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From the Combine: Cameron Wolfe on retaining talent & state of the AFC South · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

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  Speaker 1: From the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. JP Shadrick with
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  Speaker 1: Cameron Wolf of NFL Network covers the Jaguars quite a
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  Speaker 1: bit from South Florida, but makes his way through the
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  Speaker 1: AFC South as well. And here we are in an
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  Speaker 1: offseason that has not quite been normal for the Jaguars
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  Speaker 1: over recent history, right, I mean a playoff run, up
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  Speaker 1: against the cap and players you want to bring back
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  Speaker 1: around going into free agency. This is a good place
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  Speaker 1: to be. Absolutely, don't have to worry about the number
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  Speaker 1: one overall pick, no coaching thirts. Instead, you're talking about
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  Speaker 1: what's the next step from what was already a good year,
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  Speaker 1: and so talking about talking to people here at the combine,
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot of excitement about where the Jags can
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  Speaker 1: go next week. Saw that playoff run where you get
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  Speaker 1: that twenty seven point come back, You saw how they
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  Speaker 1: ended at the end of the season. Those are experienced
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  Speaker 1: reps that help a team as they move forward, and
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  Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of confidence throughout the league
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  Speaker 1: and what Doug Peterson and Trevor Lawrence are building going forward.
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  Speaker 1: They had their franchise quarterback. Now it's more about retain
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  Speaker 1: your pieces after an off season, really several off seasons
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  Speaker 1: where they built built where the free agency or through
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  Speaker 1: the draft. Now it's bring back our core, add a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more and see if we can go a
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  Speaker 1: little bit further now that we have some reps. It
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  Speaker 1: was interesting how Doug Peterson when he first started there,
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  Speaker 1: his first stated goal was to earn the trust back
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  Speaker 1: of the players of the organization. It felt like as
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  Speaker 1: the summer went along and into training camp that had
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  Speaker 1: kind of built. But you really saw that when this
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  Speaker 1: team didn't win a game in October and they were
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  Speaker 1: still in the games and believed in the process and
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  Speaker 1: didn't pack up and go to Cancoon. We got half
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  Speaker 1: a season left, they started winning the football game. So
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  Speaker 1: that consistent messaging from Doug was huge in year one.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think it's going to change at all. That's
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  Speaker 1: what Doug is, right, He's a consistent messaging head coach.
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  Speaker 1: He understands that what he says really matters. Yeah, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know that there's a lot of teams that would
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  Speaker 1: have been able to respond after that run. A lot
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  Speaker 1: of times your players check out, it's like, hey, not
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  Speaker 1: our year. Hey it is what it is. We'll give
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  Speaker 1: it better to luck next year. But I don't know
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  Speaker 1: whether you call it the Raiders game. To me, it
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  Speaker 1: was the Ravens game. I was at that game where
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  Speaker 1: you saw them win that fourth quarter comeback for the
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  Speaker 1: first time, and then it became a routine for them.
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  Speaker 1: But you saw them, you saw Trevor, and you're like, wow,
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  Speaker 1: this team did it against a playoff team and what's next.
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  Speaker 1: And every time what's next came and it was a
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  Speaker 1: little bit bigger, and they gained confidence. You could literally
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  Speaker 1: see it their gain confidence throughout the season. And you
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  Speaker 1: mentioned Doug Peterson, like, I think one of the first
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  Speaker 1: things that stood out to me I was there in
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  Speaker 1: training camp. Guys are happier. You know, it's a drastic
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  Speaker 1: difference than what they had previously with Urban, And you know,
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  Speaker 1: Doug brings the calming presence that this team really needed,
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  Speaker 1: and so I think it's a great balance between him
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  Speaker 1: and Trevor. I think this team has a young core
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  Speaker 1: and they really started to establish themselves and who they were.
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  Speaker 1: They're not gonna a lot of people look at the
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  Speaker 1: Jags as a certain certain brand of football, a certain team.
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  Speaker 1: I think they started redefining how people look when they
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  Speaker 1: saw the Jags on the schedule. It's no longer hey,
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  Speaker 1: we got an easy win. It's like, oh man, we
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  Speaker 1: got the Jags. His team is never gonna give up,
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  Speaker 1: and so I'm excited about what's next for this team,
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  Speaker 1: you know, talking with you know, I spent some time
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  Speaker 1: with Trevor in the Pro Bowl, and it's funny seeing
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  Speaker 1: how guys gravitate to you after you have some success.
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  Speaker 1: You know, stars in the league coming up to him,
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  Speaker 1: giving him handshakes, talking to him. There's always the recruiting
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  Speaker 1: that goes on there. And I think the way he
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  Speaker 1: had successed, the way the team has success, now you
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  Speaker 1: start to have more players who want to come play here,
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  Speaker 1: which I think it's been a long time since you
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  Speaker 1: can say that it's been a while. Cameron Wolf with
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  Speaker 1: us from NFL Network, and that leads us to the quarterback.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, he has that mindset to handle, certainly the adversity.
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  Speaker 1: We saw that in his rookie season. He was the
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  Speaker 1: guy that had to go up there on the podium
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  Speaker 1: every week and answer questions about everything that was going on.
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  Speaker 1: And then you can also handle the prosperity to go
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  Speaker 1: with that, and you know, he's just a guy from Cartersville, Georgia. Still,
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  Speaker 1: you know, but he still can be a superstar in
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  Speaker 1: the league. He has all that mixed in together and
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  Speaker 1: that and then you put the leadership ability on top
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  Speaker 1: of it and not turning the ball over. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: the guy can be in the small marketplace a superstar
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  Speaker 1: in the NFL. It's already growing and trending in that direction. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think that he could be a top five quarterback
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  Speaker 1: in this league. I don't think that I say that
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  Speaker 1: with out any hesitation. I think when you talk about
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  Speaker 1: the ac quarterbacks like Mahomes and Burrow and Herbert and Alan,
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  Speaker 1: there's no reason why Lawrence isn't right there with them.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that, you know, you do it another year.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's when you start to get your name
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  Speaker 1: in that category. But on the field, he showed he
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  Speaker 1: can be that player. And I remember about mid second
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  Speaker 1: half of the season. I had a conversation with Press
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  Speaker 1: Taylor and he said it was about week eight, week
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  Speaker 1: and nine where he just felt like things clicked for Lawrence.
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  Speaker 1: He was like, the reality of it is, you got
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  Speaker 1: a guy who's a five star quarterback. He's been the
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  Speaker 1: most talented guy on the field and you try to
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  Speaker 1: convince him to be in a quarterback friendly system. And
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  Speaker 1: maybe it didn't always like immediately Gael, but at some
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  Speaker 1: point he took over. He embraced the system, and he
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  Speaker 1: really took ownership of the team. And you can see
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  Speaker 1: it the way he changed plays at the line of scrimmage,
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  Speaker 1: the way that he rallied his players and the receivers,
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  Speaker 1: and like some of the receivers, like christ and Kirk
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  Speaker 1: told me in the locker room one time, just kind
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  Speaker 1: of the real heart to heart conversations they would have
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  Speaker 1: with themselves where Lawrence would take responsibility for stuff that
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  Speaker 1: wasn't his responsibility. And that's the first step as a
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  Speaker 1: quarterback of leadership. Your players respect that. And I think
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  Speaker 1: that that element is what Trevor Lawrence next step of
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  Speaker 1: him is this year was proving probably to himself and
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  Speaker 1: probably to everyone else, that hey, he is that guy
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  Speaker 1: the Jaguars drafted. Next step is the confidence the leadership
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  Speaker 1: of not only am I that guy, I'm the guy
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  Speaker 1: to lead you guys to things you've never never seen here.
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  Speaker 1: And so I don't think that they're scared of what's
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  Speaker 1: gonna come this year, because I'm gonna tell you they're
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  Speaker 1: gonna be the favorites in the AFC South. They're gonna
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  Speaker 1: be the team that everybody's talking about. What are they
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  Speaker 1: gonna do? Can they take that next step from winning
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  Speaker 1: a playoff game? And that's a scary spot. Expectations are
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  Speaker 1: a scary thing, and I hit manage. But with Doug
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  Speaker 1: Peterson and Trevor Lawrence there, I don't think that they're
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  Speaker 1: going to be afraid of that challenge. Expectations were the
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  Speaker 1: first place schedule to go with that too. Things that
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  Speaker 1: get a little tough are always tough in the NFL.
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  Speaker 1: Cameron Wolf with us, all right, So let's get to
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  Speaker 1: the business now a little bit of this offseason. And
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  Speaker 1: we heard Trent Balky the other day at the podium
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  Speaker 1: say they spoke with Jowan Taylor's representation here in Indianapolis.
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  Speaker 1: It feels like that's the tougher of the Taylor versus
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  Speaker 1: Ingram free agent resigning. It sounds like Ingram's trending the
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  Speaker 1: right direction. Always has been both sides kind of want it.
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  Speaker 1: That usually gets done. But the Juwan Taylor things tough
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  Speaker 1: because he had he had his best season. It was
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  Speaker 1: a contract year. Super consistent guys never really missed a game,
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  Speaker 1: never really missed a play, I think until later in
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  Speaker 1: the season when when you know Walker Little had to
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  Speaker 1: play half the game at right tackle. Anyway, they love
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  Speaker 1: to have him back, but how do they get him back.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if they can get it back. Probably
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  Speaker 1: everybody needs offensive tackles, and his agent knows that everybody
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  Speaker 1: needs offensive tackles, and because of that, there's probably a
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  Speaker 1: desire to see what the market truly holds. That's why
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  Speaker 1: this endie period of free agency goes on. I know
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  Speaker 1: it's technically not legal, but there are conversations about, Ay,
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  Speaker 1: what do you think it would cost? Let's say if
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  Speaker 1: Jawan Taylor hit free agency, and so there's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of those conversations that will happen and they get to
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  Speaker 1: realize their value. You heard Trent Balky talk about the
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  Speaker 1: win win. I'm sure there's a number of the Jags
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  Speaker 1: feel comfortable with. Clearly they don't feel the same number
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  Speaker 1: right now or a deal would be done. And so
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  Speaker 1: do they get to that number? Do you let do
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  Speaker 1: you let them walk? I mean, it's it's an interesting
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  Speaker 1: conversation with Juwan because you have Walker a Little there,
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  Speaker 1: but you know, you always need multiple tackles more than
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  Speaker 1: two often in this league. Are you comfortable Walker taking
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  Speaker 1: on all this responsibility now in a full time role
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  Speaker 1: with nothing to kind of fall back on, And so
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  Speaker 1: I think that's how they have to balance it. And
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  Speaker 1: this year, unlike previous years, there's not an endless amount
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  Speaker 1: of cap space. You have to be a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more judicious and what you what you make decision wise.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm sure there's a break number where hey, this
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  Speaker 1: is the highest we're willing to go. And Evan Ingram's
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  Speaker 1: contract is going to have a factor in that as well.
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  Speaker 1: I know, um Trent Balky told me he's gonna be
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  Speaker 1: a Jaguar in twenty twenty three. Evan Ingram. It's just
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  Speaker 1: the method, right, because if you can't get a long
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  Speaker 1: term deal done, you have to use the franchise tag
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  Speaker 1: at least temporarily, and then that's a that's not an
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  Speaker 1: option for Juan Taylor. And so these are these are
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  Speaker 1: things that all kind of come into the balance of
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  Speaker 1: this um. Another element that probably people aren't talking about
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  Speaker 1: is the offense became a lot more of a quick
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  Speaker 1: strike offense the second half of the season. One of
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  Speaker 1: the fastest offenses in the league as far as getting
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  Speaker 1: the ball out of their hand. Doug Peterson, the scheme
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  Speaker 1: it really helps the offensive line. And so because of that,
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  Speaker 1: do you spend more resources on weapons and focusing on
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  Speaker 1: um surrounding Trevor with those and say, hey, maybe we'd
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  Speaker 1: take a little bit more of the younger route on
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  Speaker 1: the offensive line. And there's other positions you got to
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  Speaker 1: figure out too, you know, the guard position as well,
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  Speaker 1: And so these are hard questions. These are the things
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  Speaker 1: that you know, they get paid the big bucks to do.
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  Speaker 1: But I think it's a lot better for Jaguars fans
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  Speaker 1: to have these decisions versus, you know, rebuilding a whole
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  Speaker 1: roster well, which other teams in the division are really
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  Speaker 1: having to do right now. Cameron Wolf is with us
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  Speaker 1: from NFL Network. Let's let's go down to Houston. New
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  Speaker 1: head coach. We heard Demiko Ryan's speaking earlier this week
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  Speaker 1: at the combine and of course an Indie. They've had
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  Speaker 1: a coaching change again. They've got to figure out the
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  Speaker 1: quarterback spot. We've heard that before, and then in Tennessee
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  Speaker 1: the running backs not getting any younger, and the GM
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  Speaker 1: said they don't really want to build it around one player. Well,
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  Speaker 1: They've been doing that for a while in Tennessee. So
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  Speaker 1: those other three teams have much bigger fish to fry,
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  Speaker 1: I think than the Jaguars right now. It can turn quickly.
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  Speaker 1: You can also, you know, not play up to expectations
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  Speaker 1: and things can get weird. But it is set up
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  Speaker 1: for this Jaguars team to dominate this division, at least,
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  Speaker 1: not dominate that's too strong words the NFL, but control
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  Speaker 1: things in the AFC South for the foreseeable future. Absolutely,
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  Speaker 1: it's interesting to hear, but the Jaguars are by far
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  Speaker 1: the most stable team in that division, the only team
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  Speaker 1: that has a true franchise quarterback at that point. And
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  Speaker 1: we know this league's a quarterback driven league, and so
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  Speaker 1: from that point there are already multiple steps ahead of
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  Speaker 1: everybody else in the division. But now you become the chase,
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  Speaker 1: and so everybody's building their team of how do we
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  Speaker 1: get past the Jags? And so this is going to
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  Speaker 1: be an interesting offseason to see which of the teams
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  Speaker 1: make that push, particularly at the quarterback position, to try
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  Speaker 1: to narrow that gap. Houston's got the number two pick,
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  Speaker 1: and so are they a team that makes a splash
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  Speaker 1: for one of the top quarterbacks that's what we expect
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  Speaker 1: at this point. How can he transition? You know they're behind,
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  Speaker 1: but they're also a team that has two first round picks, Namiko,
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  Speaker 1: Ryan's a coach that has a lot of respect throughout
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  Speaker 1: the league, and so that's a team that's going to
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: be nipping up your ankle soon. And to then see'st
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  Speaker 1: at an interesting midpoint because they had been the Kings
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  Speaker 1: of the division and now they're in a position or
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  Speaker 1: is Ryan Tannehill gonna be there long term? Is it
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  Speaker 1: just this year or is it not at all? And
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  Speaker 1: new GM there, so they're gonna have a new style
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  Speaker 1: of player they're gonna want there. They have always been tough,
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  Speaker 1: but do they take that step back to take the
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  Speaker 1: step four? That's something to watch there. And then when
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  Speaker 1: you talk about Indy, they have gone through the quarterback
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  Speaker 1: carousel five or six years in a row, and so
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  Speaker 1: they've got to figure it out four number four pick.
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  Speaker 1: I think there will be another team that's gonna be
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  Speaker 1: aggressive and finding that quarterback. And so I think you're
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  Speaker 1: looking at Houston with a new quarterback. I think you're
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: looking at You're looking at Indianapolis with a new quarterback.
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  Speaker 1: At the very least, and so those rookies are the
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  Speaker 1: players that they have to grow into. But at the
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  Speaker 1: same time, Trevor and the Jags have an advantage because
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  Speaker 1: they have your three guy who's already been battle tests,
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  Speaker 1: already been in playoff games, and you feel like you
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  Speaker 1: have a step up. But at the same time, like
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  Speaker 1: you said, it's the NFL. You can't get comfortable, not
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  Speaker 1: at all. What's your duties the rest of the week here.
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  Speaker 1: So for me, I am going to get a nap.
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  Speaker 1: It's been a long week they combine. For people who
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  Speaker 1: don't know, it's just an endless circle of just being
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: out and talking to people, whether it's in these conference calls,
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  Speaker 1: whether it's on TV, or whether it's at some restaurant
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  Speaker 1: or bar late at night. And so I need to
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  Speaker 1: get my nap in, and so I've got I've got
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a gap in my schedule or
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  Speaker 1: some dinner and then talking some more free agency and
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: draft with people tonight. So that is that is my schedule.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be back here tomorrow, talk some TV of some
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  Speaker 1: NFL teams and some prospects, and go home on Friday.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for the time. We do great work. Sleep well,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: we'll see you, we'll do appreciate you, my man.