Who Should I Start? Nate Boerkircher or Joe Royer

Friday, April 24, 4:48 PM

The Jacksonville Jaguars have selected Texas A&M tight end prospect Nate Boerkircher with the 56th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. This was the Jaguars' first selection of the draft, and they spent it on a tight end despite already having Brenton Strange on their roster. We shouldn't be too surprised by the addition, though, as pre-draft reporting indicated that the Jaguars wanted to come out of the draft with an impact tight end to complement Strange on offense. After four years with Nebraska, Boerkircher transferred to A&M for the 2025 season and ultimately tallied 19 catches, 198 yards, and three touchdowns. Those are underwhelming receiving metrics, and while the Jaguars do plan to get him more involved in the passing game, he's a blocker first and foremost. He posted a 72.2 PFF grade in run blocking last season. Ranked as the consensus #162 prospect in the draft according to NFLMockDraftDatabase.com, some might say this was a bit of a reach for Jaguars general manager James Gladstone. The fantasy rankings would tend to agree, as Boerkircher falls outside the top 85 tight ends in RotoBaller's latest dynasty rankings.