Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
And the Jacksonville Jaguars are paying homage to the Los Angeles Rams by mimicking their entire approach to team building and the offseason.
Jacksonville has hired a former Sean McVay assistant. Their general manager, James Gladstone, was Les Snead’s understudy. Now the Jaguars will also not participate in the NFL Scouting Combinewhich is a practice the Rams have been doing for years, although it’s still not widespread around the league:
ESPN’s Michael DiRocco recently explained why Gladstone and Coen won’t be attending the 2026 NFL season:
“All of those workouts, the weightlifting, on the field, will be recorded and sent back to each team, so the Jaguars don’t feel like their leaders need to be in Indianapolis,” DiRocco said. “They can evaluate players based on what they see on film, and they prefer to rely on their scouting reports and the information their scouts have gathered on players over the past few years.
The Rams maintain the most valuable piece of the mix is medical testing. Both teams will send their medical teams to the event to put prospects through their paces and potentially uncover red flags that will knock them off the draft boards.
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But it appears neither team plans to place much emphasis on actual testing of prospects. We know the Rams use this as a reference point, but prioritize GPS data from games and practices as a true measure of athleticism. Years of game tape outweigh the importance of a good moment in the 40-yard dash, at least from the Rams’ perspective.
But one of the problems with the Jaguars taking Los Angeles’ approach is that it could lead to them targeting the same players often. Liam Coen leads an offensive plan similar to that of McVay. Gladstone understands what Snead values in a prospect and vice versa. They’re looking for many of the same skills, and depending on how the board looks, that could be detrimental to one of those teams.
It’s great that the Rams continue to have success. NFL teams are trying to follow their lead and formula, although none take it to the same extent as the Jaguars.
