deserved. The long-time Jaguars back is 17th all-time in rushing yards and notched seven 1,000-yard seasons during his 13-year career — eclipsing that mark in every year he played at least 14 games.
Yet it took until his tenth and final year in Jacksonville for Taylor to earn his first Pro Bowl nod. Splitting time with Maurice Jones-Drew, Taylor rushed for 1,202 yards on an efficient (and career-best) 5.4 yards per carry. The veteran paved the way for Jones-Drew to earn a trio of long-overdue Pro Bowl nominations for the Jaguars running back. Fred Taylor's selfless, underappreciated performances on the field earn him a spot near the top of this list.
1) Tony Boselli
Jaguars honors: Five-time Pro Bowler, three-time First Team All-Pro, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee
On a franchise with many great players, Tony Boselli stands head and shoulders above the rest. The offensive tackle is the only Jaguars player to earn a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the sole franchise representative to earn First Team All-Pro honors multiple times.
Boselli helped lead Jacksonville to four consecutive playoff appearances, a mark the franchise has not approached since — including AFC Championship Games 1996 and 1999. During this stretch, the team finished in the top 10 in total yards every season and in the top eight in points in three out of those four years. With a spot in Canton, Tony Boselli is the clear choice for the best player in Jaguars history.
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