Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 218 | Analyzing the RB Room, AFC South Free Agency Spending

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 218 | Analyzing the RB Room, AFC South Free Agency Spending · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Welcome to jag Vam this morning. Hindani Stevens here with you,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Brian Sexton, John Oser as well as free agency is
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: behind us now and we're looking forward to the draft,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: a myriad of other things going on in the off season.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Let's talk all about it. We're gonna bring you our
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: big things today. Our big thing Number one is belmo
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: fear of missing out. I think a lot of Jaguars
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: fans were feeling that a little bit during free agency
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: because we're used to a lot of people coming to
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: town and your GM James Gladstone felt that a little
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: bit too, but he's not letting it dictate their strategy.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Beemo sets in a little bit.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: You know, we're all human.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Well, at the same time, it's not uncharted territory for me,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: you know, it's not uncharted territory for Liam. He was
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: with us at the RAMS, and you know, this was
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: an approach that we took in full cycles and it's
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: really one that I know well and feel confident can navigate.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: And really be able to use all the.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Different intervals that lie in front of us to continue
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to shape what will be the twenty twenty six Jacksonville
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Jaguar so it's exciting for my advantage point to know that,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: you know, the start of the league year began yesterday,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: roughly twenty four hours ago, a little less, and it's nothing.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: More than the start ran We talked a little bit
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: about this last week when there wasn't a ton of fireworks,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: and I know people are poking fun at them about
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the comp picks, but really that what they've tried to
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: do is kind of acquire through the draft and through trades.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: Listen, as a seasoned observer of this league, John will say,
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: we're the old guys, right. One thing I learned very
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: early with this group fourth down in the fourth quarter
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: in Week two and Cincinnati last year, is that they're
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: not scared.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: They're not scared of anything.
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: They're not scared of going forward and fourth down, They're
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: not scared of not going to the combine. They're not
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: scared of not being involved in free agent. See, there's
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: always been an urgency in this league about things that
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: need to be done and done in a certain way
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: and at a certain time of the year. These guys
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: are completely asymmetrical to that. They want to do things
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: their own way, and I John just really appreciate the
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: calm demeanor with which he goes.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: He was talking about the complex.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: Right, they're using the compics to look forward into twenty
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: twenty six, like during the season. They want the ammunition
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: to be able to go get a player before the tradeline.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: They've done it successfully around here, So I really just
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: like the way that they're doing things differently without any
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: fear whatsoever.
• 2:37
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I can't subscribe to FOMO because I fear everything
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: all the time. So look, yes, when James Gladstone said
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: this about the compics, so people sort of pointed that
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: out and you know, mocked it if you will. I
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: don't know that the strategy was as much about hey,
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: let's go always grab comp pics. I think he was
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: trying to make the point that this is now cash
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: that they can use to operate around the league. The
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: big reason they didn't be more active in freegency, even
• 3:16
  Speaker 5: signing their own guys. They're trying to get the cap
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: in order and they're trying to have this thing structured
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: for the long term. The benefit of that is that
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: you get compis at any given time. But it's not
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: like he was trying to say, hey, we're gonna give
• 3:30
  Speaker 5: up all of our guys and go get picks in
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: a year. But that plays into when you do things right,
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: that's an added benefit.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Let's go to our second big thing today, because there
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: was one outside edition that the right fit is our
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: second big thing today because Chris Rodriguez, running back who
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: started his career in Washington but went to college with
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Liam Cohen, talked a little bit about why he fell
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Jacksonville was the right place for him.
• 3:57
  Speaker 6: As far as to like, why Jacksonville, I think, you know,
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: it's it's an opportunity. I feel like it was going
• 4:04
  Speaker 6: to be the best opportunity for me. You know, I
• 4:06
  Speaker 6: know Liam and he knows me, and I know the
• 4:10
  Speaker 6: type of standard he expects, and I feel like we
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: can get that done.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Don Liam Cohen was Chris Rodriguez's offenseive coordinator of Kentucky
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: for one year, and he said that was partially the
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: reason they went out and got him. They feel like
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: they know what they're gonna get. What does this fit
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: look like for them?
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: Well, it feels like they got the physical runner that
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: they really didn't have in the backfield last year. The
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: Quinn Allen has a little bit of that, but this
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: guy's big. If you've seen any of his highlight plays
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: if you will on YouTube. He puts his head down,
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: he runs hard. I think what they believe here is
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: last year in two ton ETN they had big play
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: ability at the rain back position. They had outside the
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: tackle stuff, they had speed. What they sometimes didn't have
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: was a guy on first down getting four yards, getting
• 5:05
  Speaker 5: five yards, getting bruising yards, and getting them in second
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: and six and second and five a lot. I think
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: they feel like he can get them in better down
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: and distant situations consistently. Consistently. It may not be as
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: explosive a look, but it might be a more effective look.
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: Down to down, Ryan, Listen.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: He's a guy that runs between the tackles.
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, how many times have you watched highlights of
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: him and see him going right up between the hashmarks.
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: That's not ETN style. That's not the way we've seen
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: Basiel Tooton run. This is a different kind of runner,
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: and much like the wide receiving core where they talked
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: about having three guys at seven hundred yards or four
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: guys at five hundred yards, have three different running backs
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: with three different kinds of styles gives him a lot
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: of flexibility. John last year he had five games for
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: the Commanders where he had at least ten carries and
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: averaged more than five yards per carry. That speaks to
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: exactly what you're talking about setting up second and short
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: or third down. In short. He's a big, using runner
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: and tied say this too. That's what he's been in
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: four years. He was on and off the roster in Washington,
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: on the practice squad, back to the active roster.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: What he could be here in.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: Jacksonville could be completely different how the Jaguars decide to
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: use him, And obviously Liam Cohen knows him.
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: Last year, kai you know, going into last season, all
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: this team talked about was being tough and physical both
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: sides of the ball. Trayvon Walker, Brenton Strange. This feels
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: more like that kind of running game than they really
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: had at times last year. So I guess the fit
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: makes perfect sense to me in that sense.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: It feels like they got another one of their guys
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: for sure to kind of lay the foundation here. Our
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: final big thing today is going to be trade rumors.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: There's been a bunch about this online about Brian Thomas
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Jor potentially being floated as a trade option, but GM
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: James Gladstone spoke to the media last week and he
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: said that's not true. On their end, at least, they've
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: not had any offers, they've not made any moves to
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: move Brian Thomas junior. And he says, well, it doesn't
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: affect him that much. He hopes that's not affecting Brian Thomas.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: And you're hearing all the rumors.
• 7:02
  Speaker 7: It can be very strange.
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: For sure.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: I care more for you know, what weight that might
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: put on Brian himself, right when you know it's it's
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: something that's entirely out of his control and unnecessary. So
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: I think that's where my mind would go, if anything.
• 7:18
  Speaker 7: But you know, when it's fraudulent claims, it's you just
• 7:23
  Speaker 7: keep it get you know, keep your mind on what
• 7:26
  Speaker 7: you can you can focus on and you can actually
• 7:28
  Speaker 7: control and try to do what's best for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Right, And we've been talking about the trade rumors for
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: a while and obviously we're hearing it from the source
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: that's not true. But also a point to mention the
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: offense finally got clicking at the end of the season.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: I have to imagine they're going to want to keep
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: that going and keep as many pieces of that as possible.
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, listen, I mean, god, what was Brian Thomas Junior's
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: signature catch last season? I mean, to me, at least,
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: it was the long catchdown the sideline against the Chiefs
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: Someboday night football that set up the game winner. Without him,
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: they don't win that game, and that's probably their signature
• 8:01
  Speaker 4: regular season win. He's a tremendously talented guy.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: John.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: I like this because we live in a social media
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: now world where anyone can say anything and all of
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: a sudden it goes viral and becomes a story.
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: I like that.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: James Gladstone came out and said, he's a guy, We're
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: not trading him.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Don't worry about it, Brian, we want you here.
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: And that's a guy that you want here because when
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: he's right, he is really difficult to defend.
• 8:27
  Speaker 5: Yet, I think you can understand why people targeted this
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: as a story because he didn't have the numbers that
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: as a rookie, and last year there were situations early
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: where drops were an issue. But I also think when
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: relationships come together, and last year the regime had to
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: figure out who Brian Thomas was and what he meant
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: to their offense, and I think kyie your point at
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: the top. By the end of the season, they figured out, Okay, well,
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: maybe he's not a six teen hundred yard fourteen touchdown
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: you know, alpha one receiver like everybody wants, but he
• 9:07
  Speaker 5: fits into what they do. And James Gladstone in his
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: season ending presser said something really telling about Brian Thomas Jr.
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: He draws double teams and he stretches the defense downfield
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: without him in this dynamic, I don't know that. Parker Washington,
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: Jacobe Myers, Brenton Strange, they don't give you that. But
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Brian Thomas Junior gives you that. And he fits in
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: what they're trying to do offensively. So yeah, I think
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: they do like him and see him as a part
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: of this.
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: But just in case you think he can't be that
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: big number guy, I mean, he played with Jayden Daniels
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: and Malik Neighbors and was clearly not the featured Alpha
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: in that offense at LSU his senior year and had
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: seventeen touchdowns. Why Because the offense worked so well around him.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: He was the most difficult guy for them to cover.
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: They just threw the ball down the field. John I
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: look at him and think in the right scheme, he
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: can be that guy. Again, I get not the alpha
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: one that's catching the ball every single time, but can
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: have big numbers just because of his physical talent.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: And I think that home run ability is there on
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: every play too, which is always a threat and helps
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: open things up. Coming up after break, we're going to
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about this offense, talk about
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: the running backs and what this running game might look
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: like next season.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Chris Rodriguez is, in fact somebody that if you watch
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: the tape, you understand very quickly exactly who he is
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: as a football player, the superpowers that he taps into consistently,
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: and you know, if you draw back to his time
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: at Kentucky, it's remained a constant he is.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: He's very physical at the.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Point of attack. He has a really good pace in
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: his approach to the line of scrimmage and finding the lanes.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Obviously an intimate understanding of the system and how Liam
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: likes to call things. So there's a lot of strong
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: matches just generally from how you know those two in
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: tandem can really work together. And then also our interest
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: in continue to find ways to level up our capacity
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: in the run game to, you know, make it a
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: really balanced attack.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Jagsama general manager James Gladstone talking a
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: little bit about what they saw on the tape for
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Chris Rodriguez, a new running back that they've added to
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: this roster. They're only outside free agent addition thus far
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: in free agency, and I think when we saw that
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: they weren't going to resign Traves e ten, we realized
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: this was going to be a little bit more of
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: a running back by committee thing. Ideally, it seems like
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: that's the way Liam Cohen wants to run this.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Offense, without a doubt.
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: That's the way that he ran it with Rashad White
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: and Bucky Irving down at Tampa. And you want guys
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: who can go and score you eight, nine, ten touchdowns
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: in a season. But they're not going to rely on
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: one guy and one style of running back. John They've
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: got eleven picks. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: find a young running back that they liked in the draft.
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: I'd be surprised if they don't go running back somewhere
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: in the draft. I don't know if it'll be in
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: that you know, they sort of have those their version
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: of premium picks this year, which is their four in
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: the first two rounds. I don't know if he'll be
• 12:09
  Speaker 5: there at the end. When James was talking, I think
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: he told you why they went and got Rodriguez. They
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: wanted to get better running inside. The tackles Travis etn
• 12:23
  Speaker 5: gave them a lot on the outside, but when they
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: were trying to get the consistent yards, I think they
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: felt like defenses at times sort of knew that they
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: didn't have to worry very much about the middle of
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: the field in the running game. And again, I think
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: they believe that they're going to be a better, more
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: productive running offense, not necessarily the big plays, but getting
• 12:47
  Speaker 5: them into you know, second and five and second and
• 12:50
  Speaker 5: six in this league right now is so much different
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: than second and eighth. They believe they're going to be
• 12:55
  Speaker 5: in better situations offensively because of Rodriguez.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: When this trade went down, one of my friends covers
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: the Commanders. He messaged me immediately. He was like my
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: favorite locker room guy and someone we really want to
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: see succeed. We feel like the team didn't use him
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the right way, and they feel like I think he
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: said something to the effective whenever he was on the field,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: you never saw him make a mistake where you were like, oh,
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: that was because of his fault. He's very trustworthy in
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: that regard as well. So exciting to kind of see
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: someone take on a different role because, as we've talked
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: about on Liam Cohen, seem if you earn it in
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: practice and you play well, you're gonna get your playing time.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: And I think I'm excited to see what this looks
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: like come training camp time.
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: Well, he looks like he always falls forward. Yeah, right,
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: and football the eighties and nineties, you know, thats a
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: big thing for a back. If you fall forward rather
• 13:39
  Speaker 5: than falling sideways. Guess what you're in second and six
• 13:41
  Speaker 5: rather than second and eight. He looks like a fall
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: forward guy. And as simple and as crazy as that sounds,
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: that can make a huge difference when you're talking about
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: where the sticks are.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: You just look at the way that the clubs are
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: approaching running back, right, I mean the Draguars let a
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: guy that they knew go into free agency serve of
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: the Seahawks, Right, I mean let their Super Bowl MVP,
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: Kenneth Walker, who looked unstoppable in that game, they let
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: him go they have Zach Sharboneau sitting behind him.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: They might let Zach go next year.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: When you say the position has been devalued, it isn't
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: just about how much you pay these guys anymore.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: It's about how you use them.
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: And it's clear that there are some teams, the Jaguars
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: being one of them. You'd love it if you draft
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: Saquon Barkley and you've got that two thousand yard rusher,
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: although he didn't have two thousand yards and back to
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: back years, didn't have as good a year this year,
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: but you're happy at that position to have three guys
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: that you can use that can help you get to
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: one hundred yards a game, right then help you get
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: to second in short or give you the goal line touchdowns,
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: and you put your money and you put your emphasis
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: in quarterback and pass rusher in those kinds of positions instead.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: And we see we talked a little bit. There are
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: two other rookie guys from last year, Basiell Tuton and
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Quinn Allen. Obviously, the Quinn Allen's really kind of made
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: a name for himself in pass blocking and of the
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: trash talking. In our micd Up series, we love l
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Quinn's but Bachel Tuten got hanged up a little bit
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: last year, and you know, in terms of wanting to
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: keep these guys fresh as you can when you split
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: up the carries a little bit and kind of letting
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: them play to their skill sets. Spacial tutans very fast
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: and he can bounce outside, so maybe when you have
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: a sea rod in the middle, they can kind of
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: play that role. This allows to play his play his
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: best self.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: He's a big, strong guy, five eleven, two hundred and
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: twenty five pounds.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: He runs with power.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: We saw him in that clip with the Commanders against
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: the Jets going up and over someone. I think the
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: important part here is that it's a guy that they
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: know that that Liam Cohen knows, knows how he wants
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: to use him, knows what he's capable of doing.
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: I know that they don't.
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: They didn't throw the ball to him a lot, but
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: one of the things he said on his zoom was
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: that he can catch the ball.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: Maybe that's an area where the Jaguars expand his role.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it was easy to see on the conference call.
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: Why when they were sitting around meetings talking about guys
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: and free agency. I guarantee you in. This kid's name
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: came up. Liam's eyes lit up. You could see how
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: there it could be an action. There's no way Liam
• 16:02
  Speaker 5: would be bringing him in if he didn't know exactly
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: how he wanted to use him. And a Tutan is
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: interesting because I think people assume that he's going to
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: be quote RB one. I'm with you, guys, I'm not sure.
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: I'm not sure there's going to be an RB one,
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: but uh, you know, sometimes people assume that running backs
• 16:22
  Speaker 5: and I fall into this sometimes too, are going to
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: come in and be what they are immediately because it
• 16:27
  Speaker 5: is the position where you can most quickly make an impact.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: But I think we'll see what we expected to see
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: outitutin more last year, which is the unbelievable sudden speed,
• 16:41
  Speaker 5: the power. There's probably more in there than what we
• 16:46
  Speaker 5: saw last year. And you know, Liam has shown when
• 16:50
  Speaker 5: he's got the running backs, he knows how to use
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: different style running backs.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Is this something where my biggest concern, I guess when
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Etn left was kind of how you replace what he
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: gave in terms of flexibility, whether that's catching catching passes
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: out of the backfielder's kind of knowing the offense. Well
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: you think it's gonna be a group effort to kind
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: of pick that up. Is there anybody you could see
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: that could kind of pick up the pass game from there?
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: Well, I think you will see. They carried four at
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: the beginning of last season, remember before they trade to
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: Tank Basby. It would not surprise me to see them
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: carry four again. The presence of the quin Allens sort
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: of makes carrying four sometimes necessary because he's such a
• 17:30
  Speaker 5: good special teams player and and you need him in
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: the passing game for blocking, so he kind of gives
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: you a dynamic that you need to have up. I'm
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: I'm not assuming he'll be the fourth back, but I
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: think you will see a rookie maybe come in and
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: give what you're talking about, uh, the outside, the tackles, uh,
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: the passing, the receiving element. It's a different league than
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: when it used to be just RB one and they
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: have different skill sets. And again Liam has shown over
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: the course of his career he can get the most
• 18:05
  Speaker 5: out of multiple running backs.
• 18:07
  Speaker 4: Well, and you're gotta talk about production, you know, yards
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: per carry and setting up second in short but also touchdowns.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: I mean, that's what you got from etn. He gave
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: you thirteen last year, I think seven and six rushing
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: and receiving. Two years ago he had twelve. Where is
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: the touchdown production going to come from? Well, I mean
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: you could see Brian Thomas having more production, right, Jacobe
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: Myers is here now with more time, you could see
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: more production there. I think Breton Strange is a guy,
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: especially in the red zone, who could be a big
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: production guy. And Tuton can get you some of the
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: Quinn can get you some. There are more options for
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: scoring than this team has had in an awful long time,
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: and so I think you can replace Etn's production in
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: terms of touchdowns. I don't want to say fairly easily,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: because it's never easy to replace that many, but there
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: are ways to get that job done.
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: And don't forget even you know, Tutin didn't have as
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: much as many snaps as Etam. I think he had
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: six touchdowns, So yeah, usage goes up. You'd expect that
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: touchdown level well at match thirteen, which is what Travis
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: gave you. I don't know, but I'm with you, Brian.
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: There's so many. There's eight or nine guys that you
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: wouldn't be surprised to say scoring in a game for
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: the Jaguars next year.
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: Well, and I think you could probably what if you've
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: got five touchdowns on average from each of those three
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: running backs that we've talked, you could see Laquin being.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: A five touchdown guy, right, math guy. Yeah, But listen,
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: if you can.
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: Get that kind of production, you five to five and five,
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: that's just as good as having one guy that you're
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: paying thirteen million to to give you thirteen big.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Hold the field. But it'll be a group effort and we'll
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: see how it kind of all shakes out a little
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: bit later on, and later on in the show after
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: the break, we're gonna talk a little bit about what's
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: going on in the AFC South.
• 19:40
  Speaker 8: Right now, welcome back into Jags Am. Today.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little bit about what's going on
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: is the AFC South. Not a lot going on here
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: for free agency, but it's not true for the rest
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: of the division. We'll start up with the Titans because
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: they had a lot of work to do and they're
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: spending a lot of money two hundred and six five
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: million dollars already in free agency. They brought in fourteen
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: free agents. Eleven of those guys either played with Robert
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: Sala or a new offensive coordinator Brian Table, and they're
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: bringing in the people that they know, which is kind
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: of makes sense. Obviously they've been around the league. They
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: want to bring in their own guys. But a lot
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: of money. Listen, they have a lot of money to spend.
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: I get a twitch when I hear that much money
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: spent by one team and one free agency period, probably
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: because we've seen it around here and not work. And
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: you look at they and the Browns and the Raiders
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: just I mean, they spend so much money and I
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: just you want to pick up the PHONEO, guys, and
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: you look at we've seen that before. That to me
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: does an equal success. You can look at the Colts,
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: and you can look at the Texans, and we're going
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: to talk about them and the things that they're doing,
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: and you can see where they're headed.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: But when you look at just sort of that you.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: Know, dump of players and that that exodus of cash,
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: and you think, yeah, I mean, if it doesn't all hit,
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: if it doesn't all line up perfectly, you're going to
• 21:03
  Speaker 4: be chasing your tail for an awful long time.
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, you can do it that way if
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: you're bringing them in on the right contracts and saying, Okay,
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: we're gonna get familiar guys, build our culture, and then
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: get back to drafting soon. The story up there is
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: whether or not cam Wore develops. But I'm with you, guys.
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: You know, I got a lot of emails from fans
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: talking about Jaguars aren't doing anything and the rest of
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: the division is getting better around them.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: We'll see. Listen.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: The calendar to the argument that I just made is
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: the twenty seventeen Jaguars where they went out and brought
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: in you know, Kalais and aj Boyer and spent a
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: lot of money that year.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: But it happened one year, and it was a.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: One off as well, because we all know how it
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: went after that exactly.
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: So if they get if somehow the quarterback in Tennessee
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: plays well this year and they get things rolling, it
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: might sustain itself for a short period of time, but
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: it doesn't equate to long term success.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: So well, they are in that phase. They've been the
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: worst team in the.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Division, and they have the money to spend. They haven't.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: So you've got to get you know, it's hard. You
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: got to go in steps. I say about getting out
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: of the abyss, which this franchise had to do. You
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: got to go in steps. Once you're there, you got
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: to build on it. We'll see it. It's a difficult
• 22:22
  Speaker 5: path to spend your way out of the bottom.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: We will see how it plays out, for sure. The
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Cults also spending a bunch of money, but most of
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: that was to keep their own guys. Obviously they're going
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: to keep Alex Pierce and Daniel Jones around. You know,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Jones trying to get back to the start of the season.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: We'll see how that goes. We're going to follow that
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: rehab process for him. But they liked what they saw
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: last year and they spent a lot of money. Sauce
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Gardner also, obviously the trade during the season seems like
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: they're going on.
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: Listen when we talked about Jason Tatum on the show yet,
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, you covered the Celtics, you covered pro.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: Basketball, be impressive, and that's a I feel like.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: It's forty one weeks.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: It needs more out of a different kind of athleticism.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: So for him to come back and play basketball. I
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: don't know if they had the same surgeon, but they're
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: using new techniques for achilles, So I'm curious to see
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: if this is actually feasible for him to do. He's
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: obviously younger than what we saw Aaron Rodgers was dealing with,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: so he has the ability we'll see.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: I haven't counted weeks, but it was forty one weeks
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: from surgery to Jason Tatum's return to the hardwood. So
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: the question now is is how long will it take
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: this quarterback to be ready to go? And will they
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: will they start him, I mean, will they be ready
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: to go with him or will they try to bring
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: him along slowly and see if they can lean into
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: their running game a little bit and stay alive long
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: enough for him to come back.
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you would think he's been a good mobile quarterback
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: in the right way for a while, meaning he hasn't
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: always looked around, but he can run. You would think
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: at first they would probably prefer him to be a
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: little less bow of war in the pocket. I think
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: he can do that. To me, it almost felt like
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying this is a negative. It almost felt
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: like the Colts had to do this. We talked about
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: it on the showlast year when they went after Sauce Garden,
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: they sort of went all in. They were seven and
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: eight and one at the time. So I think they
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: got in a situation where if Daniel Jones was a
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: better than fifty to fifty sixty forty percent chance of
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: being the same guy he was in twenty six, you
• 24:22
  Speaker 5: almost felt like you were sitting around their meeting rooms
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: then saying, you know, this is what we sort of
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: have to do because we've looked like a Super Bowl
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: team early last year.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Let's go back with that.
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: It doesn't work, you know, I don't know if this
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: is a given, but it's probably their best option in
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: terms of a two year plan.
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: And you had to go too for one, right, you
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: could not have him stand back in the pocket and
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: not have that receiver who I think is tremendous I
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: love watching.
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: It and developing, and a young player who is who
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: seems to be getting better in a lot.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: Of areas and really tough to defend.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a Jonathan Taylor team. We can't forget that.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've got to build around a running back
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: when you have the best runner in fat and.
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: You've only got a little while with the back, So
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: to go to to Daniel Jones might make sense in
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: terms of timing it'd be interesting one to follow.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: The Texans relatively quiet compared to those other two. They
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: did extend Demil Hunter, so unfortunately he's going to terrorizing
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: Jaguars fans for a little bit longer. And they're revamping
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: their O line again. I don't know if they've figured
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: it out yet or if this iteration will work, but
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: still trying to find a way to protect CJ.
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: Stroud.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: We'll see if it works this time.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: I think the best way to protect him is to
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: get that running game. I mean two years ago, Joe
• 25:32
  Speaker 4: Mixon was a revelation for them. It looked like he
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: had finished his career in Cincinnati. They brought him down.
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: He was a thousand yard rusher, and I remember the
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: two games against the Jaguars in particular. It didn't seem
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: whether it was third and seven or third and two,
• 25:44
  Speaker 4: they that they could stop Joe Mixon and that that
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: led to the ability of CJ.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: Stroud to play to his best.
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: If Montgomery, who they traded with the Lions for, is
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: near his ceiling, then CJ.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: Stroud will have a much easier time.
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: It's hard, as we all know from covering this league
• 26:05
  Speaker 5: for a while. It's hard to be great everywhere, And
• 26:08
  Speaker 5: to me, the Texans are great in a lot of spots.
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: On defense, they have a great defensive line, They are
• 26:14
  Speaker 5: big time everywhere on the wall. You know, it's hard
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: to be also be great when you got that great,
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: It's hard to be great everywhere on offense, and I
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: think that's sort of what they're trying to do. Revamp
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: the offensive line. Are they revamping it? Are they just
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: searching for answers. It feels like they're searching for answers.
• 26:32
  Speaker 5: I kind of get why, because they're so good everywherehere
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: else that's their spot, and they're just trying to sort
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: of let's figure out if we can hit it right
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: this year and get it going with this unbelievable defense.
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: Their defense is such a dominant to me, the scariest
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: defense in football, absolutely.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: So we'll see what they can build around on offense. Say,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: let's here on jagsaon will tell you what's coming up
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the rest of the weekend, the rest of the month.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Jags fan's time to lock in your seats for twenty
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: twenty six. Place your deposits now. Next season is going
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: to be at EverBank Stadium, but obviously the construction going
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: on right now in full fourth so limited seating because
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: of those In Bowl renovations, So don't miss out on
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: your chance to get into the stadium for some of
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: these really big matchups this season. You can head over
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Jaguars dot Com slash tickets to get that locked in today.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: And they're breaking stuff down. Every time I look over there,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: there's a new crane flying by, there's building up the ramps.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: It's all coming together.
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: I was at the Saint Augustine Rotary Club yesterday and
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: there was someone that told me that they came downtown
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: just to see it. They'd heard people talking about it,
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: so they drove up here to see it and they
• 27:42
  Speaker 4: were stunned at the seats being gone. I mean, they
• 27:45
  Speaker 4: don't drive by it every day like people.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: Do up here. It was it was shocking.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Did the struction absolutely. So. Now that we've gotten past
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: free agency, it's kind of draft time already. I know,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: normal we're talking about draft weeks and weeks before because
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: we're trying to look ahead. But fortunately for us this year,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of good stuff happened, playoff runs and all that,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: so we're gonna start looking towards the draft. I know
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: they're having draft meetings in the building. John, this week,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: what's the focus kind of look like. I mean, we'll
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: be doing our mock drafts and all those fun things.
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: We're gonna bought the second round?
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Sure, why not?
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: It's tricky.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: We can't gamble, so we'll just try to guess.
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's uh. I think we're gonna see this
• 28:30
  Speaker 5: year the first draft where James Gladstone is sort of
• 28:37
  Speaker 5: channeling his inner Rams, meaning they traded a lot of
• 28:42
  Speaker 5: picks when he was with the Rams. There's into fifty six.
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: I think we saw hints of it when he spoke
• 28:48
  Speaker 5: last Thursday. Draft picks as currency doesn't necessarily mean you're
• 28:53
  Speaker 5: gonna trade them all, but he sees them as a
• 29:00
  Speaker 5: currency to use the entire year, not just draft weekend.
• 29:05
  Speaker 5: When you say things like that, people who had never
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: heard that before can quite figure it out. But it
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: got you Jacobe Myers last year. Yeah, and they really
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: do believe that player acquisition is a three sixty five thing,
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: not a three day thing.
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: And that's different, right, I mean, that's something completely entirely different.
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: They are thinking asymmetrical to the old way of doing things.
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: Here's the other thing. And you may have heard this,
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: but there's a lot of jockey to get into the
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: twenty twenty seven draft. The top of this draft, for
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: whatever it may lack, it's a good draft. But apparently
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: next year's draft is really good, and so teams are
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: looking at their rosters and trying to leverage the opportunity
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: to get more picks in twenty twenty seven. And so
• 29:44
  Speaker 4: from that perspective, John, you can see why they think
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: a couple of competitory picks, you know, fourth fifth.
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: Round picks in a really good draft would go a
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: long way.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: So many picks.
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: Here's the other thing that they end with. Jacks don't
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: have a number one pick, but they do have four
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: the top hundred. They have four the second and third round.
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: So there are opportunities to get good football players, guys
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: that you consider to be future starters in the third round.
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, you got three of those.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: We got the time. We're gonna start deep diving into
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: that in the coming weeks. But we'll see next week
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: here on Jacks, I am