Nate Boerkircher does not care about the consensus board and neither does his head coach, Liam Coen.
The Jacksonville Jaguars’ first pick in this year’s draft took to the practice field for the first time last earlier this month during the team’s three-day rookie minicamp. Boerkircher was one of 37 players who participated in the camp in some capacity, and stood out as a big-body tight end that he was billed as in April.
After the Jaguars made Boerkircher the 56th-overall pick, online draft analysts nearly universally maligned the pick. Boerkircher was ranked 163rd on the consensus big board, an arrogate list of over 100 draft analyst big boards from NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah to an SB Nation blog. Essentially, critics feel he was significantly over-drafted.
His stats were not extensive. In 52 games, Boerkircher caught 38 passes for 417 yards and four touchdowns.
Boerkircher admitted last week that it’s been impossible not to hear the noise, but it doesn’t bother him.
“I’ve seen it. It doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been kind of an underdog. I was a walk-on, lowly recruited. It’s hard to say I’m an underdog as a second rounder, but it kind of gives me a chip in the same way, and so I’m just going to use it to fuel myself,” Boerkircher said shortly after the practice ended.
Boerkircher walked on at Nebraska in 2020. He earned a scholarship in 2023, later transferring to Texas A&M ahead of the 2025 season.
Jacksonville’s top brass, in their own right, have waved off the notion, believing in their in-house consensus rather than listening to outside noise.
Liam Coen adds another disrespect card to the deck
Last year, Coen was not shy about using outside chatter to fuel the team as the season marched forward.
No one gave the Jaguars, a “small market” team, the chance to win many games at all, let alone 13 and the AFC South. Perhaps the team’s penchant for “sign stealing” helped them get over the hump, too. The respect isn’t coming, Coen said last year.
But, he doesn’t care. Not then, and not now after the team selected Boerkircher near the bottom of the second round.
He repeated his line from last season, “[the respect]’s not coming,” Coen said last weekend.
“We don’t really care. It’s about our consensus and what we believe in this building about each player and how they fit in. And character matters, personal and football. Character matters. And the mental, the learning, how much they can take in a short period of time to go be able to get on the grass and play,” he added.
“I wouldn’t say either of our offensive or defensive systems are quote, unquote ‘easy,’ right? And so, we do value players that can do different things and be able to go, mentally, play the game fast.”
To Boerkircher’s credit, he spent six years at the collegiate level climbing the depth chart until he got an opportunity, parlaying that into becoming a second round pick in the NFL.
“You can tell he’s got a calming confidence about him. Extremely locked in, in the meeting room setting. I knew some guys at Nebraska, and I’ve talked to some guys at A&M. In the weight room, the way he attacks things, the way that he works… very serious about his craft, very serious about playing football and getting better,” Coen said when asked about Boerkircher’s maturity.
“So, I think he fits right in and guys like [TE Brenton] Strange and those guys in that room already that are workers and wired that way, I think will only help.”
Nate Boerkircher getting used to Florida heat, ready to learn
While Boerkircher played in Texas for a season, he’s still more used to his Nebraska roots, having been born and raised there before becoming a walk-on.
“I can feel the humidity the second I stepped out of the airport,” Boerkircher said with a laugh. “It’s been amazing, I’ve met a lot of great people already and I’ve learned a lot, probably the most I’ve ever learned in a two-day span.”
Boerkircher said the team went through a healthy chunk of the offensive playbook, but not all of it during the couple of days he’s been in the building. The team spent minicamp installing and studying Coen’s playbook. Boerkircher can already see how extensive the full playbook can and will be.
“There’s a lot of options. One thing that’s great about it is everything correlates. Everything makes sense, and that makes it easier to go out and execute. You can think through it a lot more clearly,” Boerkircher explained when asked about the offensive scheme that once was described as a “spider web” by Jaguars center Robert Hainsey.
Boerkircher hasn’t had a lot of time to talk with the team’s vets like tight end Brenton Strange or quarterback Trevor Lawrence, but he has texted a bit with both players. He’s excited to pick their brains and learn from the team’s top guys.
The second-round pick is also excited to continue his growing friendship with fellow draftee, right end Tanner Koziol, a 6-foot-7 pass-catching machine. Koziol caught 74 passes for 727 yards and six scores last year for Houston.
“We got pretty close at the Senior Bowl. We were on the same team, so we spent a whole week together then, and then got together again at the Combine. So it was pretty cool seeing his name, because I knew we had a past connection. It’s been great so far. We’ve done a lot of studying together and definitely think we’re elevating each other,” said Boerkircher.
Regardless of known connections, Boerkircher is ready to soak up any and all knowledge he can.
“I’m just ready to go learn from these guys, these older guys, they have a lot of time in the NFL under their belt, and I’m ready to go learn. Obviously, I’m new to this, so I’m gonna just keep my ears open,” he said.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky at Demetrius.
If you’re a subscriber, thank you. If not, please consider subscribing to support local journalism in Northeast Florida.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars’ Nate Boerkircher: Consensus board chatter adds fuel to fire
Reporting by Demetrius Harvey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
