Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags Broadcast Week in Review: March 19

Transcript

Jags Broadcast Week in Review: March 19 · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:06
Speaker 1: Welcome into the Jaguars Broadcast Weekend review podcasts presented by
0:10
Speaker 1: t I A. A. Bank J P. Shadrick with you
0:12
Speaker 1: Today is Friday, March nineteenth, and a different feel on
0:16
Speaker 1: this week's podcast. It's an early Bird Jaguars Reporters podcast.
0:21
Speaker 1: Ashlan Sullivan, John Ozan, and Brian Sexton joined me this
0:24
Speaker 1: week and we'll wrap up a busy opening of the
0:26
Speaker 1: NFL league year. Will review Urban Myers comments from Friday morning.
0:31
Speaker 1: The Jags head coach spoke to the media. Plus our
0:34
Speaker 1: focus today defensive players added in free agency. A few
0:39
Speaker 1: of them have been in the building this week. Remember
0:42
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the Jaguars Official podcast network. It's available
0:45
Speaker 1: on Apple, iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:49
Speaker 1: Give us a comment and leave a five star rating.
0:51
Speaker 1: Welcome in the entire crew and Ashland. You know, let's
0:55
Speaker 1: start here because you've had one on one interaction with
0:58
Speaker 1: all the guys that have been in the building this week.
1:01
Speaker 1: And we'll get into those guys in here from Urban
1:04
Speaker 1: coming up a little bit. But it seems like these
1:06
Speaker 1: guys are focused and ready to go to work. Yeah,
1:09
Speaker 1: it was interesting. I we had like kind of generic questions,
1:12
Speaker 1: and then we asked a lot about them, but they
1:13
Speaker 1: all said in their own way that the reason they
1:16
Speaker 1: came to Jacksonville was one the fresh start, to kind
1:19
Speaker 1: of start from the bottom and build this thing up
1:21
Speaker 1: into the optimism, optimism around this team. They all said,
1:25
Speaker 1: whatever city they were at, they felt it coming and
1:29
Speaker 1: they saw all these people started talking about the Jaguars
1:32
Speaker 1: and it was interesting to them, you know, starting to
1:34
Speaker 1: take a hard look at this team. So it was funny.
1:37
Speaker 1: I didn't ask really any of them. They all said
1:39
Speaker 1: this on their own that the fresh start and the
1:41
Speaker 1: optimism was something they wanted to be a part of,
1:44
Speaker 1: no doubt. And John, it's it's a lot of new
1:46
Speaker 1: faces around here. We'll get to some of them coming up.
1:48
Speaker 1: But there was clearly a focus for the organization on
1:52
Speaker 1: getting certain spots solidified so they don't have to be
1:57
Speaker 1: forced into a move later. The goal pretty much team
2:00
Speaker 1: in the NFL is to go into the draft without
2:02
Speaker 1: having the draft for need. That is always probably one
2:05
Speaker 1: free agency for every team. But what struck you is
2:08
Speaker 1: I get that everybody thought it was going to be
2:10
Speaker 1: splash free agency for the Jaguars. It really showed you
2:12
Speaker 1: that they looked at this roster and said, there are
2:15
Speaker 1: spots that we have to get done. And I said
2:20
Speaker 1: a couple of times on different shows of it. On
2:21
Speaker 1: this week, they clearly, to me didn't want a repeat
2:25
Speaker 1: of two thousand thirteen. I don't think they're thinking about
2:27
Speaker 1: two thirteen. Remember how young this team was that year
2:31
Speaker 1: when they last time there was a rebuild. There were
2:34
Speaker 1: too many young, inexperienced rookies playing, and that prevents other
2:38
Speaker 1: When there's youth at one spot, it hurts other spot.
2:41
Speaker 1: This felt to me like, let's get experience everywhere. Let's
2:44
Speaker 1: get experience that can play, and then we'll look forward
2:47
Speaker 1: as we go along to making moves as we needed
2:49
Speaker 1: in future years. But this was about getting the roster
2:51
Speaker 1: where they could line up next year. Bryan, it's a
2:53
Speaker 1: grown man's game, and grown men, especially grown men in
2:56
Speaker 1: the trenches, are important. Yeah, you're exactly right. And John
3:00
Speaker 1: touched on it. They didn't want to be too young there.
3:01
Speaker 1: They were looking for guys that could not just line
3:04
Speaker 1: up and play, but could make them better. And that's
3:07
Speaker 1: really the interesting part here. Their approach was I don't
3:10
Speaker 1: wanta say mid level guys, but guys like um, like
3:13
Speaker 1: the safety from Los Angeles Rashaan, who not a lot
3:17
Speaker 1: of people knew but wasn't ascending player coming into his
3:21
Speaker 1: own I mean, Urban said this morning when we talked
3:23
Speaker 1: to him that it was about finding value. That was
3:26
Speaker 1: the key takeaway from his news conferences that they found
3:29
Speaker 1: value and there were a lot of guys, whether you're
3:31
Speaker 1: talking about jahad Ward or Roy Robertson Harris, they brought
3:38
Speaker 1: in a lot of players who make them better, who
3:41
Speaker 1: give them guys that they can count on, and who
3:44
Speaker 1: make this roster better. And you know, we've seen it
3:46
Speaker 1: over the years, you know, swinging for the fences and
3:48
Speaker 1: bringing in the big dollar guys. It's rarely paid off
3:51
Speaker 1: for the Jaguarrison. So I think this approach is fresh
3:54
Speaker 1: and it has, at least in my opinion, it has
3:57
Speaker 1: given them a real boost across the roster. Reference the
4:00
Speaker 1: Urban Meyer press conference from Friday. Let's hear from the
4:04
Speaker 1: Jaguars head coach answering some free agency questions. He's used
4:09
Speaker 1: to getting every recruit that's on their recruiting board at Florida,
4:13
Speaker 1: Ohio State. A little different in the NFL in free agency. Yeah,
4:17
Speaker 1: I remember it is I see that. I said, go
4:19
Speaker 1: get him. I want that guy, you know, go get him.
4:22
Speaker 1: In recruiting, we would have a recruiting meeting and identify
4:24
Speaker 1: the best players, say go get him. Then all of
4:26
Speaker 1: a sudden, I started finding out this guy cost twenty
4:28
Speaker 1: eight million dollars. This guy cost and it was a
4:32
Speaker 1: really I knew it to say I didn't know it.
4:34
Speaker 1: Of course I knew it, but just the way you
4:37
Speaker 1: put that puzzle together about here's your here's your cap space,
4:41
Speaker 1: here's your choices. Can we take him? But we get
4:43
Speaker 1: three of these guys to help. And so I imagine,
4:46
Speaker 1: once you build your roster exactly the way you want it,
4:48
Speaker 1: then you can take one guy and go get that,
4:52
Speaker 1: you know, the million dollar athlete. Uh we weren't. Were
4:56
Speaker 1: not positioned to do that right now, you know, we're
4:58
Speaker 1: just not. So it was a learning experience. I feel
5:01
Speaker 1: great about it. As he said there, I mean, he
5:03
Speaker 1: had an idea of what this would feel like, Ashland,
5:06
Speaker 1: but then you have to go through it and realize,
5:08
Speaker 1: oh wait a minute, yeah, million out the doors a
5:11
Speaker 1: little different. Yeah. It was funny that I appreciated how
5:14
Speaker 1: honest he was about this whole process, that oh wait,
5:17
Speaker 1: this this wall, it does end at some point, and
5:20
Speaker 1: he kept saying value, and I think that's Trent Bulky
5:22
Speaker 1: and his ear preaching that need over value, and really
5:26
Speaker 1: you never had to do that before you could get
5:27
Speaker 1: whoever you wanted. In the NFL works a little differently,
5:29
Speaker 1: So I thought it was very candid, Brian, that coach
5:33
Speaker 1: Meyer was respectful enough to know that this is different
5:36
Speaker 1: and he acknowledged that well. I thought it was so
5:38
Speaker 1: interesting that he was talking essentially about paying players, which
5:42
Speaker 1: for years has been the accusation in college athletics, and
5:45
Speaker 1: here he is standing there making the statement, Yeah, it's
5:48
Speaker 1: about the checkboard. It's about the check that you pay
5:51
Speaker 1: these guys, and and people kept talking about all the
5:53
Speaker 1: different reasons that these players would sign here, and Coach
5:56
Speaker 1: Meyer brought all of that bear and explained all of
5:59
Speaker 1: the different aspect of it. But in the end he said,
6:02
Speaker 1: it comes down to will you write the check? Can
6:04
Speaker 1: you find a number that fits your salary structure? And
6:08
Speaker 1: the players happiness quotient right that you know, fits their
6:12
Speaker 1: need what they believe their value is. And he just
6:15
Speaker 1: kept saying it over and over it comes back the money, which,
6:17
Speaker 1: again for a coach whose career was made Hall of
6:20
Speaker 1: fame college career to stand there and say that it
6:24
Speaker 1: was just an interesting contrast from from where he's been.
6:27
Speaker 1: To sort of build on that point, he actually said,
6:30
Speaker 1: I think somebody asked him at the end of the conference,
6:32
Speaker 1: did you recruit? Were you ready with recruiting? And so
6:35
Speaker 1: I was ready, but it really never came to that.
6:37
Speaker 1: Everybody knows who Urban Meyer is, they know the name,
6:41
Speaker 1: and they see the TV guy. I've been really impressed
6:45
Speaker 1: in the video conferences we've we've had with him about
6:48
Speaker 1: how candid and honest he is. He was very honest
6:51
Speaker 1: and saying I was ready to recruit, but it really
6:53
Speaker 1: doesn't come down to that. It comes down to the money.
6:55
Speaker 1: And I thought that was fascinating hear from him today. Yeah,
6:59
Speaker 1: I want to just build on that quick JP. I
7:01
Speaker 1: had an impression of a college coach when he came here,
7:04
Speaker 1: a guy who had been intimately involved in college football,
7:07
Speaker 1: and college coaches tend to have more control because you're
7:11
Speaker 1: dealing with younger men. So I think I anticipated when
7:13
Speaker 1: he came in that he would be more guarded, that
7:15
Speaker 1: he would be more control focused when he was standing
7:18
Speaker 1: in front of the camera. I have been amazed at
7:21
Speaker 1: how transparent and honest and forthcoming he is, and I
7:25
Speaker 1: think that speaks to his comfort level. You know, he
7:28
Speaker 1: understands there's things he's got to learn, and he says
7:30
Speaker 1: that he understands that he's got a vision. He explains that, UM,
7:34
Speaker 1: any notion that I had about college coach is gone.
7:38
Speaker 1: This is a guy who's come in with an idea.
7:40
Speaker 1: He's a football coach with a specific way he wants
7:43
Speaker 1: to build a program. UM and I am very interested
7:46
Speaker 1: excited about the way that he's interacted with all of us.
7:49
Speaker 1: Let's hear again from urban Meyer and one of the
7:52
Speaker 1: biggest priorities for his team and for Trent Vaulky and
7:56
Speaker 1: free agency beefing up that defensive line and where they're
8:00
Speaker 1: trying to get things back on track up front. On defense,
8:04
Speaker 1: the number one need, and the regardless of the staff said,
8:07
Speaker 1: the number one need to me is always going to
8:09
Speaker 1: be build your defensive front. I expect our defense line
8:12
Speaker 1: always be the top fourth in in in college. I
8:14
Speaker 1: expected to be the top five in America in the NFL.
8:18
Speaker 1: I've told our staff I expected to be the top
8:20
Speaker 1: fourth at least now, and we should keep elevating that
8:23
Speaker 1: top fourth in the league, and we felt it wasn't
8:26
Speaker 1: There were some good pieces in place, and we attacked
8:29
Speaker 1: it and very excited about the for defensive alignement, and
8:33
Speaker 1: so that was the place we built. I believe we're
8:35
Speaker 1: going to be in the top fourth in the league
8:37
Speaker 1: on the defensive line. So they have it. They want
8:39
Speaker 1: to be a top eight defensive line. Ryan, I'll start
8:42
Speaker 1: with you here, what does that mean? How do you
8:45
Speaker 1: qualify that? Well, the first thing is jp they've got
8:48
Speaker 1: to get better at stopping to run. Since Marcel Darius
8:51
Speaker 1: left the field in November of twenty nineteen, this football
8:56
Speaker 1: team has been unable to stop the run. And so
8:58
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter that you've had ass rushers, you know,
9:01
Speaker 1: high end pass rushers like Unique and got Way and
9:03
Speaker 1: Josh Allen. You haven't been able to get teams off
9:06
Speaker 1: the field. And Malcolm Brown talked about that and Roy
9:10
Speaker 1: Robertson Harris mentioned that as well. They've got to stop
9:14
Speaker 1: the run. And so if they can do that, and
9:17
Speaker 1: you bring in a guy like Malcolm Brown, Now this
9:18
Speaker 1: is the guy who was a former first round pick.
9:20
Speaker 1: He's a big wide body. I assume you'll pair him
9:23
Speaker 1: with Taven Brian at the nose because I think this
9:26
Speaker 1: really fits the one thing Brian has shown he can do,
9:28
Speaker 1: and that is, you know, hold the line, stay the
9:31
Speaker 1: point um, which is not a rein endorsement with Tavin Brian,
9:35
Speaker 1: but you've got you've got some big bodies there. You've
9:39
Speaker 1: got a rotation of some guys that played different roles. Um.
9:43
Speaker 1: I thought it was telling. I asked you hod Ward
9:45
Speaker 1: about his role today and he said, I'm just gonna
9:47
Speaker 1: be me. It doesn't sound as if he says, well,
9:49
Speaker 1: I'm here to stop the run or I'm here to
9:51
Speaker 1: rush the pass her. But you know that if they
9:53
Speaker 1: can't stop the run, they can't become a top eight
9:56
Speaker 1: defense Priorty number one. John upfront after the cool back.
10:01
Speaker 1: Actually I laughed. He said his role is going to
10:04
Speaker 1: be to be jahad Ward. I said, well, he ought
10:06
Speaker 1: to be able to do that. I mean, yeah, that's
10:07
Speaker 1: something so uh, I expect Von Hamilton's to be sharing
10:13
Speaker 1: time with Malcolm Brown. But no matter who it is,
10:16
Speaker 1: you can't have watched this team in the last two
10:19
Speaker 1: or three years and not know that stopping the run
10:22
Speaker 1: was the major thing they came in. Saw it immediately.
10:25
Speaker 1: If there has been a theme for the first three
10:28
Speaker 1: or four days of the league year. It has been
10:30
Speaker 1: that Urban knows they had to build it from that
10:32
Speaker 1: way back. That's what they did. I think Tyson Alo
10:36
Speaker 1: is a huge part of that as well. If they
10:39
Speaker 1: can stop the run all of a sudden, the pieces
10:42
Speaker 1: they have behind it, JP, I think you and I
10:44
Speaker 1: talked about it. If they get the run stop, then
10:47
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, Josh Allen, d J Henderson, Griffin,
10:51
Speaker 1: Chason Miles, Jack I just lifted guys Ashley that can
10:55
Speaker 1: all make play, but they couldn't make him last year
10:58
Speaker 1: because they couldn't get the run stop. If you get
11:01
Speaker 1: the run stop, all those guys in the back that
11:03
Speaker 1: we talked about, well, all of a sudden be a
11:04
Speaker 1: lot better than they were last year. Yeah, you can
11:07
Speaker 1: let them loose and just play freely enough to worry about.
11:09
Speaker 1: One thing I will say is when Coach Meyer said
11:11
Speaker 1: this morning, what is impression of the defensive line was
11:14
Speaker 1: gonna be, and he said they're gonna be big, big guys.
11:18
Speaker 1: I can attest to that. These guys walking into this
11:20
Speaker 1: room today and yesterday, especially Malcolm Brown, these are big guys.
11:25
Speaker 1: I mean, he's definitely trying to take up space on
11:26
Speaker 1: the defensive line, and it is very clear that was
11:29
Speaker 1: the priority of this week was getting that figured out.
11:32
Speaker 1: I know on our Reporters podcast on Monday, we were
11:35
Speaker 1: a little hesitant about the defensive line. We all had
11:37
Speaker 1: question marks around it, said you had to fix it.
11:40
Speaker 1: Here on a Friday, I'm feeling pretty good about it
11:43
Speaker 1: with all the pieces that they plugged in. I was
11:45
Speaker 1: gonna build on one thing, one real quick thing, and
11:47
Speaker 1: and John touched on how if you stop the run,
11:51
Speaker 1: you make all the players that he mentioned, Josh Allen
11:54
Speaker 1: and the players on the back end more efficient. You
11:56
Speaker 1: give them more opportunity to let go and play their way.
11:59
Speaker 1: But think about for a minute, if you have an offense,
12:02
Speaker 1: and we all expect this offense to really start to
12:04
Speaker 1: blossom here, Um, how much better is this defense with
12:09
Speaker 1: a consistent quarterback in an offense that creates opportunities. And
12:13
Speaker 1: I know we're talking defense today, but when you start
12:15
Speaker 1: to look at a defense that played from behind all
12:18
Speaker 1: year last year, that was another reason teams didn't have
12:20
Speaker 1: to stop running because they had to lead. They were
12:22
Speaker 1: trying to kill the clock. So there's a lot of
12:25
Speaker 1: different things hoses that are filling this pool right now
12:28
Speaker 1: um and one of them should be as we look
12:31
Speaker 1: at the defense, is how this offense will impact it.
12:34
Speaker 1: Final thought from urban Meyer for this podcast at least,
12:37
Speaker 1: and it's a position group that got the Twitter Jaguar
12:41
Speaker 1: folks up in arms early in the negotiation window because
12:45
Speaker 1: there were names going other places, including Jon O Smith
12:49
Speaker 1: and Hunter Henry, both of those to do England. We're
12:51
Speaker 1: talking about tight end, of course, urban Meyer explaining the
12:53
Speaker 1: addition that they made at that position and the status
12:57
Speaker 1: of the tight end room that was a high priority.
13:00
Speaker 1: We have two different style tight ends, you know. One
13:02
Speaker 1: is a Y which is an on the line basically
13:06
Speaker 1: an extension of your offense line. A very good blocker
13:08
Speaker 1: but also very functional. In the past game, we identified
13:12
Speaker 1: a guy had the top of list and that's Man Hurts,
13:15
Speaker 1: and we got him. I've not metting yet, he's coming
13:18
Speaker 1: in today, but that's we all are extremely excited about
13:21
Speaker 1: him and he was exactly what we wanted, and uh,
13:24
Speaker 1: we got him. The next one is the F and
13:27
Speaker 1: that's the you know, the primary past catcher but also
13:30
Speaker 1: a functional blocker. We have not addressed at Shaughnessy on
13:33
Speaker 1: her you know, two years ago. Shaughnessy had a very
13:36
Speaker 1: uh had a good year, had a lot of potential,
13:38
Speaker 1: obviously had an a c L injury. He's been in
13:41
Speaker 1: air training, he's I've got to know him, really enjoy
13:44
Speaker 1: being around him. So we're counting on him. But we
13:47
Speaker 1: have not finalized that piece of the puzzle yet. But
13:50
Speaker 1: the the why part is, I can't feel we all
13:54
Speaker 1: feel extremely strong about Man Hurts Man hurts his in.
13:57
Speaker 1: He was in the building on Friday as well. I
13:59
Speaker 1: think he was the only offensive player the first couple
14:01
Speaker 1: of days here that was in the building and available
14:05
Speaker 1: and looking forward to seeing what he can do in
14:07
Speaker 1: the run game blocking. He said he can catch on
14:09
Speaker 1: all that too. But he is here, and Urban Meyers
14:12
Speaker 1: said that as well. He's here mainly as an inline blocker.
14:15
Speaker 1: But John, they're still looking for a receiving threat down
14:17
Speaker 1: the field. Where do they find it? Well, I would
14:20
Speaker 1: expect that they may explore I don't know what tier
14:23
Speaker 1: you'd be in free agency at this point. You think
14:26
Speaker 1: they explore that uh zach Ertz thing. I believe it's
14:29
Speaker 1: still sitting out there, so you don't know about that.
14:31
Speaker 1: At some point, you can't get everything that you want
14:33
Speaker 1: every free agency period. You can't go after every high
14:36
Speaker 1: every high profile guy. Uh, the draft still exists, you know.
14:40
Speaker 1: I mean, we still haven't gotten to that point. Unless
14:42
Speaker 1: I missed it, they packed no players in the draft yet,
14:45
Speaker 1: so there's still a major, major talent acquisition period upcoming,
14:50
Speaker 1: you know. And I guess I don't worry about that
14:54
Speaker 1: position as much as a lot of people. I know
14:56
Speaker 1: this team needs it. I expect it to be one,
15:01
Speaker 1: if not to relatively high in the draft. They're gonna
15:04
Speaker 1: build that room and it's still to come. I was
15:08
Speaker 1: talking to Man Hurts, actually, he was our our last
15:10
Speaker 1: interview of the day, and he was saying, how the
15:12
Speaker 1: appreciation that Coach Meyer has for a blocking tight end.
15:15
Speaker 1: He says, a lot of times it's almost like looked
15:17
Speaker 1: down upon that you're the blocking tight end. But for
15:20
Speaker 1: Coach Meyer to hype that up this morning and Matt
15:22
Speaker 1: Rule actually called him the best blocking tight end in
15:25
Speaker 1: the NFL. To have those guys, you know, talk highly
15:29
Speaker 1: of him, he said, that means the world that Coach
15:31
Speaker 1: Meyer believes in this and realizes it's a very important
15:34
Speaker 1: part of the game. I mean it is. It's not
15:35
Speaker 1: the most sexy thing in the world, but you need
15:37
Speaker 1: a blocking tight end right now, you don't got one,
15:39
Speaker 1: that's right. And obviously this organization, Brian we've talked about
15:42
Speaker 1: this on shows before, has had that in the past.
15:45
Speaker 1: Here they haven't had that in a little while though,
15:48
Speaker 1: true superior blocking tight end. No, at these it's Marcedes.
15:52
Speaker 1: And before that they had Kyle Brady Um And you know,
15:55
Speaker 1: if if people remember Julius Thomas, I mean they swung
15:58
Speaker 1: for the fences and made him the highest aid tight
16:00
Speaker 1: end in football at the time, and and it was
16:04
Speaker 1: a flame out. He did nothing. Um had a couple
16:08
Speaker 1: of plays, but other than that, it didn't work. So
16:10
Speaker 1: Tyler Bowen is the new tight ends coach and he
16:13
Speaker 1: coached at Penn State. And the guy who most people
16:17
Speaker 1: think is the second tight end in this draft, uh
16:20
Speaker 1: Pat fryar muth Is. Uh is probably twenty five or
16:25
Speaker 1: thirty three, or maybe he slides to forty five or
16:27
Speaker 1: maybe the Jaguars go around, but they've got three picks
16:30
Speaker 1: between twenty five and forty five, and he falls somewhere
16:33
Speaker 1: in there. And he is a Gronkowski type. I mean,
16:37
Speaker 1: you can't compare people to you know, the great players
16:40
Speaker 1: in the game, but a big body, middle of the field,
16:42
Speaker 1: guy who wins one on one battles if you if
16:46
Speaker 1: you talk to people who have scouted him, so I
16:49
Speaker 1: would think the draft is exactly where they're going young
16:52
Speaker 1: tight ends. Uh And and the previous coaching staff and
16:55
Speaker 1: UM personnel staff did a lot of research on tight
16:58
Speaker 1: ends a few years ago, and I recall a conversation
17:01
Speaker 1: UM where their research showed that very few rookie tight
17:05
Speaker 1: ends come in and have a huge impact. And if
17:08
Speaker 1: you look at the kid from Iowa, uh and his
17:12
Speaker 1: name escapes me, who went to Detroit. I mean you
17:14
Speaker 1: can see he's he's made a couple of little plays
17:16
Speaker 1: here and there, and he's still waiting for his breakout.
17:19
Speaker 1: So I think, go grab one. You've got a reason,
17:23
Speaker 1: You've got a connection. And they're awful big on connections.
17:26
Speaker 1: If you've had a guy in your room before, and
17:27
Speaker 1: Tyler Bowen has, I expect him to be high on
17:30
Speaker 1: their list. Uh in the draft, which is starting April
17:34
Speaker 1: twenty nine, John, you might want to write that down,
17:37
Speaker 1: all right, I got it, I got it. Didn't put
17:38
Speaker 1: that on the calendar because that's a little over a
17:41
Speaker 1: month away. The full media availability with head coach Urban
17:45
Speaker 1: Meyer and the players who are in the building Thursday
17:48
Speaker 1: and Friday. Available on the official team website, Jaguars dot
17:51
Speaker 1: com or the Jaguars social media channels when we return
17:55
Speaker 1: a review of the defensive editions in free agency. All
17:59
Speaker 1: that after this, Jags fans fill your wallet with one
18:03
Speaker 1: debit card that screams do Ball, exclusively from t I
18:07
Speaker 1: A Bank the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's a debit card. It
18:10
Speaker 1: comes with a fierce look, fantastic features so you can
18:13
Speaker 1: pay with pride wherever you go and it's yours free
18:15
Speaker 1: when you open a you pledge checking account up your
18:18
Speaker 1: financial game today is in the financial center near you,
18:21
Speaker 1: or find us at t I a A Bank dot
18:22
Speaker 1: com slash Jacks Card. T I A Bank is a
18:25
Speaker 1: division of t I A A FSP member fd I
18:28
Speaker 1: c at the official bank of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Welcome
18:31
Speaker 1: back to the Jaguars Broadcast Week Interview podcast presented by
18:35
Speaker 1: t I a A Bank and season ticket renewals are underway.
18:38
Speaker 1: Existing season ticket members, including those who are on pause
18:41
Speaker 1: and twenty twenty Well, you need to lock in your
18:44
Speaker 1: seats now. Demand is sky high. For one single game.
18:49
Speaker 1: Tickets will go on sale after the schedule lease sometime
18:52
Speaker 1: in May, and the Jaguars looked to play in front
18:54
Speaker 1: of a full capacity crowd in twenty one. Look for
18:57
Speaker 1: your renewal link and your email Jaguars dot com or
19:01
Speaker 1: call nine O four six three three two thousand and
19:04
Speaker 1: while you're at it. While you're online, subscribe to the
19:06
Speaker 1: Official Jaguars Podcast Network is on Apple, iTunes, Spotify, or
19:10
Speaker 1: wherever else podcasts are downloaded. Leave a comment and give
19:14
Speaker 1: us five stars. Let's move along to the defensive editions
19:17
Speaker 1: for the Jaguars. Here's how this will work. Everybody, We're
19:20
Speaker 1: all gonna pick one player, discuss why he is important
19:24
Speaker 1: to be added to the Jaguars, and maybe we'll well,
19:27
Speaker 1: um batted around. A little banter is the word I
19:30
Speaker 1: was looking for. Thank you, Ashlyn, I'm gonna go. Malcolm
19:33
Speaker 1: Brown traded in from the Saints. We said earlier Urban
19:36
Speaker 1: wanted big, big, big guys on the interior. Well, he
19:40
Speaker 1: is six two three twenty played for Charlie Strong at Texas.
19:44
Speaker 1: He's got the you know the connection. They're part of
19:47
Speaker 1: two Super Bowl teams with the Patriots. So he has
19:50
Speaker 1: a winning pedigree from an organization in the NFL, has
19:54
Speaker 1: the connection has the big body, uh, and he's a
19:58
Speaker 1: big guy on the interior of the defense of line.
20:00
Speaker 1: So this I think was a slam dunk for the
20:03
Speaker 1: Jaguars as absolutely. And we we asked him about coming
20:06
Speaker 1: from the Patriots in these winning programs and now you're
20:09
Speaker 1: coming to, for lack of better tournament, a rebuild, and
20:12
Speaker 1: he mentioned, I love being here from the ground up,
20:15
Speaker 1: and I love that two years from now I get
20:17
Speaker 1: to say that I was a part of this. And
20:19
Speaker 1: I mentioned, you know, this is a pretty young locker room.
20:22
Speaker 1: How are you going to share this experience and be
20:24
Speaker 1: a leader? And He's like, I'm not the big raw
20:27
Speaker 1: ra type of guy. I'm going to lead by example,
20:29
Speaker 1: but I will say I'm a prime example of what
20:32
Speaker 1: success can look like in the NFL. And he's really
20:34
Speaker 1: looking forward to being one of the older guys on
20:37
Speaker 1: this defensive line. The interior play was subpar last year, Brian,
20:42
Speaker 1: and they needed a big body or two or three
20:45
Speaker 1: on the interior, and Malcolm Brown, I think is going
20:47
Speaker 1: to be right there in that mix. Yeah, if you
20:49
Speaker 1: go back and look, and I think we're all working
20:51
Speaker 1: in the assumption that we're going to see a lot
20:52
Speaker 1: of zero technique, a nose tackle, head up on the
20:55
Speaker 1: center this year, whether that means a three or four
20:58
Speaker 1: or a hybrid. Uh, that big body in the middle
21:01
Speaker 1: of the line. And I go back to the Steelers
21:03
Speaker 1: in the late nineties with Joel Steed, who was I mean,
21:07
Speaker 1: I think he and Malcolm Brown are copycat bodies you
21:11
Speaker 1: couldn't move. Joel Steed he made even though he didn't
21:14
Speaker 1: have the sacks or the tackles and wasn't the superstar
21:17
Speaker 1: of that Steelers zone blitz defense that everybody remembers. With him,
21:21
Speaker 1: he made everyone else's job easier because he created a
21:24
Speaker 1: train rent in the middle of his opponent's offensive line.
21:28
Speaker 1: When I look at Malcolm Brown, I think that's what
21:30
Speaker 1: this guy's gonna do. I know that's why they drafted
21:33
Speaker 1: him in New England. They didn't resign him because they
21:36
Speaker 1: eventually let guys go up there. But this is a
21:39
Speaker 1: guy who can hold the point. And whether it's Devon Hamilton, Entertainment,
21:43
Speaker 1: Brian whoever is behind him, to have two big bodies
21:46
Speaker 1: inside there, guys who can hold the point and wreck
21:50
Speaker 1: things in the middle. But you've got to have it
21:52
Speaker 1: if you want to make this defense. This hybrid this
21:54
Speaker 1: three four work this for a statement, j V. He's
21:58
Speaker 1: the most important player that got sweet Well period headline
22:02
Speaker 1: without you know, and I get the Griffin's important, everybody's important.
22:06
Speaker 1: I'm not saying anything about the other guy without this one,
22:10
Speaker 1: I think, you know. I can't speak for the staff,
22:13
Speaker 1: but I think without this one, the staff would be like, Okay,
22:16
Speaker 1: who's anchor in the middle. This guy is a starting
22:19
Speaker 1: NFL nose tackle who has done it. Started eight of
22:23
Speaker 1: eighty nine games in his career. He started twenty nine
22:26
Speaker 1: over the last three games. He he has been the
22:29
Speaker 1: starting nose tackle wherever he's gone in the last three
22:33
Speaker 1: or four years. This is the anchor in the middle.
22:35
Speaker 1: They must stop the run. If you don't stop the run,
22:37
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence, whoever they have on offense doesn't matter for
22:40
Speaker 1: this team. He's the most important exhibition of the acquisition
22:43
Speaker 1: of the week, and he's why people should feel good
22:45
Speaker 1: about this class. There you go, there you okay, So Ashlen,
22:49
Speaker 1: you get to follow this up with your selection Ray.
22:52
Speaker 1: Shawn Jenkins is also very important. John. They're throwing on
22:56
Speaker 1: this team with Jared Wilson in the backfield and Andrew
22:59
Speaker 1: Wingard a so good. We'll take it at that. But
23:04
Speaker 1: now with ray Sean Jenkins, who is a starting caliber
23:08
Speaker 1: safety in the NFL from the Los Angeles Charters, I'm
23:11
Speaker 1: feeling pretty good now about this secondary, along with Shack Griffin,
23:15
Speaker 1: of course. And it was funny to go watch if
23:18
Speaker 1: you haven't, whoever's listening to this podcast, go watch ray
23:22
Speaker 1: Sean Jenkins miked up against the Jaguars and he is
23:25
Speaker 1: a talker. It is interesting to watch and relive that game.
23:30
Speaker 1: But yes, definitely a dynamic player, very much needed in
23:33
Speaker 1: the secondary and other starter. I foresee him and Jared
23:36
Speaker 1: Wilson taking over that backfield and it was absolutely a
23:40
Speaker 1: needed position and this is a guy who's done it,
23:43
Speaker 1: been successful at it, and I'm feeling much better about
23:47
Speaker 1: the secondary now after this guy. And it's not a
23:49
Speaker 1: huge thing, but it was a mid round draft pick,
23:52
Speaker 1: and you know, he was a special teams players first
23:55
Speaker 1: two years, couldn't crack the line up through some injuries.
23:57
Speaker 1: Finally the last two years he's a regular starter and
24:00
Speaker 1: took advantage of that opportunity really worked his way up.
24:04
Speaker 1: And you know not that he would, but you know
24:07
Speaker 1: he's not gonna take anything for granted because of the way.
24:09
Speaker 1: He had to kind of fight and push and find
24:12
Speaker 1: an opportunity and finally got one, and now he's paid
24:15
Speaker 1: it off with a free agent contract. Brian, I I
24:18
Speaker 1: like Jenkings a lot, his size and his length. Um
24:22
Speaker 1: forget whatever he has or hasn't done in his career.
24:25
Speaker 1: This is a rising prospect and the Jaguars have identified
24:29
Speaker 1: him as a guy who can fit into what they
24:32
Speaker 1: want to do. Shelenna, want to correct you. There isn't
24:34
Speaker 1: gonna be Jared Wilson. It's gonna be Daniel Thomas. They
24:36
Speaker 1: got that young kid from last year who played lights
24:39
Speaker 1: out for the month that he was on the field,
24:41
Speaker 1: and I think that the Thomas Jenkins combination has the
24:46
Speaker 1: opportunity to be really, really, really good. He's going to
24:50
Speaker 1: be the best player in this now. Uh, I'm to
24:54
Speaker 1: say about everybody. To me, this signing sort of defines
24:59
Speaker 1: the class, meaning they could have theoretically waited. There are
25:04
Speaker 1: stafeties available in the draft. They could have theoretically drafted
25:08
Speaker 1: this spot and said, Okay, we're gonna build. Remember, I
25:11
Speaker 1: hate to keep comparing it to the old regime, but
25:12
Speaker 1: a lot of these listeners have seen how it was built. Before.
25:15
Speaker 1: If he hasn't thirteen they went out and got Evans
25:18
Speaker 1: and a sip. Remember I think that was thirteen. Well,
25:22
Speaker 1: you start two kids back there, you started two kids
25:24
Speaker 1: back there, and you have a lot of rookie mistake. Well,
25:26
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, that's sort of kept everything from
25:29
Speaker 1: looking right and it was a mess, and they don't
25:31
Speaker 1: want that. So this sort of defines that. In a sense,
25:35
Speaker 1: you're sort of redrafting what this regime doesn't like about
25:40
Speaker 1: what was here. This is the quintessential example of that.
25:43
Speaker 1: To me. The guy who can come in, he can
25:45
Speaker 1: be solid. I don't know if he's a Pro Bowl guy,
25:47
Speaker 1: but you know what you're gonna get from this guy.
25:49
Speaker 1: You're gonna get consistency. He's gonna be able to tell
25:51
Speaker 1: other players where to go. He's seen things before. I
25:54
Speaker 1: like it because it defines this class to me. All right, Brian,
25:57
Speaker 1: get on with yours. Well, I took Shack Griffin and
26:01
Speaker 1: I love the fact that Griffin and Jenkins had this
26:04
Speaker 1: chemistry from their days together in St. Petersburg. This is
26:08
Speaker 1: another rising player, right, I mean, he's paid near the
26:11
Speaker 1: top of the market. What is the seventh six among cornerbacks? Right? Now, so,
26:16
Speaker 1: I mean he looks like a first round pick, but
26:17
Speaker 1: I think this was a guy who came in He
26:19
Speaker 1: was quite a third round pick of the Seahawks and
26:22
Speaker 1: and grew into this number one corner role. But I
26:26
Speaker 1: wrote down on my notes as I was watching his
26:28
Speaker 1: press conference, this kid gets it, you know, whether he
26:31
Speaker 1: learned it from the legion of Boom on their way
26:33
Speaker 1: out over the last couple of years playing and eat
26:36
Speaker 1: Carroll's program. He said, I don't care about number one.
26:41
Speaker 1: I don't care about getting all the accolades. I care
26:44
Speaker 1: about coming in here and creating something that has our
26:48
Speaker 1: own signature to it. Right. He was humble, he was confident,
26:53
Speaker 1: which is a unique combination to be able to pay
26:56
Speaker 1: it together. But this is a young leader and um
26:59
Speaker 1: and send player again like Jenkins, though because he played
27:02
Speaker 1: in Seattle, he had a lot more eyes on him
27:05
Speaker 1: and more people know him. Uh flips the hits, turns
27:08
Speaker 1: and runs and he checks all the boxes to hide
27:11
Speaker 1: the length. Um. But there was something about him, something
27:14
Speaker 1: about coming home, coming into a situation where people are
27:17
Speaker 1: going to look to him to be more than just
27:19
Speaker 1: a good player, but the leader. And something I heard
27:22
Speaker 1: from all of these players is they didn't worry about
27:25
Speaker 1: the fact that Jaguars had the worst record in football.
27:28
Speaker 1: They were impressed with the opportunity to come in and
27:31
Speaker 1: be a part of something that, to a man, they
27:33
Speaker 1: feel is a virtual certainty that this team is gonna win.
27:37
Speaker 1: And and Griffin was the first one out of the gate,
27:39
Speaker 1: and I just every player afterwards said nearly the same
27:43
Speaker 1: thing in their own words. So I'm excited about this
27:46
Speaker 1: kid because it gives them a base to build on
27:49
Speaker 1: at one of the most important positions on the defense,
27:51
Speaker 1: one of the most important positions on the field, the corner.
27:54
Speaker 1: So now they have a duo over there on the
27:56
Speaker 1: outside at least if C. J. Henderson can stay out
27:59
Speaker 1: there on the field and healthy. And now you have
28:02
Speaker 1: Shack Griffin on the other side and Herndon most likely
28:05
Speaker 1: inside at nicol that's not a bad trio of corners. Yeah,
28:08
Speaker 1: and don't forget about Sidney Jones. Kich Meyer was was
28:10
Speaker 1: on this morning and spoke about that that now cornerback room.
28:14
Speaker 1: He feels really good about that. And before you were
28:16
Speaker 1: all the edition with Shaq Griffin makes it feel like
28:18
Speaker 1: you have that veteran presence now and that was what
28:21
Speaker 1: was lacking is the leadership, and I feel like without him,
28:24
Speaker 1: you're putting so much pressure on C. J. Henderson's shoulders.
28:28
Speaker 1: You know, you kept saying, Okay, well, first round draft pick.
28:31
Speaker 1: You know he's gonna lock it down, and he's coming
28:32
Speaker 1: back from a pretty significant injury. And this is only
28:35
Speaker 1: now going into a second season in the NFL. I
28:38
Speaker 1: didn't feel good about that, but now I do, knowing
28:40
Speaker 1: that you have that veteran presence on the other side.
28:43
Speaker 1: What about Griffin John He makes what was a a
28:47
Speaker 1: uncertain position maybe the best on the defense. You know
28:52
Speaker 1: this is a deep position. Now, everybody, this is now
28:55
Speaker 1: all of a sudden. You've got two guys who you
28:58
Speaker 1: feel like athletically you have seen them be big time starters.
29:02
Speaker 1: I'll ask you, guys, this, how great do you feel
29:05
Speaker 1: if you're the coaching staff if for some reason, either
29:08
Speaker 1: Griffin or p J can't go for a month, Well,
29:11
Speaker 1: you got Sidney Jones, who showed last year for six
29:13
Speaker 1: games that he played at a high level. As long
29:15
Speaker 1: as he's healthy, then you have Herndon, who Okay, if
29:18
Speaker 1: he's your fourth guy, he's got two year starting experience.
29:21
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know Sari, you know if
29:22
Speaker 1: he would to go into the season with him as
29:24
Speaker 1: your number one outside guy. But in a pinch, all
29:27
Speaker 1: of a sudden, that's a deep room. If you look
29:30
Speaker 1: at the fourth guy and say he's got experience, I
29:32
Speaker 1: feel okay about him. Their top three, I think it's
29:34
Speaker 1: really really good. All right, John, take us home with
29:37
Speaker 1: your selection. Well, this is sentimental. I'm going with Tyson
29:42
Speaker 1: Aloa because if you've been around the guy, you know,
29:45
Speaker 1: if I was making a list, Brian, he can probably
29:48
Speaker 1: speak to this and j P think you knew him
29:50
Speaker 1: as well. If I was making a list of former
29:52
Speaker 1: Jaguars that I would be happy to see walk through
29:55
Speaker 1: the door. Now, obviously Fred and Jimmy, you know some
29:57
Speaker 1: of the great players that we all know from the nineties,
30:00
Speaker 1: but since that nineties group, if I was making a
30:02
Speaker 1: list of guys, boy, I would be happy to see
30:05
Speaker 1: this guy again. Tyson might be the number one guy
30:07
Speaker 1: in the lip. He is a fantastic human being. Beyond that,
30:12
Speaker 1: and I think most Jaguars fans have been around feel
30:14
Speaker 1: that same way. Beyond that, he's exactly what you need
30:18
Speaker 1: right now. This defensive line must be stouter. He makes
30:22
Speaker 1: you stout. He can do everything that you wanted to
30:25
Speaker 1: do in a pinch and amazing. He has missed four
30:29
Speaker 1: games in eleven years, four games on the interior. He
30:33
Speaker 1: is meant to play this sport crime well. And look,
30:37
Speaker 1: people may forget that he showed up. That that was
30:39
Speaker 1: back during the hold out hero where players didn't necessarily
30:42
Speaker 1: come to camp on time, and Jack del Rio put
30:45
Speaker 1: him in harm's way. He put him in against viny
30:47
Speaker 1: Monaway in the Oklahoma drill. The day he got off
30:50
Speaker 1: the airplane, he tore his PCL and never had it fit.
30:54
Speaker 1: Has missed four games and it was bone on bone,
30:56
Speaker 1: I'm told at one point. So he lost a degree
30:59
Speaker 1: of a flow siveness on the first day of practice
31:03
Speaker 1: as a professional. And yet look at him all these
31:06
Speaker 1: years later. Talk about vindicating the selection, and remember people
31:10
Speaker 1: were really unhappy when they selected because they didn't take
31:13
Speaker 1: the quarterback from Florida one, Tim Tebow, and there was
31:16
Speaker 1: a lot of ants, how could you pass on Tebow
31:19
Speaker 1: for some guy from the Pac ten No one knows
31:22
Speaker 1: his name, but I'll never forget. The next weekend was
31:25
Speaker 1: the j Fund Golf Tournament, and I was sitting with
31:27
Speaker 1: Bill Polian at breakfast who you know well, John, And
31:30
Speaker 1: he said he thought that all Wala might have been
31:32
Speaker 1: the safest pit in the first round of the draft.
31:35
Speaker 1: And you know what, all these years later, eleven years later,
31:38
Speaker 1: he's probably right because here's Lalla still playing. Yeah, and
31:42
Speaker 1: going to John's point, Ashton, you need a veteran presence
31:46
Speaker 1: in a room, and they really didn't have that after
31:49
Speaker 1: Clay has left out right, and you, frankly just needed
31:52
Speaker 1: more bodies. I mean, we're going through the list, and
31:54
Speaker 1: now that you've seen all these guys coming in, you
31:57
Speaker 1: now have backups to backups, and frankly the for you,
32:00
Speaker 1: you didn't have enough guys and now you have enough
32:02
Speaker 1: bodies and big bodies to make this work. And I'm
32:05
Speaker 1: really excited to meet him. With everything that you guys
32:07
Speaker 1: just shared, I've heard nothing but great things. Fantastic. Now
32:10
Speaker 1: the four games he missed there was one last season
32:12
Speaker 1: with Pittsburgh. He missed one game in eighteen. If I
32:15
Speaker 1: remember right now, he missed two games in twenty sixteen,
32:18
Speaker 1: his last year in Jacksonville. I think those were just
32:20
Speaker 1: coaches decisions. I don't think he was injured that year,
32:23
Speaker 1: if I remember right, What do you think I don't
32:27
Speaker 1: I can't remember that. I think he was like an
32:29
Speaker 1: extra guy on the sideline. And you're right, You're right, JP,
32:35
Speaker 1: because he had a long string and unbroken string of appearances,
32:40
Speaker 1: and that was the first time that it was broken.
32:43
Speaker 1: And it was a shop because he wasn't unhealthy, but
32:47
Speaker 1: they knew at that moment they were going to resign him,
32:49
Speaker 1: and they were trying to get different guys into the lineup,
32:52
Speaker 1: and so they put him on the sideline. I remember
32:53
Speaker 1: talking to him afterwards, and he talked about how strange
32:56
Speaker 1: it was to stand there and watched the game and
32:58
Speaker 1: not be in uniform. And I just I can't underscore enough.
33:02
Speaker 1: He took a lot of heat during his time here
33:05
Speaker 1: for not being Tim Tebow. I mean not that he
33:07
Speaker 1: played the same position, but because the Jaguars passed on
33:09
Speaker 1: Tim to take Tyson. And he never let it get
33:13
Speaker 1: to him. He never was bitter about it. H he
33:16
Speaker 1: heard the complaints. Uh, he played through pain, played through
33:19
Speaker 1: the knee injury. Um. This is one of the best
33:23
Speaker 1: guys to ever come through the Jaguars locker room. It's
33:25
Speaker 1: great to always coming back, but importantly on the field,
33:28
Speaker 1: this is the guy you know it's not that he
33:30
Speaker 1: was here before. Isn't the reason he's here. It's the
33:33
Speaker 1: fact that Joe Colin knows that he can turn around
33:36
Speaker 1: to Tyson and say, hey, go do this, and he'll
33:41
Speaker 1: go do it. Joe knows the guy. I'm sure he
33:44
Speaker 1: has an extremely high comfort of the different roles that
33:48
Speaker 1: he can play. If the big end can't play, hey Tyson,
33:50
Speaker 1: go play big end. If the nose can't play one day,
33:53
Speaker 1: Hey Tyson, go in and man up and be the nose.
33:55
Speaker 1: All right, coach, let's go do it. So it's the reliability,
33:58
Speaker 1: it's the flexibility. He's exactly what you want when you're
34:02
Speaker 1: building defensive line as a piece in the puzzle. There's
34:06
Speaker 1: no better piece. As jahad Ward said today on Friday
34:11
Speaker 1: at his press conference, Joe Cohen says, get off the
34:14
Speaker 1: bleeping ball. Yeah, Tyson is gonna get often live dot Com.
34:19
Speaker 1: You never know what you're gonna get. It's on the internet.
34:23
Speaker 1: Everything's allowed on the internet, right it is, Uh, most things. Ashman,
34:27
Speaker 1: well done, John Brian appreciate you guys. Will catch up
34:30
Speaker 1: with you again next week and coming up next week
34:32
Speaker 1: another week of the early waves of free agency. What
34:35
Speaker 1: else might the Jaguars have up their sleeve. Maybe we'll
34:39
Speaker 1: find out. Remember to subscribe to the Official Jaguars Podcast Network.
34:43
Speaker 1: It's on Apple, iTunes or Spotify or wherever else you
34:46
Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and give us a five star rating.
34:48
Speaker 1: Jaguars Reporters podcast comes up on Monday and we will
34:52
Speaker 1: go through the offensive editions for the Jaguars and special
34:55
Speaker 1: teams editions and free agency. Have a great weekend, Thanks
34:59
Speaker 1: for listening and Ashland Sullivan, John Osan, Bryan Sex, and
35:02
Speaker 1: I'm J. P. Shadrick. We'll catch you next week on
35:04
Speaker 1: the Jaguars Broadcast Week and Review podcast presented by t
35:08
Speaker 1: I a A Bank