Jacksonville Jaguars at New Orleans Saints Picks and Prediction for Saturday, August 15, 2026
Caesars Superdome in New Orleans hosts Week 1 of the 2026 NFL preseason at 4:00 PM ET as the Jacksonville Jaguars visit the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of last year's 17-17 preseason tie in this same building. The Jaguars went from 4-13 to 13-4 last season and are hoping to keep that up in their second season under Liam Coen. The Saints improved by just one win in their first season with Kellen Moore in charge, going from 5-12 to 6-11 last year. The roster context heading into Saturday is defined by what will not be on the field: fans won't be seeing the Jaguars' starters in the game, so Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter will be getting their work in during practice only. The Saints come into this game with heavy depth at several positions, so Kellen Moore and his staff will be evaluating several players fighting to make the final 53, particularly the wide receivers and running backs groups which currently have a total of 18 players between the two. Read on to find out who takes the W in our Jaguars vs. Saints preseason prediction. Get our top NFL Predictions and increase your bankroll!
Jaguars: From 4-13 to 13-4
The Jaguars went from 4-13 to 13-4 last season — one of the most dramatic single-season turnarounds in recent NFL history — and Liam Coen's second year brings the organizational confidence of a team that knows it can compete. The challenge Saturday is identifying which pieces of that depth chart can sustain the standard across a full 53-man roster when Lawrence, Hunter, and Thomas are watching from the sideline. The focus will lie on the rookie class and those hoping to fill out the Week 1 roster as the Jaguars eye a second straight playoff berth, something the team hasn't accomplished since the 1999 season.
The Jaguars conducted joint practices with the Saints heading into Saturday — a preparation format that gives Coen live competitive evaluation data before the first preseason snap, and which historically produces more accurate assessments of depth-chart quality than isolated camp sessions. The two franchises practiced together this week, meaning Saturday's game comes with a level of scouting familiarity that reduces the typical first-week chaos of early preseason football. The Saints lead the preseason series with the Jaguars 2-1-1, having won the two meetings in 2018 and 2021, with the two clubs having played to a 17-17 tie in the 2025 preseason. Jacksonville's depth at the skill positions behind Lawrence — the receivers and running backs fighting for roster spots — will be the primary evaluation target for Coen's coaching staff across four quarters of exhibition play.
Saints: Shough Locks Up the Starting Job, Rattler the Backup Battle, Moore Evaluates 18 Skill Players
Tyler Shough has the Saints' starting job locked up, but Spencer Rattler could still play an important role as the backup in New Orleans. The quarterback battle that has defined the Saints' training camp adds genuine stakes to Saturday's preseason opener — not for the starting job, which appears settled, but for the backup role that Rattler needs to secure in order to remain on the 53-man roster. Rattler's preseason reps will be the most closely watched individual storyline on the Saints' side of the field, and his performance against Jacksonville's second and third-string defense could confirm or complicate his roster standing before the cutdown date.
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The Saints come into this game with heavy depth at several positions, particularly the wide receivers and running backs groups which currently have a total of 18 players between the two. That positional depth creates the most competitive preseason roster battle in the NFC South — eight receiver spots competing for three or four roster positions, and seven or eight running backs competing for two or three. Saturday's game against the Jaguars gives Moore and his staff the live competitive evidence needed to begin separating the clear keeps from the bubble players who might be released or claimed on waivers when cuts come in two weeks. The Saints opened as 1.5-point underdogs against the Jaguars — a market assessment that reflects Jacksonville's superior regular-season record and depth advantage rather than any meaningful Week 1 preseason quality differential between two teams that tied 17-17 in this same building last August.
Jaguars vs. Saints Picks
- Money Line Pick: Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars at plus money on the road carry the more talented depth roster from a 13-win organization — and preseason games between teams that have just completed joint practices tend to favor the side with stronger depth-chart continuity. Coen's staff knows exactly which Jacksonville backup players have been performing best in practice, and their ability to deploy those players in the specific roles they have been evaluated in during the joint sessions gives the Jaguars a structural advantage that the home-field premium at the Superdome cannot fully offset. A 13-4 team's third-string offense against a 6-11 team's second and third-string defense is the core matchup that makes Jacksonville at plus money the sharper side of the money line.
- Over/Under Pick: Under 35.5
Preseason Week 1 games structurally favor the Under — backup quarterbacks, conservative play-calling, vanilla offensive schemes, and the natural caution of coaches protecting their starting rosters all suppress scoring below what the total market must accommodate for competitive interest. The total is set at 35.5, the lowest on Saturday's board across all preseason games, and the -108 juice on the Under reflects the market's genuine belief that two backup-heavy offenses in the first week of exhibition play will struggle to reach even that modest threshold. The two clubs played to a 17-17 tie in the 2025 preseason — a 34-point combined total that sits one point below the current Over/Under — confirming that the historical context between these specific franchises aligns perfectly with the structural Under lean. Take the Under 35.5
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