Player
Brenton Strange
TE · Jaguars
The 4.3% → 11.4% → 15.6% target-share progression names a real mechanism: Strange spent two seasons as Engram's backup, then inherited the role in 2025 when Engram left for Denver. The jump is patience paying off, not breakout variance.
From a 9-target rookie to the Jaguars' featured TE: 60 targets, 540 yards in 12 games.
TrendBrenton Strange career arc (regular season)
| Year | G | Tgts | Rec | Yds | TDs | Tgt share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 35 | 1 | 4.3% |
| 2024 | 14 | 53 | 40 | 411 | 2 | 11.4% |
| 2025 | 12 | 60 | 46 | 540 | 3 | 15.6% |
Receiving yards by year
| Season | Yards |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 35 |
| 2024 | 411 |
| 2025 | 540 |
Picked in the 2nd round of the 2023 draft (61st overall) behind Evan Engram, Strange was a 9-target rookie. By 2025 his target share has nearly quadrupled to 15.6% — and he's on a 16-game pace of 80 targets, 720 yards, 4 TDs in his first year as the lead TE.
Why it matters. The 4.3% → 11.4% → 15.6% target-share progression names a real mechanism: Strange spent two seasons as Engram's backup, then inherited the role in 2025 when Engram left for Denver. The jump is patience paying off, not breakout variance.
The Jaguars TE room used to have Engram — now it has Strange and 45 scrap targets.
SplitJaguars TE room by year (regular season targets)
| Year | Player | Tgts | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Evan Engram | 143 | 963 | 4 |
| 2023 | Luke Farrell | 15 | 155 | 0 |
| 2023 | Brenton Strange | 9 | 35 | 1 |
| 2024 | Evan Engram | 64 | 365 | 1 |
| 2024 | Brenton Strange | 53 | 411 | 2 |
| 2024 | Luke Farrell | 17 | 67 | 0 |
| 2025 | Brenton Strange | 60 | 540 | 3 |
| 2025 | Johnny Mundt | 19 | 111 | 0 |
| 2025 | Hunter Long | 17 | 85 | 2 |
| 2025 | Quintin Morris | 9 | 55 | 1 |
In 2023 Engram was a target vacuum (143 looks). By 2024 the room was a near-even timeshare (Engram 64, Strange 53). In 2025 Engram is in Denver and the rest of the Jacksonville TE depth (Mundt 19, Long 17, Morris 9 — 45 combined) still falls short of Strange's individual 60. The Jaguars don't run a tight-end committee anymore; they run Strange.
Why it matters. Strange's volume isn't being shared. Mundt, Long, and Morris combined for 45 targets across the year — less than Strange's solo total, and split between three role-player bodies. That signals the play-caller trusts one TE for receiving snaps, not a rotation.
10 red-zone targets in 12 games — 11th among all NFL TEs in 2025.
RareBrenton Strange red-zone target volume by year (regular season)
| Year | RZ Tgts | RZ TDs |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | 6 | 2 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2 |
2025 red-zone targets among TEs (regular season, top 12)
| Rank | Player | Games | RZ Tgts | RZ TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trey McBride | 14 | 34 | 11 |
| 2 | Jake Ferguson | 12 | 25 | 7 |
| 3 | Tyler Warren | 12 | 23 | 4 |
| 4 | Colby Parkinson | 12 | 22 | 6 |
| 4 | Hunter Henry | 12 | 22 | 5 |
| 6 | Brock Bowers | 9 | 18 | 6 |
| 7 | Oronde Gadsden II | 7 | 15 | 3 |
| 7 | Colston Loveland | 11 | 15 | 4 |
| 7 | Mark Andrews | 10 | 15 | 4 |
| 7 | Dallas Goedert | 8 | 15 | 10 |
| 11 | Brenton Strange | 12 | 10 | 2 |
Strange's 10 red-zone targets in just 12 games put him 11th among all NFL tight ends in 2025, and his 1.67 RZ targets per game is just behind the league's biggest names. The 2-TD conversion has run cold relative to the volume — only Trey McBride (11) and Dallas Goedert (10) have more RZ-target TDs among TEs, while Strange's looks have produced fewer scores than peers at similar volume.
Why it matters. Red-zone usage is the most stable predictor of TE TD scoring — and Strange is being trusted with high-leverage snaps inside the 20 at a near-elite TE rate. The cold conversion (2 TDs on 10 looks) is a regression candidate rather than a skill issue.
Best 2023 TE class production after the top three.
Comparison2023 TE draft class through 2025 (regular season)
| Player | Tgts | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam LaPorta | 252 | 186 | 2,104 | 20 |
| Dalton Kincaid | 215 | 156 | 1,692 | 9 |
| Tucker Kraft | 154 | 113 | 1,551 | 15 |
| Brenton Strange | 122 | 91 | 986 | 6 |
| Michael Mayer | 122 | 83 | 788 | 3 |
| Luke Musgrave | 87 | 65 | 649 | 1 |
Through 3 years he's 4th in his draft class in receiving yards — ahead of fellow 2nd-rounders Michael Mayer (788) and Luke Musgrave (649). The top three (LaPorta, Kincaid, Kraft) were full-time Day-1 starters from Week 1 of their rookie year. Strange got there by patience.
Why it matters. The 2023 TE class is one of the deepest in recent memory — three immediate starters with 1,500+ career yards. Strange's path is the slow-burn version: drafted behind a 143-target incumbent, he passed every peer outside the early-starter trio by year three.
Career-high 93-yard day on his lowest target count of the season.
MilestoneTop single-game receiving (regular season)
| Date | Opp | Tgts | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 W12 | vs ARI | 5 | 5 | 93 | 0 |
| 2024 W15 | vs NYJ | 12 | 11 | 73 | 0 |
| 2024 W2 | vs CLE | 6 | 3 | 65 | 0 |
| 2025 W3 | vs HOU | 7 | 6 | 61 | 0 |
His career-high 93-yard game vs Arizona came on just 5 targets — a perfect 5-for-5 day at 18.6 yards per catch for a TE who averages 10.8 for his career. The 11-catch game vs the Jets in 2024 set his reception ceiling (11 of 12 targets caught), but it took 6.6 yards per grab to get there.
Why it matters. Strange's career-high came on volume that any TE could see in a normal week, not a 12-target ceiling game — that signals he can be a yards-per-target weapon, not just a checkdown body. The 18.6 YPC blip against ARI is roughly double his career mark.
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