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Jaguars Trade Maason Smith for Ruke OrhOrhoro · Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Texanville Jaguar's fans, welcome in to Dove All Daily, presented by GenJag.com.
• 0:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jordan Allure, thanks so much for being here.
• 0:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a breaking news story here from Adam Shepter.
• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Falcons are trading.
• 0:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: The events of Tackle, Rook, Aurora, to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and exchange for defensive Tackle, Mason Smith, this is a big deal.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Very big deal.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are less than a week away.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: from the draft, exactly a week away from the Jaguars first pick at 56 overall, and the Jaguars have traded defensive tackle Mason Smith, who is a second round pick by the Jaguars just a couple of years ago, of course by a different staff, a different regime, Trent Balkyled Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2024.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: his rookie year was just disappointing there was little injuries he was dealing with here and there and he was struggling to kind of find his way and to being a real pro and to being somebody to the Jaguars felt like they could rely on felt like there was also just some discourse disagreement
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: between the coaching staff and the management on some of the picks there, but overall, Mason Smith could not find the field much as a rookie.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Got on the field a little bit later on and did some decent things.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And 2025 new staff, new coaching staff, new GM, new everything, right?
• 1:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they challenged him to, again, become,
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: a true professional to develop and he was doing well and then he got injured right before training camp, which I think that that part of it really hurt his 20 25 season, but overall this was just not a player that the Jacksonville Jaguars as they are currently constructed again with James Gladstone, Liam Cohen, etc.
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Anthony Campanile, they're not the group who invested in Mason Smith.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, they decided to trade Mason Smith, again, according to Adam Shefter, for Rook Aurora.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this is a player that Atlanta was extremely high on, not too long ago, of course.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: They also have a different regime in place compared to the regime that took Rook Aurora.
• 2:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he's a former Clemson Tiger.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Was drafted same year as Mason Smith, 2024.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was taken 35th overall.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mason Smith was taken 48th overall.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: So two players selected in a very similar draft range, right?
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: pretty interesting situation.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll tell you this.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was much higher on Rook Aurora, coming out of Clemson in 2024, then I was on Mason Smith.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is a tadbit older than Mason Smith.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mason Smith, Mason Smith is 23.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Rook Aurora is 24, but this is a player who fits more in a specific role.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: In my opinion,
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: then Mason Smith did.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that based on what you saw from Rook in 2025, where he actually had 599 reps for the Falcons on defense.
• 3:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was a full-time player for the Falcons on defense.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, there's a rotation on the defensive line.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not every defensive line is going to get 800 snaps, right?
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: But like a full-time player basically a starter for the Falcons.
• 3:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So this is someone at six foot four, 295 pounds who I think the Jaguars have a vision for.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think they were lacking a little bit of a vision for what was gonna happen with Mason Smith.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just don't think they believed he was developing the way they had hoped.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he was not put in the best situation, right?
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And maybe he needed to grow up a little bit as well, but Rooker or a player who is an unbelievable athlete.
• 4:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the Combine, Rook was really impressive.
• 4:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Six foot four, 294 pounds, 34 inch arms, 78th percentile.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: 10 in chance, 54th percentile.
• 4:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: 10 yard split, which that's really what's more important for a defensive lineman than a 40 yard dash.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: 10 yard split of 1.67 seconds, 89th percentile.
• 4:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now the Jaguars, they track on field data.
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: So when they're going to make this trade,
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're tracking the next gen stats data that comes from the shoulder pads.
• 4:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's how they're tracking the movement skills of a player, especially a veteran player who's been in the NFL for multiple years.
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're using that tracking data versus valuing what he did on the field or on a,
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: combine field, what he was able to do there.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think what he did at the combine shows up in the on field, on field, kind of tracking as well.
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So again, 1, 6, 7, 10 yards split, 89th percentile, 4, 8, 9, 40 yard dash at 294 pounds, 88th percentile.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: vertical jump, 32 inches, 79th percentile, broad jump, 116 inches, 90 fifth percentile, bench press with 34 inch arms, long arms, 29, 64th percentile.
• 5:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the reason that's impressive is it's difficult for guys with long arms to compete on the bench press with guys with shorter arms, cause it's just more difficult to get that bar up.
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so,
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: 29 reps for him was really impressive.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was legitimately awesome at the combine.
• 6:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, the one thing you can say is he's not a huge guy, but again, I think you're talking about envisioning a role for Rook Aurora here.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And look, I haven't been able to go grind the tape yet.
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: On Rook, we will certainly do that, moving forward and that's very exciting.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But 30 pressures on 390 pass rush reps.
• 6:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not groundbreaking, it's not anything insane, but do they see a vision here for how they can continue to develop and unlock this skill set of this player?
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think so.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I also don't think they're making this trade without feeling that Rook has Jaguar's DNA without feeling that he's a fit for them from a personality and work ethic standpoint.
• 6:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm very excited to see what he ends up bringing to the Jaguars.
• 7:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously with Mason Smith, it was a deal where, at the time of the draft, we said in our I said,
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is a swing.
• 7:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: If he ends up hitting, he could perform like a first round pick.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: If things kind of go the way they've gone the last few years and obviously he dealt with the ACL injury, trying to get back from that, then it might end up looking like a major whiff.
• 7:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't work out for the Jaguars.
• 7:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he did net them.
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: A player that went 13 picks earlier in Rook Aurora row.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: A player that, again, the new regime in Atlanta decided they were fine with moving on from him and exchange for Mason Smith.
• 7:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: They just see these fits a little bit differently.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Clearly, I think Rook Aurora, learning from Eric Armstead.
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Coming in and serving that role is an exciting move for the Jaguars.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really do.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when you talk about creating pressure, this is someone who will create more pressure from the big app, you know, that same spot.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then anybody they had outside of Eric Armstrong.
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what I see.
• 8:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's exciting.
• 8:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there's an upward trajectory to look at.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Didn't get much reps at all as a rookie in 2024, only 147 snaps on defense, and 2025 again, 599 snaps, the PFF grades, not very impressive.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not somebody who really values PFF grades at ton.
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So again, I'm excited to go look at the tape and see what he was really doing out there.
• 8:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: From a consistency standpoint,
• 8:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: fired up for it.
• 8:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: This this is a move out of in much happier in the 2024 draft for the Jaguars ended up with group or over.
• 8:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mason Smith, and I know a lot of people are going to struggle with that name, but it's Rook or Roro, Rook or Roro.
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a little bit of a tongue twister, no doubt about it.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Excited to see what he can do here in Jacksonville.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of confidence in what James Gladstone, Liam Cohen, the entire building has going on there, and from a cap standpoint, this should be
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Straight up, like they were both second round picks.
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It shouldn't really have any impact, capitalize on what the Jaguars have going on because they're both pretty much have a locked-in contract.
• 9:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: He will be under contract though for the next two years.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know that this will have any impact on what the Jaguars do in the draft.
• 9:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: it might it might not remains to be seen.
• 9:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Rook Aurora, joins the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• 9:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mason Smith, wish him the best.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Over in Atlanta, hopefully he's able to kind of get his career back on track.
• 9:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's a very physically gifted player.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, that's where we're at.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Really appreciate y'all tuning in.
• 9:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoy the content, please like and subscribe.
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all have a good one.