JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer was pretty blunt when he gave a quick evaluation of several position groups earlier this week.

Especially about the tight ends.

“That’s a room that’s going to have to be rebuilt in some ways,” he said.

With Tyler Eifert and James O’Shaughnessy becoming free agents when their contracts expire on Wednesday afternoon, the four remaining tight ends under contract for 2021 have a total of 14 catches in 59 games. Eric Saubert has the most, with 10 catches for 85 yards in 40 games, but he had just three catches last season with the Jaguars.

So, yeah, a rebuild there is critical, but at least the Jaguars are doing it in a year when there are several good free agents available, as well as what is regarded as a solid draft class. With the most salary-cap space available ($74.4 million) of any team and 11 draft picks (seven in the first four rounds), the Jaguars have the ability to make significant changes and finally get good production out of a position that hasn’t really done much over the past decade.

Tight ends have certainly risen in prominence around the league -- and in some cases are the focal point -- in the passing game over the past 15 years. Every season since 2007, there have been double-digit tight ends with 50 or more catches in a season, including a high of 20 in 2016. Kansas City’s Travis Kelce (twice), Philadelphia’s Zach Ertz and Oakland’s Darren Waller have topped 100 catches in a season in the past three years.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars haven’t had a tight end with 30 or more catches and average 10 or more yards per catch since Marcedes Lewis in 2012 (52 catches, 10.4 per catch). In addition, Pete Mitchell (1996), Kyle Brady (2000) and Lewis (2010 and 2012) are the only tight ends in franchise history to surpass 50 catches in a season.

The Jaguars could potentially fix that by signing Los Angeles Chargers TE Hunter Henry, who will be 26 when the 2021 season starts. He has caught 115 passes for 1,265 yards and nine touchdowns in the past two seasons after sitting out 2018 with a torn ACL. He is the top tight end available and ranks second behind left tackle Trent Williams on ESPN’s list of the top 100 free agents.

Other options, if the Jaguars aren’t interested in or can’t sign Henry, include Jonnu Smith (76 receptions and 11 TDs over the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans), Gerald Everett (78 catches over the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams) and Kyle Rudolph (453 catches over the past 10 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings).

Florida’s Kyle Pitts is the clear No. 1 tight end available in the draft, but ESPN NFL draft analyst Matt Miller said he shouldn’t overshadow some of the other good pass-catching tight ends available, such as Penn State’s Pat Freiermuth, Boston College’s Hunter Long and Miami’s Brevin Jordan, all of whom could be taken in the first three rounds. A sleeper Miller really likes is Notre Dame’s Tommy Tremble.

“The tight end class, it’s not one of those years where T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant were two guys that were going to go in the first round, but I do think there’s pretty solid depth through the top five tight ends,” Miller said. “You could still get a starter outside of the first round, outside of the second round. We’re getting into Round 3 and 4 with players who have starting traits.”

The Jaguars are obviously being secretive about their plans.

“I’d love to give you names [of players the Jaguars are targeting], but if I give you names, I’m giving the names to the 31 other teams we’re competing against,” general manager Trent Baalke said. “So, we’re going to keep the names and what we’re thinking to ourselves at this point. But we have a plan that uses both free agency and the draft to do so and we have some guys internally that are going to be competing for those spots as well.”

Those internal guys are Josh Oliver, Tyler Davis, Ben Ellefson and Saubert. None of the players have a touchdown catch.

Oliver is intriguing since he has played in just four games since the Jaguars made him one of their two third-round draft picks in 2019. Hamstring and back injuries limited him to just three catches in four games as a rookie and he missed the 2020 season with a broken foot. Expectations for him in 2021 are low, and anything he can give the Jaguars -- if he makes the roster -- should be considered a bonus.

Meyer and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell have featured tight ends in their offenses -- when they’ve had good ones, anyway. Aaron Hernandez was an All-American at Florida and caught 111 passes for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns in three seasons. Cornelius Ingram caught 64 passes in three seasons.

Bevell had Jimmy Graham in Seattle and he caught 170 passes (18 TDs) in three seasons. Bevell had Visanthe Shiancoe in Minnesota and he caught 172 passes in four seasons. Hockenson caught 99 passes, including 67 last season, in two years with Bevell as the offensive coordinator in Detroit.

Whether it’s in free agency, the draft, or both, the Jaguars are going to devote significant resources to the tight end position. It’s an important part of their overall rebuild.