Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Ep. 70: 2024 Schedule Predictions | Jags A.M. Podcast

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Ep. 70: 2024 Schedule Predictions | Jags A.M. Podcast · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome into dag Ziyam. I'm kindan a Stephens here with
0:19
Speaker 1: Brian Sexton and John Ogier as we get ready for
0:21
Speaker 1: rookie Mini Caamp a little later on in the week.
0:24
Speaker 1: But if you want to talk a little bit about
0:26
Speaker 1: some moves that have been made since last week, our
0:28
Speaker 1: first big thing, Number one is the wide receiver room.
0:31
Speaker 1: At the beginning of last week's show, we told you
0:32
Speaker 1: about Jay Jones being released, and of course you know
0:35
Speaker 1: Brian Thomas Jr. Was that first round pick. So, Brian,
0:38
Speaker 1: how different is this wide receiver room going to be
0:40
Speaker 1: this year? With also the legit of Calvinism.
0:43
Speaker 2: I really can't speak to Ridley as much. Knowing Zay
0:46
Speaker 2: like I did and understanding the dynamic that existed between
0:51
Speaker 2: Kirk and Jones and the quarterback. I think it's going
0:55
Speaker 2: to be interesting to not have Jones there. He was
0:57
Speaker 2: one of those guys that you could always count on.
1:00
Speaker 2: I mean, it just seemed the most difficult throws Jones
1:03
Speaker 2: was there. And I go back to that game winning
1:05
Speaker 2: or department game time drive against the Cowboys when Trevor
1:09
Speaker 2: rolled out to his left and just knew right where
1:11
Speaker 2: to put the ball. There's just a chemistry that existed there.
1:16
Speaker 2: I don't think that the Ridley chemistry, you know, ever
1:19
Speaker 2: even approached that. So now you've got Christian Kirk and
1:22
Speaker 2: Evan Ingram who's not in the receiver's room, and you're
1:25
Speaker 2: going to try to integrate Brian Thomas. It's gonna be
1:28
Speaker 2: a storyline to watch, for sure.
1:29
Speaker 3: John was a guy when young and new receivers weren't
1:33
Speaker 3: quite sure what was going on could look to him,
1:35
Speaker 3: and he knew exactly where every receiver on the field
1:38
Speaker 3: was supposed to be, regardless of position. Look, I said
1:42
Speaker 3: last week, I hoped against hope. I guess that they
1:44
Speaker 3: would keep saying I liked cover him, like being around him,
1:47
Speaker 3: and I thought he gave you something at the same
1:49
Speaker 3: time when he was not healthy in twenty twenty four,
1:52
Speaker 3: I mean in twenty twenty three, he really wasn't there
1:54
Speaker 3: to give that to you. In the NFL sometimes you
1:56
Speaker 3: had to move on, but well it looked different. Yeah,
1:59
Speaker 3: but it's gonna to be a room where everybody outside
2:03
Speaker 3: the rookie really needs to be on the same page,
2:06
Speaker 3: and then they bring the rookie along.
2:07
Speaker 2: You know, A word to describe it was joy. I mean,
2:09
Speaker 2: this guy loved to come to work, He loved to
2:11
Speaker 2: be in the locker room around his teammates. Who's going
2:14
Speaker 2: to be that lighthearted guy. We don't know Brian Thomas's
2:16
Speaker 2: personality yet. Christian Kirk is a very low key, serious performer.
2:21
Speaker 2: I don't know who's going to be that guy that
2:23
Speaker 2: keeps it loose and fun, especially guy in the fourth
2:27
Speaker 2: quarter when it's tight and a play needs to be made.
2:30
Speaker 4: Who's that guy? I guess we're gonna find out.
2:32
Speaker 1: Well, we do have Gabe Davis, and we know he
2:34
Speaker 1: can make some big plays as to what we've seen
2:36
Speaker 1: in Buffalo, so that's always an option. Our second big
2:39
Speaker 1: thing this week is look at him because as we mentioned, John,
2:42
Speaker 1: I know this is your favorite time of year, but
2:44
Speaker 1: what can you take away from rookie camp when all
2:46
Speaker 1: the young guys come in and kind of see how
2:47
Speaker 1: things are laid out?
2:49
Speaker 3: Nothing? And when I say that, I mean what's going
2:53
Speaker 3: on on the field, whether this guy is beating this
2:56
Speaker 3: guy or catching touchdowns and any anything away. What you
3:00
Speaker 3: don't want to see is guys where the scouts are
3:03
Speaker 3: coming off the field going to know about that one
3:07
Speaker 3: and that doesn't happen very often.
3:08
Speaker 4: Anymore.
3:08
Speaker 3: But basically this should be a week is what I'm
3:11
Speaker 3: getting at, Brian, where you're just showing guys what it is,
3:15
Speaker 3: what the NFL is. Okay, we'll see in a week
3:18
Speaker 3: when OTAs start, we'll go over this again, go over
3:20
Speaker 3: it again in training camp. This should be an initiation,
3:25
Speaker 3: and I don't think you want to read too much
3:27
Speaker 3: into it. If some kid doesn't look quite ready yet.
3:30
Speaker 2: Oh, it's practice for practice, Kai, I mean, this is
3:32
Speaker 2: where you're going to show these guys how you work
3:34
Speaker 2: and what the expectations are, and just get them familiar
3:37
Speaker 2: with the schoolhouse, so to speak. It's kind of a
3:39
Speaker 2: first day of school experience for them. Know where the
3:41
Speaker 2: bathrooms are and know where the lunch room is, understand
3:44
Speaker 2: where the locker room is and the.
3:45
Speaker 4: Quickest way out to the field.
3:47
Speaker 2: There was a situation years ago where the Jaguars in
3:50
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety seven drafted an offensive lineman out of Colorado
3:53
Speaker 2: State who walking off the practice field. One very high
3:57
Speaker 2: profile offensive lineman once was heard say who is that guy?
4:02
Speaker 2: He can't play at all? And you don't want that.
4:06
Speaker 2: You want everybody to look the part.
4:07
Speaker 1: I can't imagine what lineman would have said that I
4:10
Speaker 1: had might know him pretty well. Maybe our first, our final,
4:13
Speaker 1: big thing today is going to be final additions. So,
4:16
Speaker 1: because the draft is over, free agency obviously behind us,
4:19
Speaker 1: is this the roster set that we're going to look at.
4:21
Speaker 1: I'm sure if he talks to the GM, they'll say
4:23
Speaker 1: they're always looking for players. But Brian, do you think
4:25
Speaker 1: this is kind of the roster we're going to see
4:26
Speaker 1: going into the season with as much.
4:28
Speaker 2: Money as they've got under the salary cap. I don't
4:30
Speaker 2: think they're going to limit themselves if there's somebody out
4:33
Speaker 2: there that makes sense.
4:34
Speaker 4: If there's someone that's cut during.
4:36
Speaker 2: Training camp, you'd have to look at very specific positions,
4:39
Speaker 2: and I think on the defensive side of the ball entirely.
4:42
Speaker 4: A quarterback or a pass rusher.
4:45
Speaker 2: Who can help that with Ryan Nielsen, and someone gets
4:48
Speaker 2: cut somewhere he's been along the way Atlanta, maybe there
4:51
Speaker 2: would be a guy there, So I would say, no,
4:53
Speaker 2: I think there's still a guy or two here that's
4:55
Speaker 2: going to come on and be a big time contributor
4:59
Speaker 2: at some point.
4:59
Speaker 3: This Yeah, it's essentially the final roster obviously, But as
5:03
Speaker 3: Brian said, Trent Balkey likes to leave room for one
5:09
Speaker 3: mid season move, a trade deadline move one way or
5:12
Speaker 3: the other. And I do think no matter what happens
5:18
Speaker 3: with Trevor Lawrence's contract later, with whatever contracts they still
5:20
Speaker 3: have to get done, they'll leave room to make at
5:23
Speaker 3: least one either mid season or training camp acquisition.
5:26
Speaker 2: They really have managed the salary cap exceedingly well. When
5:29
Speaker 2: they started this process of free agency, I wasn't sure
5:32
Speaker 2: because of Josh Allen's contract that they'd be able to
5:35
Speaker 2: be as aggressive as they were, and now to set
5:38
Speaker 2: themselves up with as much room as they've got, they've
5:41
Speaker 2: done a really good job.
5:42
Speaker 4: With the cap this year.
5:43
Speaker 1: Good to have options and that flexibility going into training
5:45
Speaker 1: camp and the season. Stay with us here on Jagsam.
5:48
Speaker 1: As we come back, we're going to look ahead and
5:50
Speaker 1: do our schedule predictions for the upcoming season. Move the freight.
6:07
Speaker 1: Move the freight. Magellan Transport voted the coolest office space
6:10
Speaker 1: in Jacksonville. You can apply online at www dot Magellan
6:13
Speaker 1: Logistics dot com. Welcome back to jag Zam. As I mentioned,
6:20
Speaker 1: we're gonna look ahead to the schedule now. Schedule usually
6:23
Speaker 1: comes out first to second week in May. We don't
6:25
Speaker 1: have an exact date for that just yet, but we
6:26
Speaker 1: do wanna get ahead of things and kind of predict
6:28
Speaker 1: a little bit. We'll play predictor and try to figure
6:31
Speaker 1: out exactly what's going on. We're not always right, but
6:33
Speaker 1: we do try once in a while. So we all
6:36
Speaker 1: took our best guess at what we think some of
6:38
Speaker 1: the Marquee dates on the schedule are gonna be. We're
6:40
Speaker 1: gonna start out with the season opener. We all have
6:43
Speaker 1: a theme here. It's not always true, but sometimes it is.
6:47
Speaker 1: We all stayed within the division for our season opener.
6:49
Speaker 1: I went with the Colts. I'm gonna copy last year.
6:51
Speaker 1: I think it'll be home this time though, one of
6:54
Speaker 1: our home games. But you guys have any reasoning on
6:57
Speaker 1: why you pictures or just kind of going within the division.
7:00
Speaker 2: That that Texans Jaguars rivalry is quietly, you know, a
7:05
Speaker 2: budding marquee rivalry. It doesn't have the status yet because
7:09
Speaker 2: neither team has made a deep playoff run.
7:12
Speaker 4: But watching what CJ. Stroud did last.
7:14
Speaker 2: Year and the division came down to the last game
7:17
Speaker 2: and the rookie took it over the more veteran quarterback,
7:19
Speaker 2: I think the league would look at this game and
7:21
Speaker 2: say it would be a four o'clock game. I think
7:25
Speaker 2: it's in Houston, to be honest with you, and it
7:28
Speaker 2: could be something that could be really compelling.
7:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with Brian about the Texans rivalry. I
7:36
Speaker 3: kind of just leaned the other way that maybe they
7:38
Speaker 3: wouldn't put that as the opener because they think both
7:42
Speaker 3: games will be so important for the division race, but
7:44
Speaker 3: it can easily be the opener. I just kind of,
7:46
Speaker 3: you know, and looking at this, you're really guessing on
7:49
Speaker 3: how they're gonna think because a lot of times it
7:52
Speaker 3: comes down to what.
7:53
Speaker 4: Every game's left.
7:55
Speaker 3: They're not actively thinking about how to do the Jaguars
7:58
Speaker 3: every day or do bad things with the Jaguars, which
8:02
Speaker 3: is what most fans will think on Thursday. So I
8:05
Speaker 3: went with Tennessee just because I think it'll be a
8:08
Speaker 3: division game. I think generally the league sort of likes
8:11
Speaker 3: putting division games in the opener when they can. They've
8:14
Speaker 3: done the colt so often is the opener, and I
8:18
Speaker 3: don't think they'll do the Texans. So guess what the
8:21
Speaker 3: Titans are the team that's left to take. So that's
8:23
Speaker 3: why I went that directly.
8:23
Speaker 1: One other option, let's look at some of what we
8:26
Speaker 1: predict for London. Obviously last year they played two games there.
8:29
Speaker 1: We haven't had that confirmed. There is rumors, there's reports
8:32
Speaker 1: that there could be two games there this year, and
8:35
Speaker 1: if there are two games, we do know that one
8:37
Speaker 1: of those would be against the Bears. So we each
8:38
Speaker 1: have our predictions if there are two games, that's what
8:41
Speaker 1: we're going with. The prediction that if there are two,
8:43
Speaker 1: who we think the opponents would be. So, John, who
8:46
Speaker 1: did you have for yours.
8:47
Speaker 4: With the Bears?
8:48
Speaker 1: Yea?
8:49
Speaker 3: And we should clarify the reason that that would be
8:54
Speaker 3: is when you look at the potential road games, sure,
8:57
Speaker 3: there's really only one that could be and so I
9:01
Speaker 3: went with Chalk there. I went with Cleveland. I don't know.
9:05
Speaker 3: I mean one of the reports said the most likely
9:08
Speaker 3: were either Cleveland or New England. I went with Cleveland
9:12
Speaker 3: because it kind of feels like they would try to
9:15
Speaker 3: put what might be perceived as the better game over there,
9:19
Speaker 3: but that could be one.
9:22
Speaker 2: I know that they had a strong Patriots contingent in
9:27
Speaker 2: Germany last year, even though neither the Colts know, the
9:29
Speaker 2: Patriots were very good at the end of the year.
9:32
Speaker 2: So I went with the Bears for the reasons that
9:34
Speaker 2: you both enumerated, and I went with the Patriots because
9:37
Speaker 2: obviously they have a huge fan base and an international
9:40
Speaker 2: following from all of the Brady years, and I just
9:43
Speaker 2: think as many times as they can get the Patriots
9:45
Speaker 2: in front of a European audience, they're going to want
9:47
Speaker 2: to do it. And without Bill Belichick there to put
9:49
Speaker 2: the brake on it because it doesn't fit, you know,
9:52
Speaker 2: his mantra, I think with a young coach and potentially
9:55
Speaker 2: a new GM, I think that this is a situation
9:59
Speaker 2: where they can coax them over and take advantage of
10:01
Speaker 2: their immense popularity.
10:03
Speaker 1: They had marketed very well internationally, so wouldn't be surprised.
10:05
Speaker 1: I went with similar thought process. I went with the
10:08
Speaker 1: Jets for my Bears, of course, and we mentioned if
10:10
Speaker 1: there is an extra game, it would be that I
10:12
Speaker 1: went with the Jets as well, because I'm thinking Aaron Rodgers.
10:15
Speaker 1: I know when we go there, there's jerseys of every
10:17
Speaker 1: color and every team, but Green Bay is always represented
10:19
Speaker 1: very well. And I know Aaron's not there anymore, but
10:22
Speaker 1: I think some of that might carry over, so I
10:23
Speaker 1: think that's there's some pull there. So that's where I
10:26
Speaker 1: went with my choices on that there's.
10:27
Speaker 4: A lot of optimism this year. There always is when
10:29
Speaker 4: you're doing with the Jets.
10:30
Speaker 2: I mean there are always people that seemingly nonsensically jump
10:34
Speaker 2: on board. I mean, you've got a foty year old
10:35
Speaker 2: quarterback coming back with a bad achilles and yet I
10:38
Speaker 2: have seen people put the Jets at the very top
10:40
Speaker 2: of the AFC.
10:42
Speaker 4: So it would make sense to put the Jets in London.
10:45
Speaker 1: It would. Now let's look ahead to primetime. So last
10:48
Speaker 1: year we had quite a few we if there's any football,
10:50
Speaker 1: Sunday night football, Monday night football. Obviously the London games
10:54
Speaker 1: are technically primetime as well, because they're the only games
10:56
Speaker 1: on where do we think they're going to end up? Here? John,
10:59
Speaker 1: I know you went with two. I think for yours. Yeah,
11:03
Speaker 1: everyone's promised one includes Thursday.
11:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, everyone's promised. Why I went with the Texans for
11:08
Speaker 3: the early reason. I think over the course of the
11:11
Speaker 3: next five years, this game will be on primetime twice.
11:15
Speaker 3: At some point it'll be a four o'clock. Yeah, he's
11:17
Speaker 3: going to turn into the rivalry Brian's talking about. So
11:20
Speaker 3: if I looked at the schedule, it would seem logical
11:23
Speaker 3: that that would be one. They would consider the Dolphins.
11:26
Speaker 3: Both teams had winning records last year. Meet JAG's nine
11:28
Speaker 3: and eight, Dolphins like eleven and six, it would make
11:31
Speaker 3: sense to get that on primetime. It was on primetime
11:34
Speaker 3: on a Thursday a few years back. The state rivalry
11:37
Speaker 3: thing might give it a little percentage edge over some
11:42
Speaker 3: other rivalry. Those two made a little bit of sense.
11:46
Speaker 4: But there's a bunch that could be.
11:48
Speaker 1: Where'd you go with yours, Brian, I think you had
11:49
Speaker 1: a couple of more.
11:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I had three. I don't wait for
11:53
Speaker 4: you to put them up because I've forgotten.
11:54
Speaker 2: I went with the Texans, and if they play a
11:57
Speaker 2: four o'clock game in Houston, and then I would think
12:01
Speaker 2: this would be, you know, maybe the season finale something
12:03
Speaker 2: like that. I like the Dolphins for the same reason
12:06
Speaker 2: that you do. You know, two teams with winning records
12:09
Speaker 2: in Florida. I mean, it could be a Thursday, could
12:11
Speaker 2: be a Monday. There's lots of opportunities for that. And
12:14
Speaker 2: I think the Packers game could be a primetime game.
12:17
Speaker 4: Here. You've got an exciting young quarterback in.
12:19
Speaker 2: Jordan Love who you know, pulled off a huge upset
12:23
Speaker 2: in the playoffs and of course, the Packers are always
12:25
Speaker 2: a great draw in primetime, and the league likes quarterback matchups,
12:29
Speaker 2: and I think they're going to gamble and go back
12:31
Speaker 2: to Trevor Lawrence. They didn't have a lot of success
12:33
Speaker 2: in primetime last year, but I don't think that takes away.
12:37
Speaker 2: I think that would be an end of the season
12:38
Speaker 2: kind of thing because it'd be in the flex schedule
12:40
Speaker 2: with a small market like Jacksonville. But I could see
12:42
Speaker 2: all three of those.
12:43
Speaker 1: I have one similar to you guys, I want with
12:45
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. I could definitely see that being like a
12:47
Speaker 1: Thursday Monday night something, just because of proximity and the records,
12:50
Speaker 1: as John mentioned. But then I straight a little bit.
12:53
Speaker 1: We are going to Buffalo this season, hopefully if it's
12:56
Speaker 1: a primetime game that is in the fall and not
12:58
Speaker 1: in January, because I don't think that be very fun.
13:01
Speaker 1: And then this is a little bit different. I think
13:02
Speaker 1: the Lions primetime in the sense it's Thanksgiving wouldn't be
13:06
Speaker 1: in the evening, but it would be on Thanksgiving. The
13:08
Speaker 1: Jaguars are the only team to never have played on Thanksgiving,
13:11
Speaker 1: So if there's a chance this is the year, I
13:13
Speaker 1: don't know if the lead cares about that, but if
13:15
Speaker 1: they do, this would be the year to do it
13:17
Speaker 1: and play to turn and Thanksgiving.
13:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's a good chance that that happened.
13:21
Speaker 3: I say a good chance, the realistic chance that happens.
13:24
Speaker 3: I didn't put it on there because I just didn't
13:25
Speaker 3: really think that as a primetime game. If you think
13:27
Speaker 3: that's primetime, then absolutely, I think that could happen.
13:30
Speaker 1: It's definitely primetime for eating turkey and stuffing, and you
13:32
Speaker 1: watch football.
13:33
Speaker 3: Technically prime time is.
13:37
Speaker 4: Night, so it's a barkie game though.
13:40
Speaker 3: Marquy, Yes, but I will go prime time for turkey
13:45
Speaker 3: at noon on Thursday, fair enough.
13:46
Speaker 2: And besides just the lines, there's always the opportunity that
13:50
Speaker 2: a Jaguars game could be put on that in that
13:53
Speaker 2: wild card Thursday night, sure, because they've not announced to
13:56
Speaker 2: the teams would be for that yet.
13:58
Speaker 1: Yes, let's look at what we think our regular season
14:01
Speaker 1: finale will be for this year, because that's all of us.
14:05
Speaker 1: That's kind of where I went with mine, in the
14:06
Speaker 1: sense of I didn't put this in my primetime necessarily,
14:08
Speaker 1: but I know kind of when they flexed that Titan
14:10
Speaker 1: game the other year at the end of the season,
14:12
Speaker 1: That's what I could see for the Texans game, because
14:14
Speaker 1: I think they always kind of want a division game
14:15
Speaker 1: at the end, you know, if it's gonna decide the division.
14:19
Speaker 1: I think that matchup against the Texans is gonna be
14:21
Speaker 1: a big one, and that's something I could see where
14:23
Speaker 1: they have the flex availability there for to put that
14:26
Speaker 1: in a in a time frame when a lot of
14:28
Speaker 1: eyes can be on the TV.
14:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, I went with the Colts as because I think
14:33
Speaker 3: it'll be division I kind of think they might get
14:36
Speaker 3: the Texan stuff out of the way. I think it
14:37
Speaker 3: could easily be the Texans. My only hesitancy with picking
14:42
Speaker 3: the Texans is I kind of wonder if the league
14:46
Speaker 3: doesn't sort of think that they're the favorites and might
14:49
Speaker 3: put them against somebody else if they thought that at
14:52
Speaker 3: the end of last season meant Jacksonville's declining. I don't
14:55
Speaker 3: believe that, but sometimes that might play in the play
14:58
Speaker 3: in in in how they schedule games.
15:00
Speaker 4: I want with the Raiders.
15:01
Speaker 2: Just as a throwback, twenty years ago, the Jaguars went
15:04
Speaker 2: to Oakland to play the Raiders in the season finale
15:07
Speaker 2: with the playoffs on the line, and they got beat.
15:10
Speaker 4: By a field goal at the end.
15:11
Speaker 2: So I just harken back to that and think, well,
15:14
Speaker 2: maybe they'll put the Raiders out of this year.
15:16
Speaker 4: We're guessing. So this is true.
15:17
Speaker 1: We are all guessing, and hopefully if that is true,
15:19
Speaker 1: it's a different finish this time around.
15:21
Speaker 4: Well it's a different city, that's true.
15:23
Speaker 1: All right, stay with us. We're gonna come back and
15:24
Speaker 1: do ozone mail bag as we get all of our
15:26
Speaker 1: questions answered by John. After the big Jags fansy can
15:43
Speaker 1: gear up at fanatics dot com with all the latest
15:45
Speaker 1: Jag styles. Shop now and get today's special offer at
15:48
Speaker 1: fanatics dot com. Officially licensed everything in Frittly, Oh, rolling
16:00
Speaker 1: on in love? Your caricature looks just like it?
16:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess it does.
16:06
Speaker 1: We ask the questions here this week. Interesting. I mean
16:09
Speaker 1: we talked a little bit about this, but first questions
16:11
Speaker 1: from Sean. He wants to know, would you say the
16:14
Speaker 1: Jaguars have more depth than last year or about the same.
16:19
Speaker 4: It's hard to say.
16:20
Speaker 3: I guess they have a little more.
16:24
Speaker 4: Depth.
16:24
Speaker 3: Is such a weird thing in the NFL because if
16:26
Speaker 3: you get an injury to it a particular position, then
16:32
Speaker 3: all of a sudden you don't have depth. It can
16:33
Speaker 3: be a perception thing. Meaning remember twenty twenty two, Brian,
16:37
Speaker 3: nobody thought they had any depth, no, and they were
16:39
Speaker 3: able to withstand two significant injuries on the offensive line
16:42
Speaker 3: and a couple in their places and they were fine.
16:46
Speaker 3: Last year they thought they had depth, they got two
16:50
Speaker 3: injuries at receiver and one at quarterback and the season
16:53
Speaker 3: went down the tubes. So it's really all about where
16:56
Speaker 3: you get injured in specific spots. I didn't really think
17:00
Speaker 3: that injury to Christian Kirk would affect them that heavily,
17:03
Speaker 3: and it just seemed to waylay them. So yes, I
17:06
Speaker 3: think they're deeper. I think they have good depth going in.
17:10
Speaker 3: I worry a little about some key players having a
17:13
Speaker 3: lot of miles on the tires on the offensive and
17:16
Speaker 3: defensive line, but going into the season, I think it's
17:20
Speaker 3: a deep team. I think it's well constructed, even though
17:22
Speaker 3: they might add a player too.
17:25
Speaker 1: Well.
17:25
Speaker 2: You know, last year, I think we thought that there
17:28
Speaker 2: was a lot of depth on the offensive line.
17:29
Speaker 4: There were certainly a lot of bodies.
17:31
Speaker 2: And then remember in Detroit they lose Josh Wells, who
17:34
Speaker 2: was going to be that swing tackle for them, and
17:36
Speaker 2: it seemed like it unraveled from there.
17:38
Speaker 4: There were injuries.
17:39
Speaker 2: With Cam there were several injuries at left guard, and
17:44
Speaker 2: it just they never got any traction whatsoever. So it's
17:46
Speaker 2: easy to look and say, oh, yeah, we've got depth
17:49
Speaker 2: in the second week in May, but by the time
17:51
Speaker 2: you get to the start of the regular season, all
17:54
Speaker 2: of that depth is evaporated.
17:56
Speaker 3: And clarify something, no team has the depth to withstand
18:01
Speaker 3: two or more injuries at I mean I say nine,
18:06
Speaker 3: it's rare. It's very difficult to withstand or run on
18:09
Speaker 3: injuries at a position group, especially the secondary, because usually
18:12
Speaker 3: once an injury happens and you get too then all
18:15
Speaker 3: of a sudden, it's.
18:16
Speaker 4: Katie bar the door.
18:17
Speaker 2: But there are a couple of places right in the
18:18
Speaker 2: secondary with the two young corners they drafted. If one
18:20
Speaker 2: of those guys all of a sudden becomes a contributor,
18:22
Speaker 2: whether that's Nickel or having to take some significant time
18:26
Speaker 2: for an injury to Ronald Darby, and up front right,
18:29
Speaker 2: if one of those two young defensive tackles has to
18:31
Speaker 2: work their way into a rotation that seems like it's
18:34
Speaker 2: got a lot of bodies, then.
18:35
Speaker 4: You could have depth. But it's so tough to know.
18:37
Speaker 3: If the league gets set up so that they don't
18:39
Speaker 3: want teams to have depth.
18:40
Speaker 4: Right, that's what free agency is.
18:42
Speaker 1: It's parody, and we'll figure out a lot once the
18:44
Speaker 1: rookie's get in here too, about who's going to be
18:46
Speaker 1: of service to the team right away. Our second question
18:49
Speaker 1: about the offensive line is Rogs Paul from Lake City says,
18:52
Speaker 1: as a veteran center and a fourth rounder really change
18:55
Speaker 1: our line that much? I see a line that is
18:57
Speaker 1: one or two injuries away from being ineffective. Again, obviously
19:00
Speaker 1: we can't count for injuries, but yeah.
19:02
Speaker 3: Plays in the I was saying before, Yeah, I think it.
19:07
Speaker 3: If Mitch Morse is better than Luke Fordner and you
19:11
Speaker 3: get interior solved, and remember everybody talks about they'd make
19:18
Speaker 3: enough changes. I think the team considers Ezra Cleveland a change.
19:21
Speaker 3: I don't think there's a belief that we saw the
19:25
Speaker 3: complete Ezra Cleveland experience last year.
19:29
Speaker 4: So that would be two.
19:33
Speaker 3: If they get that interior offensive line fixed and it's
19:38
Speaker 3: not and you're able to run for half a yard
19:41
Speaker 3: more Carrey, then I do think the offensive line is
19:44
Speaker 3: better in terms of if you get a couple of
19:46
Speaker 3: injuries away. I would say this every team, ideally in
19:55
Speaker 3: the NFL, you want seven or eight good offensive linemen.
19:59
Speaker 3: Most teams have trouble fight and five. So yes, they're
20:03
Speaker 3: probably an injury or two away from not being as
20:06
Speaker 3: good on the offensive line. There might be two or
20:09
Speaker 3: three teams in a league that aren't that way.
20:12
Speaker 1: I think it's also important to mention you do want change.
20:14
Speaker 1: I think they definitely need to make change to that line,
20:16
Speaker 1: but you don't want four out of new five new
20:19
Speaker 1: players on your offensive line.
20:20
Speaker 3: There is it's not realistic to try to do that.
20:23
Speaker 2: What if the change is that Walker Little and Cam
20:25
Speaker 2: Robinson are both available.
20:26
Speaker 4: For sixteen games this year?
20:28
Speaker 2: That's huge, right, I mean that has changed that neither
20:30
Speaker 2: one of them were last year. So what if what
20:32
Speaker 2: you do in the off season, the way that they train,
20:34
Speaker 2: the way that they change their diet. What if that's
20:36
Speaker 2: the change that keeps them on the field the entire time.
20:39
Speaker 2: And what if the young kid from Missouri all of
20:41
Speaker 2: a sudden looks like he's a guy that you could
20:43
Speaker 2: count on if there is an injury. So you've got
20:46
Speaker 2: four offensive tackles, now, two of them didn't play a
20:48
Speaker 2: full season, and Anton Harrison, who's coming off he's probably
20:51
Speaker 2: the most consistent offensive lineman they had as a rookie.
20:54
Speaker 2: There's plenty of change. It just isn't all names and numbers.
20:58
Speaker 1: And I think that's important to remember. It's a good point.
21:00
Speaker 1: Our final question for you, John is from a fellow John,
21:03
Speaker 1: and he says, the addition of Darnell Savage and Jariin Jones,
21:06
Speaker 1: how do you foresee Antonio Johnson's role in the upcoming season?
21:09
Speaker 1: Have to keep that production on the bench.
21:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's hard right now. I think we'll know
21:15
Speaker 3: more in a couple of weeks. I'm not a big
21:18
Speaker 3: hey I look forward Ota guy, but I think it
21:20
Speaker 3: will be interesting to see and maybe get some sort
21:24
Speaker 3: of a feel for how they're gonna play the safety position.
21:27
Speaker 3: There's talk with Darnell Savage and Antonio Johnson playing you know,
21:31
Speaker 3: Nickels safety, Where does do he wingerd fit in. I
21:35
Speaker 3: don't really have a great feel yet for exactly where
21:38
Speaker 3: Antonio is gonna line up. My sense from talking to
21:42
Speaker 3: people about this defense is that the safeties are all
21:45
Speaker 3: gonna have roles and there might be some switching back
21:50
Speaker 3: and forth between Nickel and big safety and big Nickel,
21:53
Speaker 3: you know. So I think this is TBD, but he's gonna.
21:57
Speaker 4: Have a role. I think he's a start.
21:58
Speaker 2: I think he with Andre Cisco will start, and then
22:00
Speaker 2: you'll see Darnell Savage playing with Jari and Jones or
22:03
Speaker 2: whoever the other Nichol is going to be.
22:05
Speaker 4: I think his talent is too good and his potential is.
22:08
Speaker 2: Too high to put on the bench, and he takes
22:11
Speaker 2: ray Sewn Jenkins spot and the.
22:13
Speaker 4: Starting line up.
22:14
Speaker 1: It remains to be seen, but I think there'll be
22:15
Speaker 1: a lot of rotation on defense, especially if they're gonna
22:17
Speaker 1: play running gun as we've described, you know, playing Manda
22:20
Speaker 1: Man all day, you're gonna need a lot of players
22:22
Speaker 1: in there stay fresh and healthy. So it remains to
22:24
Speaker 1: be seen. Coming up after the break, we'll preview our
22:28
Speaker 1: rookie mini camp with what's coming up the rest of
22:29
Speaker 1: the week.
22:43
Speaker 5: For me, it's a well, just completing my game. I
22:45
Speaker 5: was going to my four years kind of like you know,
22:47
Speaker 5: you think about like a senior in high school, like
22:48
Speaker 5: you're supposed to You're supposed to know what to do now,
22:50
Speaker 5: you're supposed to do everything right, supposed to shore the guys.
22:52
Speaker 5: So I'm looking to be a leader and just like
22:54
Speaker 5: I said, take the next step.
22:56
Speaker 1: Out of way. The safety Andre Cisco entering his fourth season,
23:00
Speaker 1: final year of his contract, believe as well. So just
23:02
Speaker 1: talking a little bit about that. He's now kind of
23:04
Speaker 1: after the movement we've seen in the defensive back room,
23:07
Speaker 1: he's a more of a veteran presence this year.
23:09
Speaker 3: Well, he's he and Tyson Campbell are the most tenured
23:13
Speaker 3: guys back there outside of Dewey. So yeah, it is
23:18
Speaker 3: an important It's an important year for him. He has
23:21
Speaker 3: been very very close to being very very good at times.
23:25
Speaker 3: He's also got a step to take before he's what.
23:30
Speaker 4: He wants to be.
23:31
Speaker 3: So I think it's a big year for him.
23:32
Speaker 1: Cisco and Campbell. Consistency definitely gonna be big for them,
23:34
Speaker 1: and staying injury free. Of course, as always, I know
23:38
Speaker 1: rookie Minni camp. We don't get a ton out of that,
23:40
Speaker 1: but we will see them. They head into camp on Thursday,
23:43
Speaker 1: I believe, Johnny. Just you just heading out and make
23:47
Speaker 1: sure everybody can run around.
23:49
Speaker 3: I exaggerate, I say every year with these things, not
23:54
Speaker 3: to get worked up. If you see media reports of
23:58
Speaker 3: this guy isn't what I thought.
23:59
Speaker 4: He would be.
23:59
Speaker 3: This I ran this wrong route. He didn't look the part. Whatever.
24:04
Speaker 3: Just don't get too hyped up about little things that
24:07
Speaker 3: you see. But you do want to see guys that
24:09
Speaker 3: look like they belong and that's what you're sort of
24:11
Speaker 3: going out there to see. Brian Thomas, does he look
24:14
Speaker 3: the part? You want guys to look the part. Just
24:17
Speaker 3: don't get overly worried if they don't shine on the
24:22
Speaker 3: first two days that they're out there.
24:24
Speaker 1: Brian, what are you looking forward to this week?
24:26
Speaker 4: Nothing?
24:28
Speaker 2: Worky minute camp is just from our perspective, offers you nothing.
24:32
Speaker 2: It's all hype, not to coaches, not to the players,
24:36
Speaker 2: but it's conclusions nothing. By the time we get to
24:41
Speaker 2: OTA's no one remembers rookie minicamp. The only rookie minute
24:45
Speaker 2: camp I remember is twenty fifteen because Dante Fowler Junior,
24:48
Speaker 2: the third pick in the draft, popped his ACL in
24:51
Speaker 2: the first ten minutes, and I.
24:52
Speaker 4: Thought, why are we out here with these guys. I'm
24:54
Speaker 4: gonna get him hurt.
24:54
Speaker 2: They haven't been training for this, and now all of
24:56
Speaker 2: a sudden, you go from training to run a forty
24:58
Speaker 2: or bench you know, two twenty five. I've had ver
25:00
Speaker 2: many times you can to actually getting into pass rest drills.
25:04
Speaker 2: This doesn't make any sense and they know that too.
25:06
Speaker 2: There's a fine line that they'll walk with these guys
25:09
Speaker 2: this week so that they are ready to come back
25:12
Speaker 2: for whatever off season they're a part of and mini
25:14
Speaker 2: camp and be ready to go for training camp. So
25:17
Speaker 2: from that perspective where it's all just about being smart
25:19
Speaker 2: and safe, what are we going to get from it?
25:21
Speaker 1: That is the prime thing staying safe. Of course, we're
25:24
Speaker 1: gonna hear from some of the coaches, the coordinators this week,
25:26
Speaker 1: I believe as well, and perhaps Matt House as well,
25:29
Speaker 1: who has that LSU connection with all of our draft picks.
25:31
Speaker 1: That House, So stay with us. We'll check them with
25:34
Speaker 1: you next week and let you know all things that
25:35
Speaker 1: go down here on Jacks.
25:36
Speaker 4: I am