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Sam Monson of PFF on Where Jaguars Stand in Week 18 | Countdown to Kickoff · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

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  Speaker 1: Countdown to Kickoff continues the Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans
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  Speaker 1: in Week eighteen, and with US today, it's lead NFL
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  Speaker 1: analyst for Pro Football Focus Sam Monson, and well, he
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  Speaker 1: can't ask for much more than this Week eighteen. The
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  Speaker 1: division title on the line, Sam.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, division title on the line. You know, multiple
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  Speaker 2: teams in play. It's exactly what you would want from
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  Speaker 2: this division.
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  Speaker 1: Are you buying the Jaguars?
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  Speaker 2: I think this is the weird year right, not just
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  Speaker 2: in the AFC, but in the NFL generally. You've got Baltimore,
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  Speaker 2: who is the one team that's kind of been consistently
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  Speaker 2: able to pass every test that's been thrown their way,
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  Speaker 2: particularly in recent weeks when they've had the forty nine ers,
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  Speaker 2: when they've had the Dolphins. Every time they've been set
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  Speaker 2: a challenge, they've come through with flying colors. Everybody else
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  Speaker 2: has had a stretch somewhere or a game somewhere where
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  Speaker 2: they've looked like frauds right where they've looked like a
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  Speaker 2: team that doesn't belong in the postseason or doesn't belong
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  Speaker 2: challenging for a Super Bowl. But because it's ever, because
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  Speaker 2: it's the entire NFL that means anybody is live. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we've got jeriatric thirty eight year old Joe Flacco out
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  Speaker 2: here entirely live for a Super Bowl run because the
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  Speaker 2: landscape in front of him is not what it looked
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  Speaker 2: like before the season. You know, if you had been
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  Speaker 2: pitched that as an idea, right, even though the Browns
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  Speaker 2: have the best defense in the NFL, thirty eight year
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  Speaker 2: old Joe Flacco, he's gonna have to go through Josh
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  Speaker 2: Allen and Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes and Trevor Lawrence
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  Speaker 2: and whoever to get there. You'd be like, not a chance.
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  Speaker 2: But this year, number one, some of those guys aren't
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  Speaker 2: there anymore because of injuries. And number two, even the
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  Speaker 2: ones that are, they don't look like the people we
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  Speaker 2: thought they would preseason. So for a team like Jacksonville
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  Speaker 2: the Jags, you know, they've had their their struggles, they've
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  Speaker 2: had their wobbles, and things haven't gone the way they
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  Speaker 2: would have wanted all the time. But if they make it,
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  Speaker 2: absolutely I think they can go and a run as
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  Speaker 2: much as anybody.
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  Speaker 1: Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus with US Trevor Lawrence
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  Speaker 1: has had an I guess and inconsistent seasons. The best
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  Speaker 1: way to say he's been banged up a lot is
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  Speaker 1: his fourth time on the injury report this year, missed
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  Speaker 1: last week's game, first time in his career. He's turned
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  Speaker 1: the ball over a bunch this year, a lot of fumbles,
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  Speaker 1: but there's been some good times with Trevor too, and
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  Speaker 1: you know that's the ballance. You want the good things
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  Speaker 1: more and you want to turnovers less when he's out there.
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  Speaker 1: No word yet on what's happening this week. Doug Peterson
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  Speaker 1: as a Friday, you know, said it could go up
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  Speaker 1: to game time. However, Trevor Lawrence is the future of
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  Speaker 1: this franchise right still in your eyes.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: I think he's one of a few quarterbacks this season
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  Speaker 2: where I don't think the numbers have fairly reflected his performance.
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  Speaker 2: You know, certainly early in the year there was a
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  Speaker 2: stretch of several games where I think Trevor Lawrence is
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  Speaker 2: playing spectacular football and the receivers were letting him down
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  Speaker 2: week after week. And I think now people kind of
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  Speaker 2: forget about that, you know, what happened earlier in the year,
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  Speaker 2: it's a distant memory. We don't really factor it into
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  Speaker 2: the numbers. And now the analysis is well, in recent
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  Speaker 2: weeks he has been playing worse, albeit because of injuries.
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  Speaker 2: I think you know, he you mentioned last week was
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  Speaker 2: the first time first game he'd missed Jude injury. He
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  Speaker 2: probably should have missed a couple before that and didn't,
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  Speaker 2: and because he didn't, you know, he didn't.
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  Speaker 3: Play as well as he had previously.
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  Speaker 2: Right, So I think now you have this this analysis
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  Speaker 2: where it says, well, he hasn't been playing well recently,
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  Speaker 2: and now look at his numbers, like his numbers aren't
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  Speaker 2: great anyway, Like this is the guy we've seen all
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  Speaker 2: the way through the season. He hasn't been at this level,
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  Speaker 2: and we've got some questions to answer about what he
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  Speaker 2: is going forward. I think healthy Trevor Lawrence has looked
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  Speaker 2: like a fantastic quarterback, and maybe not at the level
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  Speaker 2: of you know, Patrick Mahomes or or the best quarterbacks
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  Speaker 2: in the NFL. Maybe even not at the level of
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  Speaker 2: the you know, the generational sort of golden boy, best
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  Speaker 2: prospects since Peyton Manning type of conversation that he was
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  Speaker 2: being billed as coming into the NFL.
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  Speaker 3: But very very.
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  Speaker 2: Good and certainly you know, way better than any existential
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  Speaker 2: questions about whether he's the future of this team. I
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  Speaker 2: think he's already demonstrated he's absolutely the future of the
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  Speaker 2: team and can be one of the best quarterbacks in
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  Speaker 2: the league.
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  Speaker 1: Sam. One of the weapons that they brought in for
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  Speaker 1: him was Calvin Ridley, of course, and you know, traded
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  Speaker 1: forward last year, reinstated by the NFL, and I think
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  Speaker 1: he's had an inconsistent season as well. What do you
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  Speaker 1: like about Ridley? And here we are, he's close to
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  Speaker 1: a thousand yards though it might not even feel like
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  Speaker 1: it this year.
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  Speaker 2: I've always loved Ridley's route running. I think he's one
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  Speaker 2: of the best route runners in the NFL, and he
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  Speaker 2: can get open, he can get separation. He has never
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  Speaker 2: necessarily been in a role where he has to be
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  Speaker 2: the number one receiver in an offense. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: we're in a strange landscape where you can debate how
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  Speaker 2: much that means anything anyway. You know, do you even
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  Speaker 2: need a number one receiver or if as long as
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  Speaker 2: you have every sort of receiving characteristic ticked somewhere in
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  Speaker 2: the receiving court, does it make a difference or not.
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  Speaker 2: I think Jacksonville needs that number one receiver skill set,
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  Speaker 2: and by that I mean a guy that can win
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  Speaker 2: consistently on the outside against press coverage in contested catch situations.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know if they have that guy on the roster.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, Calvin Ridley, that was the one question
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  Speaker 2: mark about his game based off his previous career history
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  Speaker 2: is can he do that?
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  Speaker 3: Can he be that guy?
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  Speaker 2: And I think this year hasn't really It certainly hasn't
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  Speaker 2: affirmed that he can. It hasn't answered that in a
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  Speaker 2: positive direction. His route running is still good, he still
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  Speaker 2: gets good gets good separation. He can be a deep threat,
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  Speaker 2: but we don't know if he can do that part
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  Speaker 2: on a consistent basis. And then, as you said, he
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  Speaker 2: has just had some basic inconsistency. You know, the stuff
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  Speaker 2: he does well, he hasn't done so well at times
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  Speaker 2: this year. He's got a few drops that were very
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  Speaker 2: costly for the team as well. So I think he's
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  Speaker 2: a positive, you know, addition to the offense, he's a
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  Speaker 2: good player to have on the roster. But it sort
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  Speaker 2: of highlights this area in that receiving core that Jacksonville
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  Speaker 2: still might not quite have on the roster yet.
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  Speaker 1: Sam monson Pro Football Focus with us well, in order
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  Speaker 1: to have time for the quarterback to get it to
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  Speaker 1: got to have time and protection, and we kind of
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  Speaker 1: know we go through in our Monday shows some of
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  Speaker 1: the PFF grades. I know you guys are big on
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  Speaker 1: grades on offensive line, and Tony Boselli, of all people,
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  Speaker 1: loves your grades. I'll tell you not really, but the
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  Speaker 1: interior has not played that well overall this year. They
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  Speaker 1: get pushed around a little bit. So they've got a
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  Speaker 1: new right tackle obviously first round pick, and then Cam
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  Speaker 1: Robinson in and out of the lineup this year. You know,
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  Speaker 1: where do you start on the offensive line? Where do
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  Speaker 1: they rate in your mind? And what needs to happen
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  Speaker 1: in this offseason.
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  Speaker 2: We need First of all, we need like a sit
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  Speaker 2: down with Tony because I think if he understood what
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  Speaker 2: the grades were trying to do and what they do
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  Speaker 2: for offensive lineman, he'd be on board.
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  Speaker 3: Because we save.
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  Speaker 2: Offensive lineman from a ton of sacks that other people
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  Speaker 2: want to put on them. You know, like, oh, look
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  Speaker 2: this guy gave up a sack. You're like, no, that's
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  Speaker 2: the quarterback at ten yards depth. That's on him. That's
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  Speaker 2: not on the offensive tackle. So we're saving offensive linemen
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  Speaker 2: all kinds of negative plays.
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  Speaker 3: In our grade.
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  Speaker 2: He would appreciate it if he went through in detail
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  Speaker 2: and sort of got a better understanding of what we're
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  Speaker 2: doing there.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have to put you guys together. We'll have to
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  Speaker 1: make this out in the offseason.
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  Speaker 2: Are you going to be at the super Bowl this week?
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  Speaker 2: We can, we can, I hold you know, Dayton down there.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, look so that the offensive line has been
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  Speaker 2: interesting this year.
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  Speaker 3: Last year they.
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  Speaker 2: Were the most one dimensional offense in the NFL in
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  Speaker 2: terms of they were pretty good pass blocking, you know, borderline,
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  Speaker 2: very good, and they were literally the worst rated run
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  Speaker 2: blocking unit in the NFL. This year, it's been much
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  Speaker 2: more closer together. They haven't sort of maintained that weird
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  Speaker 2: split where they were amazing and past blocking and terrible
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  Speaker 2: run blocking. It's but it's been much more sort of
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  Speaker 2: inconsistent and all over the place and not really one trend.
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  Speaker 3: All the way through it.
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  Speaker 2: Cam Robinson is intriguing because you know, I don't know
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  Speaker 2: that he's an amazing left tackle. You know that he's
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  Speaker 2: always been in that. Do you give him a giant contract?
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  Speaker 2: Do you give him twenty million dollars a year? But
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  Speaker 2: I think this year was a great advertisement for him
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  Speaker 2: from his agent and say, look, this is.
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  Speaker 3: What happens when he's not out there.
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  Speaker 2: You know you can you can decide yourself how much
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  Speaker 2: you want to go down that road. But when Cam's
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  Speaker 2: out of there, it's a better offensive line. And he's
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  Speaker 2: had a good season this year past blocking. When he's
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  Speaker 2: been out there, it has made a big difference to
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  Speaker 2: that offensive line. And I think you can probably make
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  Speaker 2: a compelling case that, you know, the last couple of
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  Speaker 2: years they have been so good pass blocking in part
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  Speaker 2: because Cam Robinson has done a good job there.
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  Speaker 3: And that doesn't mean he's perfect. It doesn't mean he's.
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  Speaker 2: One of the best three tackles in the NFL, but
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  Speaker 2: he's been a good pass blocking left tackle and having
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  Speaker 2: to shuffle that this year has been a problem.
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  Speaker 3: Sam.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go to defense now, and let's start with Trayvon Walker,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the number one overall pick a couple of
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  Speaker 1: years ago. We see Aiden Hutchinson putting up big numbers
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  Speaker 1: in moments in Detroit this year, and then Trayvon Walker
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  Speaker 1: comes along last week and puts up a couple of sacks,
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  Speaker 1: and where are you on Trayvon?
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  Speaker 2: I think he is still a work in progress. You
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  Speaker 2: see every week you know, there's a reason they drafted
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  Speaker 2: him number one overall, and it's because he's literally the
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  Speaker 2: best athlete that has ever entered the league from an
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  Speaker 2: edge rusher position. Genuinely, not hyperbole. When you sort of
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  Speaker 2: look at the composite metrics, whether it's bend speed, explosiveness, size, length,
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  Speaker 2: all of these things, like he has the most complete
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  Speaker 2: picture of any edge rusher prospect of all time, and
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  Speaker 2: that shows up on the tape, like you see it
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  Speaker 2: every single week. There's a player or two out there
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  Speaker 2: where you're like, there's two or three guys in the
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  Speaker 2: league that can do that. There was a play, it
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  Speaker 2: was it last week or recently where he does this
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  Speaker 2: kind of euro step inside the tackle and is immediately
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  Speaker 2: getting pressure on the quarterback like I've seen Miles Garrett
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  Speaker 2: do that.
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  Speaker 3: And there's maybe one or two other guys that can
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  Speaker 3: do that, and that's it, end of list.
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  Speaker 2: So anytime you can put yourself on that kind of
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  Speaker 2: short list and say, look, there's four guys on the
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  Speaker 2: planet that can make this play, it's a reason to
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  Speaker 2: keep chasing that, right, And if we can just drag
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  Speaker 2: up the consistency, if we can just improve the frequency
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  Speaker 2: that these are happening. We have something special here, but
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  Speaker 2: I think that consistency is still a work in progress.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, his numbers are better this year than they
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  Speaker 2: were a year ago. But one element that is important
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  Speaker 2: to note when you're talking about a guy like Walker,
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  Speaker 2: and this is in his favor as well, he plays
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  Speaker 2: all the snaps like He's already well over eight hundred
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  Speaker 2: snaps this year. There are most edge rushers in the
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  Speaker 2: NFL won't play a hundred snaps in the season period,
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  Speaker 2: and he's already exceeding that. So his numbers are going
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  Speaker 2: to look better simply through opportunity. Simply through playing nine
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  Speaker 2: hundred snaps in the season, he's going to get more pressure,
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  Speaker 2: he's going to get more sacks than other guys that
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  Speaker 2: aren't on the field for a lot of these opportunities.
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  Speaker 2: So that's a factor. The run of kind of sacks
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  Speaker 2: he's on recently. It's not to say they're not high
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  Speaker 2: quality sacks or anything, but I don't think it necessarily
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  Speaker 2: is a reflection of him turning the corner and him
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  Speaker 2: becoming you know Rashaan Gary, for example, who took a
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  Speaker 2: couple of years to get it for Green Bay and
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  Speaker 2: was a similar you know, very athletic prospect, hadn't necessarily
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  Speaker 2: had the production in college. So I think he's still
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  Speaker 2: really an unknown and we're somewhere along his transition. He's
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  Speaker 2: capable of amazing plays, he is relatively productive, and he's
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  Speaker 2: incredibly durable. I think that part we can say for
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  Speaker 2: sure after a couple of years. But now we do
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  Speaker 2: need to see, you know, him up the level of
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  Speaker 2: to make to be a real impact player. And you
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  Speaker 2: can kind of compare him in Aiden Hutchinson in terms
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  Speaker 2: of some of those numbers. But Hutchinson does generate a
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  Speaker 2: significantly higher volume of pressure on a per rush basis
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  Speaker 2: right now than Trayvon Walker does, and does it with
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  Speaker 2: less help. I mean, Hutchinson is the number one guy.
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  Speaker 2: He's the primary source of pass rush for Detroit. Trayvon
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  Speaker 2: Walker is the compliment. He's the secondary guy to Josh
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  Speaker 2: Allen in Jacksonville. So that's the factor as well.
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  Speaker 1: Sam, Why is Foyer Lukan overlooked so much? It feels like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, is it just the marketplace? Is it not
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  Speaker 1: a flashy player? He just racks up tackles. He's leading
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  Speaker 1: the league again.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the marketplace has definitely something to do
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  Speaker 2: with it. I think linebackers also become a really weird
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  Speaker 2: position to evaluate recently, like the number of they've been
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  Speaker 2: put in a bind in the last decade, to say,
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  Speaker 2: the last ten years, Like every step, every evolution of
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  Speaker 2: offense has almost been designed around stressing the linebacker position
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  Speaker 2: and putting those guys in tough positions. And hey, you
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  Speaker 2: had to think about runner pass first, you know, with
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  Speaker 2: play action. Now you've got to think about RPOs and
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  Speaker 2: you actually defend both at the same time, and we're
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  Speaker 2: going to stretch you horizontally as well with all these
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  Speaker 2: you know, wide zone play actions, and it's just a nightmare.
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  Speaker 2: Playing linebacker these days is awful for linebackers, and it's
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  Speaker 2: kind of reflected in PFF grades. The average number for
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  Speaker 2: linebackers just been going down and down and down and down.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't think it's because the players are any
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  Speaker 2: worse than they were ten years ago. I think it's
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  Speaker 2: because the job description has just gotten harder and they
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  Speaker 2: have to do more than they did ten years ago,
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  Speaker 2: and they're basically in no win situations more often than.
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  Speaker 3: They were previously.
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  Speaker 2: But I think there's also in like an increased awareness
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  Speaker 2: of the idea that tackles is probably not a great measure.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it tells you something, but it doesn't. Just
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  Speaker 2: because a guy has a ton of tackles doesn't mean
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  Speaker 2: he's necessarily a great linebacker. So I think a Lulakun
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  Speaker 2: is almost getting the bad end of both those deals.
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  Speaker 2: You know, he's got some negative plays on his tape
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  Speaker 2: because everybody does, and he's sort of dealing with this
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  Speaker 2: almost backlash against the previous idea of well, let's just
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  Speaker 2: judge them by tackles, and they were like, that doesn't
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  Speaker 2: mean anything. So I think he's having a great year
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  Speaker 2: this year. They had a really good year season ago,
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  Speaker 2: and you're right those two things, in addition to the
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  Speaker 2: fact that it's Jacksonville and there's a tendency to overlook
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  Speaker 2: some some players in them anyway, it means he is
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  Speaker 2: going under the radar, all right.
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  Speaker 1: Final thoughts, Sam or the Jags winning Sunday.
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  Speaker 3: Uh, Yeah, I think they will.
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  Speaker 2: I think they have enough, They have enough need to
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  Speaker 2: get that game done, they have enough talent and hopefully.
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  Speaker 3: Well well we'll be able to make it happen.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks of the time, Sam Monson, lead NFL analyst Pro
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  Speaker 1: Football Focus A pleasure.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks a lot anytime, Thanks for having me