JACKSONVILLE – He’s tough, versatile and hard-working.
When it comes to Jaguars rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher, Christian Ellsworth said the first two attributes matter a lot. But it’s the last element Boerkircher’s last collegiate position coach emphasized recently.
Football matters to Boerkircher, and it shows.
“He’s about business, and he’s going to have his head down at work,” Ellsworth said.
Boerkircher, who played 2020-2024 collegiately at the University of Nebraska before playing at Texas A&M this past season, was selected by the Jaguars in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft – No. 56 overall. He participated in the recent 2026 Rookie Minicamp, and is working with the team as the Jaguars continue their ’26 offseason program.
“You can tell he’s got a calming confidence about him,” Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen said, calling Boerkircher, “Extremely locked in.”
“I knew some guys at Nebraska, and I’ve talked to some guys at A&M,” Coen said. “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.
“He fits right in with guys like [tight end Brenton] Strange and those guys in that room already that are workers and wired that way … I think will only help.”
That trait has defined Boerkircher’s career. Ellsworth, now the quarterbacks coach at Kansas State, served as an offensive assistant at Nebraska in 2023 and coached Boerkircher again as tight ends coach at Texas A&M this past season.
“You’re not going to get a ton of flash out of him, which was everything that we wanted in a tight end,” Ellsworth said. “He truly cares about the right things. He comes from a tight-knit community, a small community that just values the things that you want in a football player and a person.”
Ellsworth called Boerkircher “an awesome, awesome human.”
“He has a big heart and cares about the people around him,” Ellsworth said.