0:18

Welcome to the Touchdown Jaguars podcast

0:21

. Here are your hosts , James Johnson

0:23

and Bill .

0:24

Smith Jaguars podcast . Here are your hosts , james Johnson

0:27

and Bill

0:29

Smith . All right , ladies and gentlemen , welcome to

0:31

episode 81 of the

0:33

Touchdown Jaguars podcast . I

0:42

am your host for today's episode , riding it solo , james Johnson , aka at sportsgrind

0:45

underscore done on . As you all know me slash

0:47

X , as some people label it now Coming in to you

0:49

all with a another solo

0:52

episode Well , somewhat solo episode

0:54

as Phil , my

0:57

co-host and longtime partner in crime

0:59

, he wasn't able to make this

1:01

episode . He's dealing with a toothache wasn't

1:05

able to make this episode . He's dealing with a toothache . I told my man to , you know , get some

1:07

pain meds in them and , um , get some rest , have

1:09

a seat , I'll take care of it . It's all good

1:11

. So get well soon , phil . We'll

1:13

have Phil on the next episode . Hopefully he'll

1:15

be feeling a little better and , uh , he'll get

1:17

to see the dentist soon . But , um

1:19

, yeah , I told my man , as always , man , I got

1:21

it . But despite uh , phil

1:24

not being able to make it due to his

1:26

situation , we still had a guest on

1:28

, ian Valentino of the 33rd team

1:30

, and me and him had a good long conversation

1:33

which I'll play in an audio clip form

1:35

in just a little bit . So it

1:38

was still like a

1:40

two person panel podcast

1:43

still nonetheless , a

1:48

two-person panel podcast still nonetheless . And shout outs to Ian for coming on and helping me avoid

1:50

a situation where I was on the air ranting and raving like I always

1:52

do in the solo episode . So

1:54

you guys give Ian a shout out

1:56

because he did probably

1:58

save you a James Johnson rant

2:01

or two . Nonetheless , we

2:03

had a good episode , great conversation

2:05

in regards to the NFL

2:07

draft . That's what he does for the 33rd team

2:09

covering the draft , covering all season

2:11

news as well , but mostly the draft

2:13

. So we discussed the Jacksonville

2:15

Jaguars heading into the draft . I

2:17

know a lot of you have seen his mock

2:20

that is doing rounds on

2:22

Jaguars Twitter because he has us

2:24

trading up to . I think

2:26

it was the number 13 overall spot to

2:28

get a certain receiver from Washington

2:30

, which a lot of people

2:33

would be happy with , including myself , who

2:35

is labeled as the number two wide

2:38

receiver in this draft . So that would be very

2:40

interesting to see if it happened . A lot

2:42

of people have been quote , tweeting it , discussing

2:44

it on twitter , um , especially

2:47

within the jaguars fan base , and expressing

2:50

how excited they would be about that . So I thought

2:52

it would be a perfect guest to come on

2:54

and discuss that a little bit more in

2:56

depth . And not just that , but the jaguars

2:58

whole outlook heading into the draft and a little

3:00

bit of the AFC South's outlook

3:03

we spoke on , and just a

3:05

little bit of draft prospects

3:07

and general draft discussions

3:10

in terms of the 2024

3:12

NFL draft . That will be coming up in

3:15

just a few weeks . But

3:17

before we get into that , of course we

3:19

have to plug all our handles and , you

3:22

know , inform you all of how you can

3:24

stay up to date with the touchdown jaguars

3:26

podcast . Of course you can follow

3:28

the website wwwtouchdownjaguarscom

3:32

, where we have posted a little bit of written content

3:34

on as of the last few weeks . Phil did a mock

3:37

draft last week . I did four

3:39

takeaways from the josh allen contract

3:42

extension which is gonna be

3:44

a topic of discussion . We'll save that

3:46

until Phil is back on the podcast . Me

3:48

and Ian talked about it a little bit . We

3:50

went into that a little bit when we discussed the Jaguars

3:52

offseason . But me and Phil

3:54

will circle around to it and talk to it as

3:57

a , you know , as a duo , as a pair , as

3:59

we always do on the next episode

4:01

. But yeah , phil did a mock draft before

4:03

that , which he said it might be his only

4:06

one , or he said it would be his only one

4:08

of this year , but I think I

4:10

might convince him to do one more

4:12

full seven round mock , like a madman

4:15

like myself , just

4:17

to keep things interesting on touchdown jadwarscom

4:20

. But you can follow me at sportsground underscore

4:22

done on Twitter , as I said earlier , in the podcast

4:24

slash X . You can follow

4:27

Phil at Phil the Filipino on

4:29

Twitter and you can follow the podcast handle at

4:31

TD Jaguars pod . And then

4:33

, lastly , but certainly not least , we

4:36

must shout out our sponsor

4:38

, seat Geek , who has been with us from

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the beginning , or very close to the beginning

4:42

At least . They join us around the third

4:44

, fourth or fifth episode

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in as our sponsor . So

4:50

shout outs to them . And for those of you who are new and

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not familiar with SeatGeek

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and what they do , that is your go-to place

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for your ticketing needs . Whether it's for a sports

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event , which we cover of course we

5:02

cover the Jacksonville Jaguars or

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even outside of the Jacksonville

5:06

Jaguars and outside of the NFL , they

5:09

have your ticket and needs . Whether it's for the

5:11

NBA , which is in full swing they're about

5:13

to go into the not

5:15

the finals , but the NBA playoffs . Baseball

5:18

is in full swing right now . The season just

5:21

begun for them . So things are interesting

5:23

from that perspective in terms of how your favorite team is going to start the season just begun for them . So things are interesting

5:26

from that perspective in terms of how your favorite team is going to start the season

5:28

off . And not just sports , but they

5:30

also have your ticketing needs for your music festivals

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, uh , for your concerts

5:35

, for any other events , you name it . They

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have it on seat geek and they got you covered

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in terms of your ticketing needs there

5:42

, and me and phil have you covered with our special

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promo code that will save first time

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users $20 off of their

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first order with SeatGeek , and

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that promo code to

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get that discount is Touchdown

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Jaguars . Again , that's Touchdown

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Jaguars , all caps lowercase

6:00

, however you want to put it in . Once you

6:03

apply it , you'll get your $20 off

6:05

and also you'll help us quote

6:07

, unquote , keep the lights on here at

6:09

the Touchdown Jaguars podcast . So

6:11

, whether you have the app , which is

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the preference download the app , the SeatGeek

6:15

app , or you go

6:18

to their website , you can use their promotion

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code . Again , touchdown Jaguars , get

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your $20 off . Keep that in your pocket

6:24

. Pocket for gas , which is kind

6:26

of expensive these days , or food , which is

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also kind of expensive these days and

6:30

enjoy yourself at whatever event

6:33

it is that you would like to attend using

6:35

that promotion code . So , all of that

6:37

said , we'll get right into the

6:39

podcast itself , or the audio

6:41

clip itself , with me and Ian Valentino

6:44

, who does draft work for the

6:46

33rd team and offseason

6:48

work with them as well . It was a great conversation

6:51

. It was a long conversation too , but that's how I like

6:53

it when I'm doing a one-on-one

6:55

with our guests , and we will

6:57

go ahead and roll that right now

6:59

. All

7:18

right , ladies and gentlemen , welcome to another edition of touchdown jaguars

7:20

. As you all know , the draft is coming up in just a few weeks and just

7:22

to get everybody ready and prepared

7:24

for the draft and

7:26

what the Jaguars could or may

7:28

not be doing , we wanted

7:31

to bring in some guests who cover

7:33

the draft and who have been doing so for a long

7:35

time . So , that being said

7:37

, I reached out to Ian Valentino

7:40

of the 33rd team . As you all have

7:42

seen , he covers a lot of

7:44

draft related stuff

7:46

for the 33rd team , which is

7:48

a site that Jags fans often visit

7:50

, by the way , and I think Doug Peterson has even

7:52

written articles for him . So there's

7:54

that . But , yep , he covers

7:56

a lot of draft stuff , a lot of offseason stuff as

7:58

well . We will have him come

8:01

in and discuss some

8:03

questions we have in regards of

8:05

some conversations we've been having on the

8:07

podcast amongst Phil and myself , but

8:10

we want to get an outsider's opinion

8:12

on some of these things . That being

8:15

said , ian , I

8:17

want to introduce you and for those of you who want

8:19

to follow him on Twitter

8:21

, it's at NFL

8:24

Draft Study and

8:26

he actually put some content up within

8:28

the last few days I think today as well , so

8:30

feel free to go check that out . But , ian

8:32

Valentino , welcome to the podcast

8:34

. Just feel free to introduce

8:37

yourself and let the people know

8:39

about your work and what have you .

8:41

Yeah , thanks man , I super appreciate it

8:43

. I think I've written for pretty

8:45

much every site at this point throughout

8:48

my years . I've been doing this a long

8:50

time and always really

8:52

fun to jump on these and talk , ball

8:54

and kind of project forward

8:56

what's happening . And yeah , I just dropped a mock draft

8:59

today over there and

9:01

so definitely we're

9:03

in full-blown speculation mode at this point

9:05

. I think most evaluations are pretty much wrapped up

9:08

. We've seen most of free agency

9:10

, hopefully , I mean , you know , you never know

9:12

maybe another Stefan digs type trade happens out of

9:14

nowhere . But uh , barring anything crazy

9:16

like that , I think at this point it's just a matter of

9:18

, uh , what we think we know versus

9:20

what we do know , and then reading

9:23

through the smoke screens and just trying to project

9:25

where guys fit the best absolutely

9:28

, absolutely , and it looks like you've done a great

9:30

job .

9:30

I looked at your mock of doing that

9:32

and that's our starting point . Actually , I'll

9:35

just go ahead and start there . Um

9:37

, in the mock I saw that

9:39

you had the jaguars taking somebody , that

9:41

fans and

9:43

for the fans who haven't seen the mock draft , feel free to

9:45

go check it out but fans have really

9:47

really been high on this idea

9:49

. And this player in Romo

9:51

, dunze of Washington , the

9:53

receiver , you had us train up to

9:56

the number 12 spot to do so

9:58

with Denver . Of course , denver would move

10:00

back to our spot at

10:02

number 17 in that scenario and

10:04

you know it would probably cost some you

10:07

know some additional compensation . It would

10:09

, without a doubt , cost some

10:11

additional compensation . But

10:14

, that being said , yeah , as

10:16

you mentioned and I'll have you kind of break

10:18

down your thought process with

10:21

that trade and that selection

10:24

, as we all know , they lost Calvin

10:26

Ridley , so that had something to do with it

10:28

. And also , in

10:30

addition to your thought process on

10:32

that , could you break down what

10:35

you think he would bring to this offense , as

10:37

they've really really been looking for that guy to

10:39

pair with Trevor Lawrence . And then

10:41

, lastly as well , one

10:44

of the more interesting things that we've

10:46

had conversations about internally

10:48

as Jags fans and Jags

10:50

journalists is you know , why

10:54

would Rome or some of these other guys

10:56

that we're seeing fall ? Why would they

10:58

fall within striking range for the Jacksonville

11:01

Jaguars ? So if you would just kind of elaborate

11:03

on all of those things all

11:05

at once , yeah for sure .

11:07

So I start with the team

11:09

need , and I think Jacksonville first of all

11:11

has a pretty strong roster . You

11:14

look at the step chart , look at the guys that they've brought

11:16

in and the guys that they've lost over the

11:18

years . But that's going to happen , right

11:20

, those are natural ebbs and flows . And look at the

11:22

guys that they've drafted recently . For the most

11:24

part it's not a perfect roster , because that just doesn't

11:26

exist , right . But look at the strengths and

11:29

weaknesses of the roster and I think for the most

11:31

part , most of these starters are pretty well

11:33

established and if not , they've

11:35

got guys that they've taken in the last two years

11:37

that are backup types or

11:39

guys that are possibly still ascending , and

11:42

it's a really good place of strength . Losing

11:44

Ridley stinks , but

11:50

paying that price for him just wasn't an option , and even if they brought him back

11:52

at a much more reasonable number , the team still lacked a number one type

11:55

of receiver . I think Ridley was fine . Was

11:57

he worth the trade ? I thought he was worth the

11:59

roll of the dice . He just wasn't really that

12:01

superstar , and so I don't blame

12:03

them for not paying him . And so when I look at this roster

12:06

, look at where Trevor Lawrence was last year . Look

12:13

at the future of the offense , I just think that chasing that guy who can be a star makes so much sense

12:15

, and it makes sense right now to push the chips in on someone who's

12:17

on an affordable rookie contract , who

12:19

can make an impact , hopefully right away . And

12:21

that's where Rome comes in a little

12:23

bit more . Even if Jacksonville stays at 17

12:26

, though , I still think

12:28

that this is the right draft to take a receiver

12:30

pretty high , even if you miss out

12:32

on those top three guys which I think most people have

12:34

Harrison , navers and Odunze ahead

12:36

of everyone else . I would struggle

12:39

to put anyone else up

12:41

in their class , just considering everything that those guys

12:43

put on film and then tested as well as they did

12:45

. So , um , I do think that Jacksonville

12:48

could be one of those teams and even go as high as nine

12:50

. Like I look at Chicago at

12:52

number nine and say that team is definitely motivated

12:54

to move back . Does it cost you

12:57

maybe another you know second round pick to do it

12:59

? Maybe , but with the strength of the roster

13:01

, maybe you can get away with a pick next year instead of this year . I

13:03

don't know , but it's definitely a conversation

13:05

that I would have because of the needs of the team and

13:08

the way that this draft class is structured

13:10

, what you do want to add to this team in terms

13:12

of depth . I'm okay

13:14

losing maybe a day two

13:16

and a day three pick , even to go up to 12

13:18

. I'm going to try to get up like a third and a fifth

13:20

, not like a second and more , but

13:25

I think that this is the team that's in the right spot to be aggressive

13:27

. And so , looking at Rome specifically , yeah

13:29

, he might go number nine , he might be gone

13:31

by number nine . But I do think

13:33

that once things settle in and we

13:35

get to draft night and we go through

13:37

the draft process every year and I tend

13:39

to think that Us

13:42

, as predictors and analysts , we

13:45

tend to overstate even quarterbacks

13:48

and even wide receivers a little bit . Generally

13:50

, someone falls and someone may

13:52

fall further than what we think . I've had a mock

13:55

where I think I had neighbors going . I

13:57

think it was like 14th or 15th . It's

14:00

not a's

14:02

a very real possibility that all of these

14:04

teams look at the offensive line class and

14:07

then they maybe reach on an edge defender

14:09

and maybe reach on the second

14:11

cornerback . Quinion Mitchells is probably number

14:13

one , then you probably have Terry

14:16

and Arnold If two of those guys go in the

14:18

top 14 picks , one

14:20

of these receivers has to fall . It's just

14:22

inevitable . So the way that I

14:24

use these mocks is to say well , if X

14:26

happens , then what happens at Y ? And

14:29

so my , my theory is , is that either four quarterbacks

14:31

go in the top four or in the top six

14:33

. If that happens , and if Los

14:35

Angeles , at five , doesn't take

14:37

a receiver , there's a very real chance

14:40

that it may be Rome , it may be neighbors , but

14:42

one of these guys is going to fall to nine or 10 . And

14:44

I think that's where you're going to start seeing like one of these guys is going to fall

14:46

to nine or 10 . And I think that's where you're going to start seeing like one of these teams

14:48

probably try to trade up , like we used to see with uh , I think it was Chris Olave right

14:50

, it was , uh , the saints moving up for Olave and

14:52

then Detroit moved up for Jameson Williams . I think

14:55

that's what this class will probably

14:57

bear out . And so Jacksonville has

14:59

a really great space because they're not as

15:02

far back as maybe Kansas City , some of these teams

15:04

that might make a huge trade-up , so

15:06

they can give up a little bit less and then offer a little bit more

15:08

stability to these teams that want to move down a

15:10

couple of picks without sacrificing

15:13

their target . So for me , if I can get

15:15

Rome , I think he's the cutoff . Like I mentioned

15:17

, he's got the size , 6'2" , he's

15:19

fast , he's a perfect prospect

15:21

. I don't think he's necessarily as athletic as he tested

15:23

. He was on Feldman's freak list

15:26

. He definitely lived up to that at his combine

15:28

performance . But he is very , very good and

15:30

he would bring something new to this offense that Jacksonville

15:32

just doesn't have . His downfield receiving ability

15:34

, strong hands , his timing at

15:36

the catch point , his body control these

15:39

are all things that someone of his build , someone

15:41

that's maybe not the quickest out of breaks

15:43

, someone that's not the most explosive in the open

15:45

field . He's not someone that's going to create a ton after

15:48

the catch , based on what we saw in college

15:50

. He's going to go vertical and he's going to run

15:52

comeback routes . He's going to run out routes

15:54

and he's going to run go routes and he's going to do those

15:56

at a very , very , very high level , and

15:58

that's all this offense really needs . Look at Calvin Ridley

16:00

. Faced the second most press attempts last

16:02

year . His game was totally on

16:05

. I just just wasn't ready for it is

16:07

uncut for that role , and so Rome can

16:09

step into that role and excel into it , and so

16:11

it brings a new dynamic to the offense and

16:13

maybe he can even do more than what we saw at Washington

16:16

. That would be an intriguing part of this . He was only

16:18

asked to do those things . So maybe I'm wrong . Maybe

16:20

he can come in and run a full route tree and do some of these

16:22

other things . I think that that's the risk

16:24

that you take , and if you can't move up for

16:26

someone like that , or if Rome

16:28

goes too early , I'm still looking at a move up

16:30

and looking at someone like Brian Thomas Jr out

16:32

of LSU or Adonai Mitchell out of Texas . I don't

16:35

think you have to move up for Adonai , but I

16:37

think for Thomas you might have to . Maybe

16:39

just a couple of picks just to lock him in . I think

16:41

Indianapolis can be pretty interested in him . So

16:44

for me , it's about combining the situation

16:46

and the needs and

16:52

then also cashing in on these assets and operating from a place of

16:54

strength . It's not desperation to move up . It's more so being confident in your roster

16:56

.

16:57

Yeah , a few good interesting points you

16:59

made right . So the whole

17:01

aspect of you know it's the inevitable

17:03

that somebody will fall , normally

17:06

due to premium positions right

17:08

Quarterbacks , defensive

17:11

ends , edge rushers , so on and so forth

17:13

. But the Jaguars have benefited from

17:15

that in the past multiple

17:17

times . There were times where

17:20

, for example , they benefited from

17:22

. That's how they got Josh Allen is

17:24

. He was pushed back to what I think it was seventh

17:26

overall . And here we are , which

17:29

we'll actually talk about this later . Here we are . He's received

17:31

a contract extension but they were lucky to

17:33

get him where they were . You know he wasn't

17:35

supposed to be there and there's been some

17:37

others . You know Jalen Ramsey . You know , if

17:39

you want to , technically he fell a little

17:41

bit . You know below where

17:44

people expected him to fall . The Cowboys

17:46

were the team that you know a lot of people

17:48

were looking at for him and you know , while he's

17:50

no longer on the team . What I'm saying

17:52

is , my point is you make a great

17:54

point that these

17:56

things do happen in the draft , and normally the Jacksonville

17:59

Jaguars in the , you know , the last decade

18:01

or so have benefited from it in

18:03

some way , shape or form . And then also

18:06

, you mentioned something that I found

18:08

interesting too the whole aspect

18:10

of getting a receiver on a cheap

18:12

deal . Right , that's something I've been stressing

18:15

too , while I mean , now that they've done

18:17

the Josh Allen deal , they do have a good

18:19

amount of cap space . They could make

18:21

a trade for one of these guys that we keep

18:24

hearing about , like T Higgins

18:26

, or you know , one

18:28

of the other receivers out there , justin Jefferson

18:31

, if he's even on the trade block , but

18:33

those are going to be expensive

18:35

contracts to take on

18:37

when they serve those deals . Brandon Iyuk

18:40

is another one . And also

18:42

, you know what we're hearing is this team

18:44

wants to extend Trevor Lawrence , so

18:47

to have to pay a receiver what they would have to

18:49

pay a veteran receiver that I just mentioned

18:51

and pay Trevor Lawrence , you know

18:53

that's going to be a lot of money

18:55

to invest this year . So

18:57

yeah , you know you're right , like that's

18:59

something that I've kind of hammered home here

19:01

is , you know , getting a rookie

19:04

on a control contract at that Y

19:06

or zero position , and

19:08

you know that would definitely , definitely

19:11

help the arrow to point upwards

19:13

for Trevor Lawrence to get his deal this year . That

19:16

being said , my next question here

19:18

, ian , is so

19:21

you we just discussed receiver being

19:24

a need for the Jacksonville Jaguars . What

19:27

are some other needs that you feel like

19:29

this team needs or

19:31

should attack ? For me , receiver

19:34

is the top one . For me , it varies depending

19:36

on who you ask within the Jaguars fan

19:39

base and Jaguars media , but

19:41

for me , receiver is first , and that's

19:43

why I love this situation of getting Rome

19:45

in the first round . But

19:47

you know , I don't think cornerback's too far

19:50

behind . So I want to know your takes

19:52

on their other needs and how you

19:54

rank them .

19:55

Yeah , my eyes went to the defensive backfield

19:58

too , and this is where it's kind of

20:00

tough because we don't have access to the practices

20:02

and we have to be careful

20:04

with our preconceived notions and our biases

20:07

. And so , for me , I look at some of their

20:09

2023 picks . Right , like some of these guys didn't

20:11

make huge impacts on

20:13

a team that had a bunch of veterans in front of them

20:15

and that's not , you know

20:17

, in damnation on these guys and their

20:19

talent . Like Tyler Lacey , fourth

20:21

round pick last year , can he play ? Maybe

20:24

Can you see her ? Abdul play ? Maybe

20:26

Can Ventral Miller play ? Maybe

20:29

we just don't know . And the

20:31

guys that obviously the coaching staff is going to

20:33

have a lot of confidence in their evaluations

20:35

either way . And so , if

20:38

they're confident in those backups and

20:40

even secondary guys Christian Braswell

20:42

, draft the last year . Monteric Brown , 2022

20:45

guy so we

20:47

are a little bit more skeptical and

20:49

I think that's what leads to draft day . Surprises

20:52

is when we're skeptical

20:54

or confident and then this coaching

20:56

staff is telling us hey , we're actually not

20:58

, we're the opposite of whatever you are . So I

21:01

do look at that defensive backfield . Ronald Darby , really

21:03

nice player guy , can play , but he's

21:05

a one year at aat-a-time type of guy right now

21:07

, tyson Campbell . Obviously I think he's

21:09

ascending , I think he's an asset for

21:11

the unit , but there's not a lot of answers

21:13

behind that . Are they confident in Darnell

21:15

Savage ? I know they brought him in from Green

21:18

Bay . I don't think that you could walk into

21:20

the season saying this is for sure the

21:22

answer to this position for

21:24

the next definitely past this season

21:26

. Maybe he ends up having a great year , maybe

21:28

it's a better situation for him , but

21:31

maybe it's not . And so I think adding

21:33

some versatility back there , whether it's , I

21:35

do think adding like a pure cornerback as

21:37

an outside starter would make sense . I do think

21:39

adding some depth at the safety position there's

21:42

a lot of guys in that room , but

21:44

I think that if they walked out with the right player

21:46

, maybe

21:52

on day two , if they don't trade up , it wouldn't shock me if they walked

21:54

out with the safety . But it just might not be someone that plays a lot year one . It might

21:56

be almost like a platoon type

21:58

of role or a rotational type of role that

22:00

as the season progresses you're

22:03

going to see that guy start to take over a little bit

22:05

more . For Savage , I

22:11

would look at left tackle . I'm a little bit curious what they want to do there . Is Cam Robinson

22:13

the answer , long-term or is Walker Little going to be on

22:16

the roster past this year ? If not

22:18

, it makes sense and you talked

22:20

about this when you're extending all of these guys

22:22

, eventually you have to get cheaper at other places

22:24

. So Cam Robinson's already on a veteran

22:27

deal . He's already someone that he's

22:30

proven himself . He's a good starter . But

22:32

could you get someone similar on a rookie

22:34

deal either this year or next year , maybe

22:37

day two ? This is a great offensive tackle

22:39

class . Or do you make

22:41

that pick round one and then you immediately

22:44

make the financial decision right after the draft

22:46

? Sometimes we see that , especially June 1st

22:48

rolls around , you see some surprising guys get cut

22:50

. I wouldn't say that it's the biggest need

22:52

. But where the roster is , you

22:55

don't need a tight end . You don't need half

22:57

the offensive line positions . You've already invested

22:59

there , don't need a running back . You

23:01

don't really need . Ideally

23:04

you're not going to need much help at the

23:06

pass rusher positions . Hopefully Trayvon Walker

23:08

is going to be that guy . I

23:11

think that that keeps things very tight

23:13

. It keeps it within scope to say probably

23:16

by the end of round three , I would guess

23:18

that they're going to walk away with a defensive back and

23:20

maybe an offensive lineman as well , we could

23:22

potentially see a defensive front seven position

23:24

. But if we do that's more of a reflection

23:26

on , like , if they're not super confident in Devin

23:29

Lloyd , like , then that's not a good sign

23:31

for where Devin you know his career is

23:33

maybe heading if they take a line middle linebacker

23:35

or inside linebacker . So it'll

23:37

be fascinating to see from an outsider's

23:39

perspective . I think it's pretty clear . But

23:41

if we walk out of there and you're telling

23:44

me in round two they take a tackle

23:46

, then for me it's saying OK

23:48

, they have a very clear succession plan

23:50

that they want to make or they view this player

23:52

as a potential guard .

23:54

Yeah , you hit the nail on the head about the offensive

23:56

line , right . Especially

23:58

with Cam Robinson . You have to think

24:00

, while they , you

24:03

know they could want to keep him

24:05

I have reminded

24:07

people of this with Cam Robinson . If

24:09

I can recall , back when

24:11

they signed Cam Robinson to his extension

24:14

, the Jaguars were looking at

24:16

Teron Armstead first

24:18

, if I can recall , if my memory serves

24:20

me correctly , during that free agency period

24:22

, and he ended up signing with the

24:25

Miami Dolphins . And then that's when

24:27

, you know , we heard the news of them signing

24:29

Cam Robinson . So it looks like they had somebody

24:31

higher up on their priority list

24:33

, and specifically Trent Baalke , in

24:36

terms of what they wanted to do . That you know that

24:38

year . Now look , we've been

24:40

two years into that contract that

24:42

Cam Robinson signed and you know

24:44

he's been serviceable . But

24:47

another thing with him to keep

24:50

in mind too is not only

24:52

you know how much he

24:54

costs in terms of the salary , he's

24:57

also been injury prone

24:59

. You know let's just call it what it is At

25:01

the end of many , many

25:03

years that he's been with the Jacksonville Jaguars

25:05

in the month of December . You know he's

25:07

been with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the month of December

25:10

. You know he's been on the sideline and

25:12

that's the most important month for a team in

25:14

football , especially

25:19

for your young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence . So , yeah , I mean , you can't take offensive

25:21

line off of the table and , as you said , this is something you hit the

25:23

nail on the head with as well is you

25:25

know the guard situation with as well is you know the guard situation

25:28

? Yeah , they , you know , restructure

25:30

Brandon Scherf . But you know you

25:32

, you have to think , and I think they restructure

25:34

this deal to where he's just got one year on the left

25:36

on his deal . You got to start looking

25:38

at a plan to you know get

25:42

past him who . He's one of your oldest , you

25:44

know players on your roster too . So , um

25:46

, yeah , I mean like , if they stay put

25:49

, I wouldn't be surprised if they look at one of

25:51

these offensive tackles for Wago

25:53

or whoever you know . Maybe somebody slides

25:55

and falls to him and you know

25:57

, maybe they look at him at guard for one

26:00

year or something like that . We'll see in time

26:02

, we'll tell . But

26:07

I do think Trent Baalke would prefer to get somebody who can be an immediate starter

26:09

in round one , just looking at how he kind of operates . So that's why we kind

26:11

of gravitate towards the

26:14

, the cornerback position

26:16

and , as you have , you know , discussed

26:19

the wide receiver position , which I can definitely

26:21

see them trading up if they

26:23

are willing to , you know , give up the compensation

26:25

. But yeah , that , I mean that cornerback

26:27

position is something to look at with

26:30

Terry and Arnold . Because

26:33

, keep in mind , with Darby kind of going back to what

26:35

I said with Robinson , right , darby

26:37

has an injury history too , so

26:39

he's had a few major injuries there and

26:42

while he would probably be serviceable for one

26:44

year he played great ball for the Baltimore Ravens

26:46

last year you probably want

26:48

a longer term option there . So , arnold , you

26:50

know he would definitely be somebody you

26:52

look at there . If he's available , as

26:55

you said , he may go a little sooner , but

26:58

time will tell on it . But yeah , I mean , I agree with

27:00

a lot of what was said

27:02

there in terms of you

27:05

know those other positions worth looking at , said

27:07

there in terms of you know those other positions worth looking

27:09

at , especially cornerback and with the offensive line , with

27:11

it being as deep as it is in this draft

27:14

, that's definitely whether

27:16

you need a offensive

27:18

lineman or not . Teams need to be looking at that

27:20

position because this is a deep

27:22

group in terms of , you know , building

27:24

in the trenches offensively , deep

27:27

group in terms of , you know

27:30

, building in the trenches offensively . So my next question

27:32

is I

27:36

actually go to some offseason news here , which you know you cover some offseason stuff Me

27:38

and you discussed that beforehand with the 33rd team . I want to

27:40

ask you what do you think about

27:42

the offseason that the Jacksonville

27:44

Jaguars have had so far ? And

27:47

, as we all know , yesterday they

27:49

and I kind of mentioned this earlier and said I would circle

27:51

back to it they signed Josh Allen

27:53

to a contract extension . He becomes the

27:55

richest Jaguar ever , second

27:58

highest paid defensive

28:01

player , if I'm not mistaken . I had

28:03

to look back at that . But yeah , what are your

28:05

thoughts on the offseason that they've had

28:07

and how they've gone about things ?

28:10

Yeah , I mean they've been a little bit limited

28:12

, right . So everyone knew the situation with

28:14

Ridley . I think taking

28:16

care of Josh made a lot of sense and

28:18

it's just those costs are going to climb

28:20

. If they could have taken care of that last offseason it

28:23

would have been nice , but the player

28:25

knew his value and he banked on himself and ultimately

28:27

he walked away with a huge deal because of it . But

28:30

, uh , when you're a team

28:32

like this you're you've already spent a lot of money , you're

28:34

working around the edges , the margins are

28:36

tight , and so I

28:38

think what they did they did pretty well

28:40

, considering what they were working with . They upgraded

28:42

at center to get Mitch Morse on a

28:44

nice contract , very team-friendly

28:47

, considering he's a guy that is going to be an upgrade

28:49

Bringing in Gabe Davis

28:51

. I probably could have done without

28:54

, but the cost wasn't huge

28:56

and it looks better now

28:58

that Ridley has departed and

29:00

maybe they saw the tea leaves there and they clearly

29:03

didn't want to match that deal . I mean , ridley

29:05

said it himself , like how are

29:08

you going to turn down that money ? That

29:10

was an insane offer . So

29:12

, defensively , eric Armstead awesome pickup

29:15

. Another guy that has to stay healthy

29:17

. That's part of it , right , they

29:19

hit free agency because they're flawed or

29:22

because their contracts are so big . But once

29:24

that big money is paid out , you're paying for guys towards

29:26

the end or guys with some of

29:28

these injury concerns . I thought Darby was a nice pickup

29:30

. He's had a really good career . Everywhere he's been

29:32

he's been pretty good . It's the injuries

29:35

it's the same thing with him . So if

29:37

this group can stay healthy , it's a very nice

29:39

offseason , considering where they were

29:41

. Look at the guys who maybe walked out of the door

29:44

. I don't think that it's

29:46

one of those off seasons where it's like

29:48

I'm kicking myself because we really

29:51

lost a lot of talent . I think this team's going to be able

29:53

to reload pretty easily . Obviously

29:55

, hitting on draft picks is never simple , but

29:58

I thought they made the right gambles

30:00

and

30:03

I thought they did it at positions that made a lot of sense . The positions that

30:05

you've got to be really good is the trenches . You've got to be really good , as the trenches you

30:07

got to make have like the playmaker , I think they're in

30:09

position to go chase the playmaker Now

30:16

. If they don't and we're talking after the draft in their current top four receivers

30:18

are Gabe Davis , zay Jones , christian Kirk and Devin Duvernay I'm a little concerned

30:21

. I I'm not sure if that's enough

30:23

, hopefully . And you mentioned some of the other vets

30:25

. Well , maybe there's something down the pike coming

30:27

, maybe like a Brandon Ayuk or someone

30:29

. Now

30:31

, that would be that'd be a game changer , right , like that happens . And then you totally

30:33

reevaluate the team's outlook , but

30:36

anything short of that . I

30:38

thought you know you rolled the dice on Mac Jones , like

30:40

that's . It's a nice backup . Teams

30:43

need a backup . It's

30:51

just kind of funny that it ends up being a guy that was in the same draft classes as Lawrence , but

30:53

it's an upgrade , considering . You know , I'd rather play him than CJ Beathard . So it's kind of a quiet

30:55

offseason , just with those couple of headlining moves . Ultimately

30:57

, I'm just most intrigued as to what's next

31:00

, because it felt like at receiver

31:02

there's just there was so little that anyone could

31:04

do like . The only real big name that got

31:06

moved off the top of my head is Diggs Buffalo

31:09

. Maybe they would have traded you him

31:11

, but I wouldn't want to pay Stephon Diggs , at 30

31:14

, 31 years old , $25 million

31:17

. I'm good on that . I watched the second half of his season

31:19

last year . He's closer

31:21

to not great than great , probably

31:24

good for one year , but a team like this isn't

31:26

in position to do that . So good

31:28

offseason , I think you know it always comes

31:31

down to the draft . They're like you've got to hit on these picks

31:33

and bulky . I think there's a lot of pressure

31:35

there to to get someone . Like you said , not

31:37

only is that his MO , but this team could

31:40

use a rookie impact player

31:42

and I think at 17 , it's

31:44

pretty realistic to find that player

31:48

and I think it's 17 .

31:48

It's pretty realistic to find that , yeah , yeah , it's funny

31:51

you mentioned Balky because , um , we give him a hard time on

31:53

our podcast and the fan base in general and I think the

31:55

key for him right is for

31:57

Trent , I'll

31:59

give him this . He's been good in the first round

32:02

with the Jacksonville Jaguars . Um , not as much so with when

32:04

he was with the 49ers , but with the Jacksonville Jaguars . Not as much so

32:06

when he was with the 49ers , but with the Jacksonville

32:08

Jaguars he's been pretty good

32:10

in round one . I mean , trayvon Walker

32:12

had 10 sacks last year

32:14

and he took a huge step heading forward

32:16

. I mean , trevor Lawrence is Trevor Lawrence

32:19

. I mean , I guess you kind of backed into that one and

32:21

lucked up . That's like getting a winning lottery ticket

32:23

, but

32:27

you know that one went well for him . So , and Anton

32:29

Harrison was , you know better than people

32:32

you know want

32:34

to give him credit for last year and he's expected

32:36

to take a big step this year too

32:38

. And not only that . You know people think he's

32:41

the left tackle of the future . So that's

32:43

kind of why you kind of question Cam

32:45

Robinson's timeline with his team . But

32:48

yeah , his key is going to be outside

32:50

of that first round . He has

32:53

to hit outside of the first round . This

32:55

can't be a one contribution

32:58

class like he's had Now

33:00

you could say his first class , where he got Lawrence

33:02

, tyson , campbell , walker , little . You

33:04

know he got some contributions out of that one , but

33:07

ever since it's just really

33:09

just been a situation where he's

33:11

just coming out of these classes with one impact

33:14

player . So you

33:16

know that'll be something to watch in how he fares

33:18

outside of round one . And then you

33:20

mentioned the backup quarterback situation

33:22

with Mack Jones situation

33:30

with Mack Jones , and you know , I think , what they probably were thinking there is . You look at Doug

33:32

Peterson's history again as somebody who's written with the 33rd

33:34

team , if I'm not mistaken , and he actually

33:36

this article . He

33:39

actually wrote an article about

33:41

the importance of having a solid quarterback room

33:43

altogether , not just a solid QB one , but

33:45

a solid quarterback room all together , not

33:47

just a solid qb1 but a solid

33:49

quarterback room all together

33:51

and what they probably were thinking

33:53

there , you know , mac jones , former first round

33:55

pick , all we got to give up is a six

33:58

. This is a guy , as you said , a

34:00

upgrade over cj pathart , somebody

34:03

who's seen much , you know , and

34:05

seen way more play time than CJ

34:07

Bethard . This is a guy that really

34:09

helps us from that standpoint and

34:12

not necessarily a guy that they're looking

34:14

for to push Trevor Lawrence . But , as we saw

34:16

last year , trevor Lawrence was banged

34:18

up and you , you know and

34:20

Doug Peterson has stressed this You're going

34:22

to need somebody to come in here and

34:24

there and win a game or two for you

34:26

as your quarterback too . I

34:28

mean , look no further than what he did with Nick Foles

34:31

right , and that's , you know , the

34:33

best year he's ever had as a coach is because

34:35

Nick Foles was able to pick

34:37

up where Carson Wentz left off

34:39

and get him to the Super Bowl . So you

34:42

know , I totally get that

34:44

pickup as well with

34:46

Matt

34:48

Jones there as well . He's also a Jacksonville

34:51

kid , so this is somebody

34:53

they've probably been looking at since high school , probably

34:56

dating back to that far . We'll

34:58

pivot and go back to the draft real quick

35:00

, ian . I

35:02

was mentioning Trent Baalke

35:04

having to , you know

35:06

, hit on picks outside of round one . I want to ask

35:09

you this , and I know a lot of your mocks

35:11

are , you know , round one mocks and nothing

35:13

outside of that . But still , um

35:15

, you know we've seen your work , man , we we know

35:17

you got some gems in mind . So

35:20

who are some gems at

35:22

these positions that we mentioned of need for the

35:24

Jacksonville Jaguars right Offensive , tackle

35:26

guard , cornerback , wide

35:33

receiver ? Who are some gems that you think are worth looking

35:35

at when it comes to guys that they may need to

35:37

target or that they may target

35:39

outside of the top three rounds , if they weren't

35:41

able to address it early in the draft ?

35:44

Yeah , yeah , it's a great question , and I do

35:46

have a seven-rounder coming up

35:48

here soon , so I'll

35:50

be starting that sooner than later , cause that's always an undertaking

35:53

. Yeah , no , I think this

35:55

is a great , great class to

35:57

really look at that garden tackle position . Guys

35:59

that can swing inside or outside

36:01

. You're looking for length , you're looking for guys who are

36:03

quick off the ball , but

36:05

they do have the luxury here too , right , like they

36:07

, they may have the luxury of developing

36:10

someone in 2024 . And so

36:12

that opens up a whole new scope of guys you

36:14

can look at . You can talk about Nathan Thomas . He's

36:17

going to be a tackle out of a university

36:19

of Louisiana , the raging Cajuns , right

36:21

, so they can go get something like that Six , five

36:24

, three , 30 moves pretty well , um

36:26

, really nice in the run game , but his past

36:28

pro needs work . And then a lot of these guys on day

36:30

three are going to need that . Right , like that's going to be a similar

36:33

talking point on day three . You

36:35

want athletic guys that need

36:37

real reps in practice

36:39

, going against Josh Allen , getting their butt

36:41

kicked for a year , adding functional

36:43

strength in the weight room and working with

36:45

NFL coaches . So a lot of these guys

36:47

are going to have that type of MO . Garrett

36:50

Greenfield he's from South

36:52

Dakota State , 6'6" , 310

36:54

pounds , could be a guard , could be a tackle . I know teams

36:56

like him at both spots . The jump

36:58

in competition is going to be the question there . Can

37:00

he handle that ? Delmar Glaze

37:03

he was a tackle at Maryland . I think he's

37:05

going to be a guard in the NFL . He's 6'4"

37:07

. Doesn't quite have the length . Same for a

37:09

guy like Keaton Bills out of Utah

37:11

. Played all over the line at

37:13

Utah . I think he's going to be a guard . He's

37:16

a pretty powerful guy , downhill guy

37:18

, more so than an athletic person . He is

37:20

athletic but he's also 330

37:22

pounds , so he's not someone that's just going to be

37:25

as svelte as they come . But

37:27

he can learn from Brandon Scherf and I think that's

37:29

almost a natural player to take over

37:31

for Scherf because the play style is so similar

37:33

. If you want more of a tackle

37:35

, maybe round four

37:38

. It's so hard to tell Sometimes these guys

37:40

don't get there . But Roger Rosengarten out

37:42

of Washington he's a little bit of a younger guy . He

37:45

definitely needs some reps . I think

37:47

his play strength is not quite where it needs to

37:49

be . He really reminds me of Rob Havenstein

37:51

for the Rams . He's been a longtime

37:54

starter in this league , someone

37:56

that I was too low on coming out of Wisconsin

37:58

when Havenstein came out . Rosengarden

38:01

is very similar to that . Maybe he

38:03

goes in round three , but he's a natural

38:05

right tackle . Do you maybe

38:07

, then , want to move someone to the left tackle in 2025 ? Like

38:09

Harrison ? Do you move him over there ? Or do you see , then , want to move someone to the left tackle

38:11

in 2025 , like Harrison ? Do you move him over there ? Or do you see Rosengarden's

38:13

traits being good enough ? That's one of those key questions . But 6'5

38:16

, 310 pounds , he's got the size

38:18

, so I think he'd be a nice

38:20

fit too . Do you get lucky

38:22

, like , how deep do you want

38:24

to go here ? Do you want to take a chance

38:26

on , you know , maybe , someone that doesn't quite

38:28

have that pedigree ? Or

38:30

do you want to take a chance on , you know , maybe , someone that doesn't quite have

38:33

, uh , that pedigree ? Or do you want to take a chance on someone that might be an outlier ? Uh

38:35

, a name Dankwa out of ? Uh

38:37

, I'm blanking on where he's out of , but he's a guy . He's six

38:39

, eight , three , 53 . Um , he

38:42

is really reminiscent and we went

38:44

to Howard , that's right , he's Howard kid . Um

38:46

, he is almost like Dwan Jones

38:48

. Now he didn't play at Ohio state like

38:51

Jones did and Jones was dominant and

38:53

he had a great rookie year for Cleveland . But

38:55

he has this massive frame and we've seen some teams

38:57

, like the Ravens , really love these massive

38:59

tackles and find success with them

39:01

. Uh , so some of this is a little bit

39:03

. You know Frank crumb Wyoming another guy . He's

39:05

huge Six , eight , three , 13, . One of the most athletic

39:07

tackles in the draft . Do you want

39:10

to be a little bit weird and move one of these guys

39:12

inside ? I like that . I like moving

39:14

tackles inside . But if you want

39:16

a pure guard , this draft has so many of them

39:18

. I mean , there's going to be guys on day three that are pretty solid

39:20

starters , like I mentioned a couple of them . But

39:22

do you even go to like

39:25

Michigan Zach Zinter coming off of a major

39:27

injury , major leg injury , it

39:29

wasn't ligament related , it was broken tibula and

39:31

fibula but do you want to

39:33

take someone like that and redshirt him essentially

39:36

for this season ? I think that's pretty smart . So

39:38

I like those guys . If you're looking

39:40

at receiver , it's always kind of

39:42

hard . I don't love the day three receivers this year

39:44

. I really don't . One of these guys

39:46

are going to fall , but Jalen Polk out

39:48

of Washington . Javon Baker out of UCF

39:50

third , fourth round options . Bigger

39:53

body dudes we talk about getting

39:55

off a press . Jamari Thrash

39:57

out of Louisville he might be a fourth

39:59

rounder . He's more of a route runner , he's a little bit more

40:01

of that Calvin Ridley type

40:03

of playmaker . I

40:07

think that would be a good value and someone that can actually work into

40:09

the rotation . It's just not someone that's going to be the quote-unquote answer right

40:12

away . So I think , receiver

40:14

, you have to address fairly early . I do think that's

40:16

one of those . Like you don't want to get out of the second round in this draft

40:18

class without really addressing . Then

40:20

you start getting a little bit desperate . Secondary

40:24

I would probably say the same thing . Like

40:26

one of these guys are going to fall . Josh

40:35

Newton out of TCU is someone that I like . Third , fourth round , super competitive guy . Not the fastest

40:37

, not the strongest , not the biggest , but that dude has a lot of experience , had some good ball

40:39

skills and really competes at a high level . Uh

40:42

, five , 11 , one , 90 . So he's got some decent

40:44

measurables , if you want , like a big

40:46

, tall dude . Uh , I'm definitely looking

40:48

at . Uh . Elijah Jones out

40:50

of Boston College 6'2" , 185

40:53

pounds , needs to beef up a little bit . I like

40:55

DJ James too . Out of Auburn he's kind

40:57

of fallen since where he was last

40:59

offseason . I think he was making late first

41:02

round in some of our mocks , but

41:04

so he's more of like a day two , late day

41:06

two guy . But he really tested well and

41:09

he did well at the senior bowl too . Enough to be able

41:11

to say like I think he is the talent that we thought he

41:13

was . He just didn't necessarily have like

41:15

the season to to kind of back it up . So

41:17

there are some really good guys . If you're

41:19

looking for like a deep sleeper , be

41:21

looking at cornerback or safety . I do

41:24

like Ohio state's Josh Proctor at safety

41:26

, not the fastest but again , super

41:28

competitive , pretty versatile . Trey Taylor , out

41:30

of air force same thing , super productive

41:32

guy throughout his career , um

41:34

, cornerback , cornerbacks a little

41:37

bit tough because you really get into the limitation

41:39

guys Like once you hit like that fifth , sixth , like there's

41:41

so many guys that don't hit on

41:43

that late day three , um . So maybe

41:45

you're taking a risk here . Maybe you're looking at

41:47

um , you know , to Camry and Richardson

41:50

. I think he's been the most popular name that I've seen

41:52

because he's six , two and he runs a four , three

41:54

coming out of Mississippi state coming out of the

41:56

sec . So it's not like he's an unknown guy , but

41:58

I consistently see him being mocked late . I

42:00

think that is reflective of probably other

42:02

red flags . Um , you

42:04

know , young guy , you got to coach him up a little bit . You

42:07

got to get the best out of him in the person . But

42:09

I think Jacksonville could be in a place that you know you

42:11

take that risk . If he doesn't work out , he doesn't work out . It's

42:13

not a huge deal , especially on day three

42:15

. This may be the second corner that you're taking in

42:17

the draft .

42:19

Yeah , so some interesting nuggets

42:21

. You mentioned there Nathan

42:29

Thomas , and I'll have to look back at his how long he's been

42:31

there , um . But the Jaguars do have Rory Segrist on their um team , who used

42:34

to be , uh , one of the assistants

42:36

there or , uh , he may have been a head

42:38

coach there , one of the two there

42:40

, um . So you know they probably got some Intel

42:43

on him and what have you and they

42:45

, you know one of their own may have even coached

42:47

him . I'll have to see if that , um

42:49

, that link and their timelines match

42:52

there . Another

42:59

one that you mentioned , zach Zenter , from Michigan , and it's interesting you mentioned

43:01

that with the injury situation . That's a bulky , special Bulky

43:03

is not afraid to take a swing

43:05

at a guy that had a serious

43:08

injury and , as you said , it wasn't

43:10

like ligament damage or anything like

43:12

that . But it matches

43:14

from the perspective of what he likes to do , taking

43:17

, you know , swings at guys that have

43:19

that injury history . And also it matches

43:22

from the perspective of what we already discussed

43:24

with Brandon Scherf

43:26

, right , and you know his age and

43:28

this probably being the last year he'll be with the

43:30

team , you know , barring some

43:32

kind of extension and what have you

43:34

. So those two are two . I've

43:37

seen a lot of film on Zinter . I will

43:39

go and look at Thomas

43:41

and see what he's

43:43

working with . That's one that I have

43:45

not gotten around to checking

43:47

out . But yeah , we'll go

43:50

ahead and wrap this up . I have one more question

43:52

, ian , and we'll more

43:54

so talk about some general NFL

43:57

here or general AFC

44:00

South . If you would

44:02

, could you discuss , kind of , your outlook on

44:04

the AFC South ? I know the draft obviously

44:07

hasn't occurred yet , but

44:09

as it stands right now , in the moves that

44:11

teams have made . We already have talked about the Jaguars

44:13

moves , but what's your outlook on the AFC

44:16

South and how the other teams

44:18

within the divisions came out

44:20

of this offseason

44:22

?

44:23

Yeah , I'm excited . For the first

44:25

time in a long time , I'm pretty excited about the

44:29

division and a lot of that has to do with the

44:31

young quarterbacks . Like I think Trevor Lawrence has

44:33

a big step that he's going to take

44:35

next year . I think people called it a little bit early

44:37

, for good reason . I think he probably

44:39

has the season next year that most expected that

44:41

he would this past season . Anthony Richardson

44:44

I'm super excited about him . I think he is such

44:46

a talented player . Obviously the guy just has to stay

44:48

healthy . Indianapolis'

44:51

roster is in a better place , a little bit more stable

44:53

. I think they could use a little bit more playmaking

44:55

too , but they got to stay healthy . That's their

44:58

big thing . If that roster can stay healthy

45:00

, they're going to be competitive again . They're going to be pushing

45:02

for a playoff spot . But

45:04

that's a big if and that's a big question mark with them

45:06

. I think they tend of fall

45:08

back . Chris Ballard he falls back

45:10

on his vices a little bit too much , and

45:12

so they need a lot right

45:15

, I think , to overcome the competition . But

45:17

the bones are really good and it's going to be

45:19

a team that's fun to watch . I just don't know that

45:21

they're ready to compete , uh , at

45:23

a higher level than being like an eight , nine

45:26

win team . That's competitive but like

45:28

not quite there yet and

45:30

the quarterback position may just be the difference because he's

45:32

still a young guy who missed most last season . Houston's

45:35

obviously the team to talk about . Right like tennessee

45:37

is interesting , but they're still a pretty pretty

45:39

, not great , roster . Um , and

45:42

I don't dislike what tennessee did per se . Even though

45:44

they overpaid ridley , it made more sense for them

45:46

than the jags to pay him . I

45:49

think Houston's the team to talk about . They made

45:51

some very win now moves and

45:53

they spent a whole lot of money to do it and

45:56

it's either going to work extremely well going

45:59

after a guy like Daniil Hunter . I don't

46:01

really understand trading Jonathan Greenard for

46:03

Daniil Hunter . It's a very win now move for

46:05

a team that didn't need to do that . You

46:07

raise this talent internally and

46:09

then you let them walk just to pay someone else more

46:11

for shorter term . It's a little bit bizarre

46:14

. I like the digs move . In a nutshell

46:16

, it's risky and if

46:18

CJ Stroud doesn't feed him like a number

46:20

one receiver , I think that that risk could

46:22

blow up in their face . And I think the digs

46:25

is a player

46:27

on the downward slope Doesn't mean he

46:29

won't have some really good games , but I

46:31

think he's more of an occasional star

46:33

as opposed to someone who's going to be the weekly

46:35

go-to guy there . My

46:39

question to them is do they have enough interior offensive

46:41

line ? Their running game was abhorrent

46:43

last year . They didn't do anything to fix

46:45

it . Defensively , I

46:48

still think it's kind of like a no-name defense . I think they kind

46:51

of banked on this

46:53

development that's going to happen from this coaching

46:55

staff and it's a good , you know , obviously it's a good coaching

46:57

staff . Like we see this all the time Teams go

46:59

from picking first or second to like a playoff

47:01

team and then , like that , next season they take a step

47:03

back . So my question for them is like well

47:05

, can you build on that ? Getting Danico

47:07

Autry was really nice . Will Anderson's obviously

47:09

a really good player , but the linebacker position

47:11

is pretty weak for them . I still think that the

47:14

defensive back position is still pretty weak too

47:16

. I mean I like Derek Stingley , jalen

47:18

Petrie they're nice players , but you're

47:20

trotting out guys Jeff Okuda

47:23

that guy hasn't done anything in a while . Desmond

47:25

King's pretty old at this point . Jimmy

47:28

Ward same thing , pretty old at this point injured

47:31

a lot . So I don't think that they have the high-end talent to really compete

47:34

at the higher end . I think last year was a bit of smoke

47:36

and mirrors . They played a Cleveland team that was just

47:38

devastated by injuries . So

47:41

I do think Houston takes a bit of

47:43

a step back from the peaks that we saw last

47:45

year . That's just natural . It

47:48

happens every year , because now they're going to be facing a first

47:50

place schedule , so everything's going to get a little

47:52

bit tougher . I do like Joe Mixon , that

47:54

pickup , especially for giving up nothing

47:56

, but he's not a guy that's super efficient either

47:58

. So I don't know , is

48:01

the interior line ready to build , basically

48:05

, runways for running

48:07

backs , who are a little bit more of road graders ? I

48:09

don't know . I think they're solid

48:11

, though , and I do look at Houston and Jacksonville

48:14

. It'd be hard for me to believe

48:16

that one of those two teams doesn't hit 10-11

48:19

wins and wins the division . But I

48:21

think that Jacksonville still has the advantage

48:23

, because they've been building this roster multiple years

48:25

, whereas Houston , this is pretty much like a one

48:28

kind of two off seasons

48:30

of building . Cj

48:32

Stroud's a heck of a player , though , and there's no doubt about

48:34

that , and they have the playmakers around them

48:36

, so I don't think that the margin for error

48:38

is going to be very large

48:41

at all . I think this will be a very , very tight race

48:43

and it may just come down to

48:45

either one or two games or just injuries

48:47

.

48:48

Yeah , yeah , I think so too . I

48:52

mean , obviously you know injuries didn't help the Jacksonville Jaguars

48:54

. I mean it's still no excuse for the slide that

48:56

they took at the end of the season . But you know

48:58

, losing Christian Kirk , you

49:00

know losing Zay Jones , who

49:02

was in and out of the lineup , and Trevor

49:05

Lawrence getting through the season as banged up

49:07

as he was . So yeah , that

49:09

could very well be the case this year where

49:12

injuries are the deciding factor

49:14

for this division in that two-team

49:17

race , if it comes down to the Jaguars

49:19

and Texans . I do

49:21

think you made an interesting point about

49:23

the interior offensive line

49:26

. Yeah , they really didn't do anything to help

49:28

themselves there and it didn't really dawn

49:30

on me until you said it . So I mean

49:32

, you know , for Jacksonville Jaguars

49:35

team that's coming in there with Eric

49:37

Armstead and you

49:39

know you got Trayvon Walker with the

49:41

year another year under his belt and he came

49:43

off of 10 sacks and Ryan

49:46

Nielsen , their new defensive coordinator , possibly

49:48

trying him a little bit in the interior at

49:50

times that could spell trouble for them , but

49:52

time will tell . And again

49:55

, you know , as I said , the draft . We

49:57

got to see what happens in the draft because

50:03

a lot of times you know we come out of that , what Thursday , friday and Saturday , we come that week after

50:06

, come out feeling a little bit better about where these teams

50:08

are , especially if

50:10

they put together the proper draft class

50:12

. So , that being said , ian , man

50:14

, we won't hold you up anymore . I

50:17

will , however , give you the floor

50:19

to you know , just let everybody

50:21

know about your content , which we already mentioned in

50:24

the beginning of the podcast . But , to kind of close

50:26

things , let them know where they can find

50:28

your stuff . And I want to say , from

50:30

me and Phil , we appreciate you coming

50:33

on . This was a great episode . But

50:35

yeah , feel free , man , to let everybody know where

50:37

they can find your stuff and what you have coming

50:39

up as the floor is yours

50:41

.

50:42

Yeah , thanks man . I'm at NFL Draft

50:44

Study . On Twitter you can find

50:46

me at the 33rd Team . I'm doing most

50:48

of my work . I'll be contributing another

50:51

place here soon , um , as well

50:53

, but most of my work will be at 33rd

50:55

team at least through April , um , before

50:57

that change comes , um

50:59

, and maybe it continues , um . But

51:02

yeah , I'm super excited . I've got mock drafts coming

51:04

up . I'll have a lot of draft reactions so

51:06

the Thursday , friday , saturday

51:08

of the draft , I'm reacting to every pick so

51:11

I can find that 33rd team and

51:13

yeah , I mean always happy

51:15

to chat and this was awesome and

51:17

I'm really excited . I mean I know it

51:20

feels like people are down on the Jags , but a little that's

51:22

recency bias and last season

51:24

may have ended tough , but I still think that

51:26

the bones of the team are pretty strong .

51:29

You know what , ian man , I hope you're right

51:31

. You sound a little bit more optimistic

51:33

than us , but you made some good points

51:35

, Absolutely made some good points there

51:37

that I really you know hadn't

51:40

done on me until you really said it . So , yeah

51:42

, man , hopefully the Jaguars

51:44

bounce back and overtake the

51:46

Texans this year . But yeah , man , it

51:48

was a blast having you on . We'll have

51:51

you on . You know , if you , you know you're willing

51:53

to come on , we'll have you on . In the future , maybe

51:55

we'll talk about the draft after the draft

51:57

, a few months out , you know , and maybe

52:00

circle around , have

52:13

you on around training camp something like that

52:15

. But , yeah , we appreciate you coming

52:17

on and your time . And , yeah , man , everybody feel free to check his stuff

52:19

out . As he said , that is Ian Valentino , I am James Johnson and we are signing out . All

52:24

right , you all . There you have it , my one-on-one

52:27

with Ian Valentino from the

52:29

33rd team . We appreciate

52:31

him coming on and look forward to hearing from

52:34

him later in the season

52:36

, whether , that's , you know , maybe during

52:38

training camp or whatever the case may be , we

52:40

will circle around and have him back

52:43

on again . So I won't be long

52:45

with it with , uh , winded with this closing

52:48

of the podcast , as we

52:50

always do , I'll just circle back around to

52:52

how you can follow us on Twitter , follow

52:54

me at Sports Grind , underscore Dunfield

52:56

at Phil the Filipino , and you can follow

52:58

the Touchdown Jaguars podcast

53:01

handle at TD Jaguars pod

53:03

. Of course , you can also

53:05

follow us through our website

53:07

, wwwtouchdownjaguarsarscom

53:11

, where we have new written content on

53:13

there . We'll have more written content on

53:16

there , heading into the draft and hopefully

53:18

as well . We're hoping to get credentialed

53:20

, as we have for the past few years , to go to

53:22

the draft and give you all some more on

53:25

the spot coverage and in-depth analysis

53:27

from within the Jaguars facility

53:29

. Lastly , shout outs to our

53:32

sponsor SeatGeek . As I

53:35

said in the beginning of the podcast , you can get

53:37

$20 off of your first order

53:39

with our promotion code , touchdown Jaguars

53:41

, so save yourself some money there . So

53:44

, without further ado , we'll go ahead and

53:46

close this episode . As always

53:48

, you all take care of each other out

53:50

there . Close this episode

53:52

. As always , you all take care of each other out there , be safe , and we look

53:54

forward to hearing from you all on the next episode . Again , this is going to

53:56

be a week where we do two episodes , so we'll

53:58

have one at the end of the week . You'll get to hear

54:01

from us again , and

54:03

we're working on getting another guest on in the process

54:05

. So until next time , you all hold it down

54:07

, take care of each other , be safe out there , and

54:09

I am signing out .