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What if the Jaguars Still Take a Cornerback Early? · Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville jackwars fans welcome in to do wall daily presented by Jinjak.com I'm Jordan Luger thanks so much for being here Tuesday April 14th we've been talking about Travis Hunter a lot over the last few days and you know he's been the topic of the hour obviously the NFL draft though is next week just a little over a week away
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Very exciting.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Jaguars pick on Friday their first pick at 56 overall for now as James Ladzone put it.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But my thought here I just came up with something it might be bird or brain, it might be big brain, I don't know.
• 0:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: But what if the Jaguars still address corner very early in the 2026 NFL draft?
• 0:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're like, oh, they bark back, Buster Brown, they have Travis Hunter, they have Jarian Jones, they have Jordan Lewis, why on Earth would they still do that?
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well,
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It could give them the ultimate flexibility with Travis Hunter getting back to this conversation where, and I said, you know, based on the current roster, I think he would play, I do think he would play more corner, but that's purely me just looking at the, it's not based on anything other than me looking at the roster, taking a look at what James Gladstone said, where, you know, they have more of a need at corner.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: with the expiring contracts, which I don't think really played out, but I think just looking at the roster, you have three really good starting receivers.
• 1:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Travis Hunter is clearly one of your top two starting outside corners right now.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's no question about it.
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: But what if the Jack Wars drafted another corner that they felt confident putting on the field early in their career as a rookie, like somebody who has locked and loaded ready to go,
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: That would give them, again, the ultimate flexibility with Travis Hunter.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: It would be somewhat unexpected, you know?
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, teams are probably looking at them like, oh, well, they have Travis Hunter, they signed Buster Brown, they have Jari and they have Jordan, like, they don't need to go get another corner early.
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it would be somewhat unexpected for the teams around them and the draft and James Gladstone,
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: asked him about this last week.
• 2:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: He said, you know, we want to keep teams on their toes.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: We want to, you know, just as NFL coaching staffs want to break tendency and study other teams tendencies.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: We do the same thing as a front office staff.
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: We want to break tendency.
• 2:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: We want to do stuff that's kind of unexpected.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not for the sake of it being unexpected, but for the sake of building the best football team you can.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And wouldn't having the ability to not need to have Travis Hunter at corner, not need to have Travis Hunter at wide receiver, be like the ultimate chess piece, the ultimate.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Basically,
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: move that would allow them to just, again, have the flexibility, the ability to break tendency, week to week, game to game, moment to moment, that would be incredible in my opinion.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you say, well, there's other needs, well, the chatwares have 11 picks.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think there's really that many other needs straight up on this roster.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I want the Jag wars to improve their defensive front, their offensive line, their tight end room, but they can do all that and add a corner early.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not saying they have to do this, they need to do this, right?
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it seems like something they should consider just to again, give them that flexibility
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I love the idea of it, and so we've got some candidates.
• 4:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: If the Jack Wars wanted to trade up to make sure they're landing someone who they're like this guy can start right now.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Think if you were able to trade up into the 40s, you could have a potential, and you wouldn't trade up unless you know these guys are available.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, get that straight, but you can potentially have a shot at Chris Johnson.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: who is the highest rated zone corner in football last year in college and just kind of checks all the boxes out of San Diego state other than the name don't love the name Chris Johnson make him Christopher Johnson or something like that CJ I don't know obviously if you've been a jacks fan for a long time you've probably heard the name Chris Johnson more more than you'd like to former Titans running back
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, but yeah, a lot of people kind of, we're just, you know, if there's a question about Chris Johnson, is it his, is it his athleticism, but he put all the questions to bed.
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's got the Hyde at six foot, he's 193, he has big hands, which, you know, big hands are helpful when you're trying to rear out receivers, trying to be disruptive, get your hands on the football.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: His arms are long enough at 30 and 5 eighths inches.
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: ran the 444-R-444 flat, 154-10 split, 38-inch, vertical, 10-6-Brod, 17-Binch press reps.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: He put all the questions to bed, so I think he probably should go before the 40s, but if he was there at like 40 and you could make the right move or shoot.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe the Seahawks would be kind of desperate.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about them before.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're at pick 32.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: They don't have any sort of draft capital in this draft.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you could give up some stuff that you don't feel as too much to give up to potentially get a Chris Johnson.
• 5:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then you also have that fifth year option if you trade it up to 32 to get him.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then you could potentially have Chris John like a thing in long, long term.
• 6:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Chris Johnson and Travis Hunter as your top two corners long-term, that could be fun.
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: He fits right into what the Jaggers are trying to do.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then you also have the Angelo Ponds, who I think is just ready to be a star.
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: I do not think he has to play inside in the NFL, especially not in the Jacksonville Jaggers' own system.
• 6:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really don't.
• 6:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of people want to put him there because he's shorter, but he's got all the physical ability to be derriest Williams plus, in my opinion.
• 6:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: When you are under-sized,
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: You do need to have some elite physical ability.
• 6:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you see the tape.
• 6:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then you also see the fact that Tangelo Ponds ran a 4, 3, 1, 40.
• 7:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just awesome, awesome, athleticism.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He also, I believe he leaped really well.
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, showing that that explosiveness.
• 7:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have no issue with the Jaguar's drafting him and thinking he can play outside.
• 7:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's what he did in college.
• 7:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's not like you're talking about, oh well, in college he played mostly inside, but we project that he can play outside now.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: In college, DeAngelo Ponds was primarily an outside corner.
• 7:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Where is our guy here?
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: At Indiana last year he played 664 boundary corner or outside corner, I shouldn't say boundary outside corner and six reps in the slot like the guys and outside corner.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if they were able to trade up to land a D&J low pawns, I think that that would massively upgrade.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And again, give them that ultimate flexibility to go put Travis Hunter wherever they want, week to week, drive to drive.
• 8:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think some good options at 56, 81, 88.
• 8:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really like Chandler Rivers out of Duke.
• 8:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've loved his game for a long time.
• 8:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like before the Jaguar has picked up
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Or brought back Christian Braswell, and then brought back Buster Brown, I was looking at corners early in the draft consistently and Chandler Rivers is one of those guys I really liked and look again.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: not the biggest guy, but I think he has the ability to play outside corner at the NFL level, even though he's five, nine and a half, he plays tough, he plays physically, comes down.
• 9:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hill, he jumped 39 inches, he ran a four, four flat, 10, 10, broad jump, he's a super explosive player, he's a smart dynamic player,
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll be fine with him.
• 9:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Malik Muhammad out of Texas, daylin' ever out of Georgia, these are two players that I think have more of that physical profile from a size standpoint that teams are gonna be excited about, but I also think that they project well to be able to play in the Jaguar system.
• 9:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like Malik Muhammad, six foot, 182 pounds, 32 and three eighths and charms,
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: One, five, one, 10 split, 39 inch vert, 10, 10 brought like this guy is a great athlete and I think he has really good feel for his own coverage.
• 10:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think Dale and Everett is obviously a really good athlete out of Georgia as well.
• 10:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of options if they want to do this and it doesn't have to even be on day two to potentially get a starter.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: But again, back to Ever at 6196, he's got good length, 43840R-15410 split.
• 10:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: So Ever is a little bit more build up speed when you look at the 10 split and the 37 and half inch of it, but those are still really good.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: 10 for broad, like, still a very explosive player.
• 10:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But he would be lower for me than, you know, Malik Muhammad, who's kind of in that same
• 10:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Devon Marshall out of NC State, I mentioned Chris Johnson was the highest rated zone corner, Devon Marshall, second highest rated zone corner this past year in college football, and 12 past breakups, two interceptions last year.
• 11:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Over the last two seasons, he has 20 past breakups and four interceptions.
• 11:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And again, the second highest rated zone corner.
• 11:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you look at 2025 and run support because the Jaguar is do always care about that.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's something you have to think about.
• 11:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Miss Tackle percentage, 6% stops, 13.
• 11:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Total tackles, 47.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Quarterback rating allowed in coverage is 56.
• 11:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then you look at his pro day.
• 11:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't really show out when it comes to that vertical jump, but I think that's why you can get him on day three, only a 32 and a half inch vert, which is not great.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: But 10 three, broad shows more explosiveness, and the 4, 4, 5, 4 to your dash.
• 11:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: And again, he just knows how to play the position.
• 12:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's why you could get him on day three.
• 12:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think he could still potentially be a starter for you quickly.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, it's me, the guy that still really likes the idea of drafting a corner back early, so you can put Travis Hunter wherever the heck you want week to week.
• 12:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me know what y'all think in the comment section below.
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoyed the content, please like and subscribe.
• 12:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Y'all have a good one.