October 09, 2026
Melina Myers/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Jaguars WR Parker Washington, a former Penn State star, is a true underdog story.
There is a term in the NFL lexicon among the scouting and coaching community for draft prospects who lack the ideal size, frame and/or athletic traits to be impact players but are just good enough to find their way onto a roster.
They are referred to as "JAGs" – an acronym for "Just A Guy."
In other words, nothing special, an average or even below-average player who could easily be replaced by a better prospect or by another JAG.
Measuring at 5-foot-9 and after skipping out on athletic testing at the NFL Combine and his Penn State Pro Day – he was also rehabbing an injury – Parker Washington could have been viewed as another "JAG" who just happened to get drafted by the actual Jags in the sixth round, the 185th overall player among 259 selections.
Here were some of Washington's listed weaknesses, from his scouting profile on NFL.com:
● Below-average explosiveness.
● Lacks suddenness to quickly beat press.
● Runs routes with below-average tempo.
● Moves gradually when getting in and out of his breaks.
● Will struggle to separate from athletic corners.
● Can’t find a second gear to run down deep throws.
Not exactly the profile of someone you'd expect to be among the NFL's better, upcoming young wide receivers. Except that's exactly what Washington has become.
Week after week, the Jags' top wideout continues to separate himself from his wideout brethren despite that "struggle to separate" label that accompanied him into the NFL.
The 24-year-old leads the 3-1 Jags in receptions and receiving yards going into this Week 5 clash in London against the Eagles and is tied for the team lead with two TD catches coming off a breakout 2025 season in which he caught 58 passes for 847 yards – also a team high – to go along with 5 TDs despite starting just seven games.
In his last 17 games – a full NFL season – Washington has 65 receptions on 105 targets for 965 yards and seven TDs despite playing an average of 69 percent of the snaps.
Through four weeks of 2026, Washington is playing well over 80 percent of the offensive snaps in the second year of coach Liam Coen's offense and first as the unquestioned No. 1 target. He is averaging 14.3 yards per reception – higher than Chris Olave, CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans and DeVonta Smith, all of them drafted in the first round.
The Eagles will need all of their defensive backs Sunday in London to be keyed in on Trevor Lawrence's favorite target if they want to slow down Jacksonville's offense.
It's not that the scouting reports on Washington were off base; he is a smaller receiver who lacks elite speed and separation acumen. But where they missed was how his play strength and intellect to understand that he must be a precise, smart route-runner would translate after a few adjustment seasons.
Those traits have helped Washington thrive despite frequently being guarded by defensive backs who are much more athletic – and sometimes bigger – than him.
Coen also helps "scheme" Washington open by moving him around and finding mismatches, especially on the interior against zone. But scheme can only help so much. Washington has really good get-ball skills in tight windows and in contested catch situations, and good short-area burst to escape those windows after the catch.
Here's an example of the scheme doing most of the work against zone coverage, but Washington taking care of the rest:
"Can’t find a second gear to run down deep throws."
Mmmm, maybe he can.
In his fourth season, Washington has really improved his footwork and route-running, which enable him to get open without plus separation speed; his 2.3 average separation yards per target are the lowest among Jags WRs.
Here are some examples of Washington beating tight coverage with either sharp breaks or the ability to get into a defensive back's hip to get him turned before making the break.
In that last video, Washington beats man coverage from Broncos four-time Pro Bowl CB Patrick Surtain – the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year – by quickly stacking Surtain within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage, then adding separation at the top of the route with an outside-in cut for a first-down gain over the middle.
In Week 3, the Jags spanked the defending AFC champion Patriots, 35-6, with Washington catching three passes for 40 yards and a TD. You can't find a better example of a QB's trust in a wide receiver than Lawrence targeting Washington four straight times – four! – during a red-zone trip that actually failed on the first three attempts.
Here's the sequence:
For some reason, the touchdown catch on the third-down throw was negated by a bogus OPI call on Washington, setting up 3rd-and-goal at the 17, and Lawrence went right back to Washington for the fourth straight time.
He threw him a bullet as Washington collided with the safety short of the end zone and got off balance, and then watched Washington still catch the ball anyway before stumbling into the end zone.
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