Latest / Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast / DO THE JAGUARS NEED AN OFFBALL LINEBACKER?

Transcript

DO THE JAGUARS NEED AN OFFBALL LINEBACKER? · Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville Jaguar spans welcome in to dovall daily presented by jing Jack.com.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jordan Deluga, thanks so much for being here Wednesday, March 18th, hopefully you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day.
• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right now we are talking about the Jaguar's off-ball linebacker position.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So,
• 0:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously, everyone knows that it's a big Jack's fan.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Devon Lloyd headed to Carolina, signed a big free agent contract, and a lot of fans not super happy with the Jaguar's decision to let Devon Lloyd go to Carolina.
• 0:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the Jaguar's, they basically made the decision internally.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: James Gladstone, et cetera, that paying Devon Lloyd, that type of contract was not the best use
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: In a perfect world, I've said this a lot, like it has nothing to do with the actual money.
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Shotcon would have wrote the check.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It has to do with the Jaguars managing their cap.
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't think that keeping Devin Lloyd at that number, or close to that number that the Carolina Panthers gave him, was smart cap management, was smart roster management.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, if they didn't have a salary cap, yeah, they would have brought him back.
• 1:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And the Jags, even though they're a small market team, they'd be one of those teams in the league that would have the highest payroll every single year, because shotguns willing to do it.
• 1:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the NFL rules do not allow the Jag wars to kind of handle their business that way.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is what it is.
• 1:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a salary cap, you got to work under.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so James Gladstone's decision was, and it's not just James Gladstone, but he's ultimately the,
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: person in charge of personnel.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: His decision was, deven Lloyd, not worth that contract.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: What could lead him to that decision?
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of different things.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think maybe a little bit of a devaluation of the off-ball linebacker position by this regime.
• 2:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe,
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: The fact that they believe in Anthony Campanile's ability to coach up that position and Tim Lu Cobb, of course.
• 2:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe they view the draft as a great opportunity to go get an off ball linebacker because there's a lot of good off ball linebackers in this draft class.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some of which we've already talked about quite a bit, and Anthony Hill Jr. looks like a great prospect.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jacob Rodriguez does too.
• 2:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Think Anthony Hill Jr. is a little bit more of a one to one replacement skill set, stature, all that stuff to deven Lloyd in that position, but there's some great prospects in this draft at off-ball linebacker.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's not even like mentioning the top couple guys.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But you've also got another factor in my opinion.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: And really, that's Ventral Miller.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ventral Miller is a really good player who was competing with Devon Lloyd as recently as a week one of the 20, 25 regular season for the starting job.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had 16 reps in week one against Carolina Panthers and it wasn't garbage time, right?
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was competing.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when Devon Lloyd went out
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ben Joe Miller had to start against the Seahawks, the Rams, the Raiders, thought he played really well.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: He played at different times in different games throughout the season.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: 220 total defensive snaps.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's a good special teams player, too.
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that's really not what we're talking about right now.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about linebacker.
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the question now is, do the Jaguar's actually need to find a
• 4:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: in the 2026 NFL draft, is that a need?
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I watched every single one of Ventral Miller's 220 defensive reps over the last 24 hours, and I firmly don't believe they need a starting off-ball linebacker, because I think Ventral Miller is that dude.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Think if he is the Jack starting off-ball linebacker next to foe, Luke and in 2026, there will not be much of a drop off from Devon Lloyd,
• 4:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, there will be a really high quality player there, and a player who will earn a starting contract, whether that be in Jacksonville or elsewhere, for the 2027 season.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't even blame the Jaguars if they wanted to try to sneak in a little contract extension for Ventral Miller right now.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Get ahead of the game.
• 5:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Obviously not a big one, it would be on the lower end.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: but that would make some sense to me.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Based on those 220 reps that we saw last year, based on the games he started last year, he was damn good.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I got to tell you, playing his butt off is pretty cool to see.
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he's a player that we've seen flash, saw flashes in 2024 despite that defense being a dumpster fire.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: You've seen flashes every year on the practice field.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of people at the time thought it was a little bit of a read.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's coming off injury.
• 5:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: The jags had just literally spent a first rounder and a third rounder on other off-ball landmackers and had voie a lukin under contract.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it's just like, what are they doing here?
• 5:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: But you flash forward.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Vintro Miller's just a better player than Chad Muma ever was.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so, you actually can kind of look at that Chad Muma pick, which at the time I did that as well.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it was kind of like, I like Chad Muma coming out of the draft, coming out of Wyoming.
• 6:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But why are you taking him?
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And maybe the Jaguars were like, well, that was not a very good trick.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Both here's like Chad Muma, not exactly what I expected.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go find another off ball.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm back around the next draft because we love Vintro Miller.
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they actually tried to trade up for Ventral Miller.
• 6:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were unsuccessful.
• 6:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then he ended up falling to pick 122 where they, you know, excitedly turned in that card, right?
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So pretty wild stuff with the value of the off-ball linebackers by Trent Balkan company.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: But going and talking about every single rep I saw from Ventral Miller in 2025,
• 6:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's smart.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he clearly understands his coverage assignments, his gaps he's supposed to be filling defensively as a run defender, his like whether it be in man or zone, he is assignment sound and coverage as a zone dropper, he gets proper depth, the timing of his back pedal in his depth, almost always dictates the quarterback to look in another direction.
• 7:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And my favorite thing about him is just the way he plays.
• 7:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: He plays with his hair on fire, but smart, physical, but smart, aggressive, but patient.
• 7:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I love the temperament he plays the game with.
• 7:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he's fiery, gets guys jacked up, gets excited.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: He hits the crap out of everybody.
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if you're a Titan trying to block him, you better be ready.
• 7:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're a ball carrier coming in his direction, you better be ready.
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: because Ventral Miller is coming for you.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I also like the idea of having him's, if you didn't give him a contract this off season, which, who knows if they would be interested in doing that or not.
• 8:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But,
• 8:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think getting ahead of it could be smart.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if they go into this season and ventral millers they're starting linebacker next to foe, Lua can, I strongly think he is going to have a big year because not only is he just a good football player, he's in a contract here.
• 8:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's nice to have guys trying to prove something in a contract here.
• 8:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just ask the 2025 Jacksonville Jaguars who had Buster Brown, Travis C.T.N.
• 8:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: and Devin Lloyd all have their best seasons as professionals in a contract year.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can use that to your advantage.
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely as a team you can.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now I don't think Vintro Miller needs any extra motivation.
• 8:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: but it doesn't hurt, it does not hurt.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, we can look at the stats as well for ventral Miller.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Had 26 tackles in 220 defensive snaps.
• 9:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Two missed tackles, both of which came against the Las Vegas Raiders.
• 9:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Early in the game, he missed Ashton Gentie in the hole.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, can you blame him?
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was stuff, Simon right there.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ashen genties about as good as they get at forcing missed tackles.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, you know, very clean tackler.
• 9:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Very good in coverage statistically and on film.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Was targeted 14 times in coverage as the closest defender.
• 9:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Five receptions, that's a 35.7% reception percentage.
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: 22 total yards, that's 4.4 yards per catch.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Talk about yards for a target.
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's an insane number, let's see here.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So here's target of 14 times and they ended up with 22 yards.
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, yeah, you're talking about less than a yard.
• 10:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Less than,
• 10:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: like just over a yard per target one and a half yards per target something like that that's awesome um had an interception which was uh uh uh it was a punt basically by Brady Cook from the Jets also had a great forced fumble um against i think it was Tai J Spears of the Titans
• 10:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, pass break up, they only gave him one, but there was definitely more than one on tape.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, you had that one where he was diving against the Titans.
• 10:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Shamera D. K. He was trailing in coverage and look ventral Miller.
• 10:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to lie about like he's not the craziest athlete at linebacker.
• 11:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's just not.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, I don't think you want him a lot in man coverage, again, and I'm not saying against any back.
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like there's a lot of backs and tight ends that he can keep up with in man coverage.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But like the best athletes at tight end in running back.
• 11:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a mismatch, but guess what?
• 11:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a mismatch for almost every lineback room football.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's a mismatch for Devin Lloyd.
• 11:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's not breaking news.
• 11:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: When he was covering Chicago, Conquo, one-on-one in man coverage.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Conquo got a little space.
• 11:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: It didn't end up counting against Vintrell because Conquo kind of bobbled the ball on the sideline.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then who else did he have a little bit of trouble
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, he's trying to cover to Mayor D.K.
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: on a crossing pattern and he ended up getting a passport up on that play, but that's because the ball was thrown behind him.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, yeah, I mean, news flash, you don't want this off ball linebacker covering wider severs, one on one, you don't want him covering the very best athletes on the field, one on one.
• 12:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 12:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's going to be the same case for just about any off ball linebacker.
• 12:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: So,
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And look, the jackwars are not a man to man defense.
• 12:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was very few moments where he was in man to man coverage against players that it was a mismatch.
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Blitzing, I haven't talked about that yet, very good blitzer.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Had four pressures on 28 blitz attempts.
• 12:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: this past year had a sack and there's a lot of times where he's blitzing and he's not the only guy blitzing through the same gap and so his job might be to take out the blocker and free up the other guy and so that's kind of how the Jaguar is operate and that's fun to see.
• 12:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean he's a banshee out there.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: He will hit everything that moves and that's the type of player,
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, against Jacobi Myers, finally enough, kind of, got an unnecessary roughness for picking him up and slamming him like a wrestler.
• 13:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: But hey, if that's your one penalty, I'll take it.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't the best time to get that penalty.
• 13:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's be honest.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think that's probably a learning moment for him.
• 13:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Can't be doing that exactly, can't be executing that style of tackle, but learning moment for sure.
• 13:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've said it already.
• 13:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think if he's the Jaguar starting linebacker next to FOIA in 2026, they're going to be in good hands.
• 13:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're going to be in good shape.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, when it comes to like the depth of the linebacker room and the future of the linebacker room, that's where you can talk about potentially having a need.
• 13:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because I do think Jack Kaiser, based on what we've heard from James Gladstone, is FOIA Luke ends back up versus
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: being a backup at the other linebacker spot.
• 14:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, and then Branson Combs, I like him a lot too, but do you want to rely on an undrafted free agent as your, your fourth guy?
• 14:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I like everything I've seen from Branson Combs really.
• 14:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, so that's where, and then ventral miller, being a free agent in, in 2027.
• 14:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would keep him around as long as you can and as long as he's still playing at a high level personally, he's scheduled currently to be a free agent following the 2027 season.
• 14:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: So you could definitely see some turnover at linebacker over the next few years in Jacksonville.
• 14:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would keep FOIA for a while, I mean, unless you're just like all in on Jack.
• 14:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I mean, I would keep foyer through the length of his contract, honestly, through 2027, the way he's been playing and leading this football team, and then Ventrell, like I said, I would not blame them for extending him on a team friendly deal right now to get him under contract, cheaply.
• 15:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of guys that can extend right now.
• 15:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Travel on Walker, Parker Washington, Britain Strange, Antonio Johnson, and he's on Harrison.
• 15:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited about the linebacker position because boy is a really good player.
• 15:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: We know that.
• 15:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Ventrell is also a really good player.
• 15:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they also have the opportunity in a loaded linebacker class to get another good player.
• 15:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I wouldn't be surprised if I'm, you know, telling you, I wouldn't be surprised if they wait till day three to get a linebacker.
• 15:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Also wouldn't be surprised if like Anthony Hill Jr's there, 56 if they're just like, man, this guy's a stud, absolute stud, let's go get him.
• 16:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: And good luck to any rookie coming in here and trying to compete with Ventral Miller next year.
• 16:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: That will be an uphill battle.
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Ventrell is poised to be the Jaguar starting off ball linebacker next to FOIA a little next year.
• 16:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: But again, future, that's a little bit murkier.
• 16:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's where you can start to say, hey, well, we'll draft a guy that we really value, we really think can fill that role if we don't want to pay Ventrell.
• 16:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think Ventrell is ever going to cost as much as Devon Lloyd did, because let's
• 16:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Former First Round Pick, you see him get off the bus.
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's tall, he's long, he's athletic.
• 16:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had kind of like the year where it's like, okay, if that's a former First Round Pick and he's got that level of town and we remember our scouting of him, he's got to get paid.
• 16:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think Ventra will get that kind of contract, even if he has a similar year.
• 17:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, that's something to keep in mind for sure.
• 17:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I do not think the Jaguar is need to sign an off-ball linebacker.
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've made that clear before I even watched all, I've been trouble miller synapsing in.
• 17:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, the future, that's the question.
• 17:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The present to me is ventral miller.
• 17:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited to see him.
• 17:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me know what you're thinking in the comment section below.
• 17:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoy the content, please like and subscribe.
• 17:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all have a good one.