The Jacksonville Jaguars have had an interesting year when it comes to their 2025 rookie class. Their aggressive draft day trade for Travis Hunter dominated the storylines for Jacksonville well into the early part of the season but an injury ended his rookie year after just seven games. Their second pick in the draft was safety Caleb Ransaw, who was injured during training camp and missed the entire season, while their next pick, OL Wyatt Milum, missed time with an injury and ultimately played a limited role as primarily an extra lineman all year.
Those three were supposed to make a significant impact in year one but the injury gods weren’t on their side. Luckily for the Jaguars, a few late-round picks and even some undrafted free agents have picked up the slack for James Gladstone’s first rookie class as the Jacksonville GM. Here are three names that have a chance to make an impact against the Bills and beyond in the playoffs.
Bhayshul Tuten
The Jacksonville rushing attack has been pretty inconsistent this season. They finished the regular season ranked 20th in rushing yards and 27th in yards per rush at just 4.0 per game. That’s all while running the ball at the eighth-highest rate in the league.
Starting running back Travis Etienne has had a solid season when you look at the stats but his efficiency numbers fell off a cliff down the stretch. Over the last six games leading up to the playoffs, Etienne has averaged just 3.2 yards per carry as teams have prioritized stopping the run in an attempt to slow down the offense. Obviously that has backfired as it has been a factor in Trevor Lawrence having the hottest streak of his career.
That said, Liam Coen will want to ensure the run game gets back on track against the statistically worst rush defense in the league, Buffalo. One way they could do that is by getting rookie running back Bhayshul Tuten more involved. Tuten’s physical style of running is a stark contrast to Etienne’s finesse game and in a game of this magnitude, physicality at the line of scrimmage is going to be necessary. Don’t be surprised if we see packages where both Etienne and Tuten are on the field at the same time in an effort to keep the defense guessing on Sunday.
Rayuan Lane
There has been a lot of talk about the impact of special teams going into this Jags vs. Bills matchup, particularly regarding the edge Jacksonville has in the kicking game. However, Buffalo has a special teams x-factor as well, by the name of Ray Davis. The team’s third-string running back has quietly been the best kick returner in the league in 2025. His 30.4 average on kickoffs was tops in the NFL for players with at least 20 returns and he took one to the house against the Texans in Week 12.
The Jacksonville kick coverage unit hasn’t been great this season as it finished the year 27th in opponent drive start position after kickoffs (31.8). Like most playoff games, this is going to be a game where free yards matter a lot so the Jaguars can’t afford to allow a chunk kick return or two against anybody, but that is especially true when you consider you’re giving the reigning MVP a shorter field.
The special teams unit will need to play mistake-free in that area and rookie safety Rayuan Lane will go a long way in making sure that happens. The team drafted him the sixth round out of Navy to be a special teams ace and he has already paid dividends as he has had a really nice year in that regard. That said, his impact will be felt whether good or bad in this one.
B.J. Green II
While the two previous names were somewhat expected to fill roles for the Jaguars in 2025, nobody assumed that undrafted free agent B.J. Green II would play as prominent a role as he has the second half of his rookie year.
Green had a productive college career at Arizona State and Colorado but his size at just 6-foot-1 and 270 pounds is a tough sell off the edge, which ultimately led to his undrafted status. The Jaguars did like him though and made him a priority signing shortly after the draft. He would then perform well in the preseason and surprisingly made the team’s final 53-man roster but really wouldn’t get a shot to make an impact all the way until Week 11. Since then, B.J. Green has solidified his rotational role thanks to a play speed and aggression that had been missing from the rest of the depth pieces off the edge.
Green now goes from being undrafted to trying to sack Josh Allen in a playoff game this Sunday within a nine-month span. He may not see the field a ton, but rest assured, when he does get his opportunity, he is going to showcase that motor that has gotten him to this point.
Drop what rookie you think will make the biggest impact in the playoffs in the comments below!
