JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it...
Sean from Oakleaf, FL
What is your over/under for the number of "primetime" games the Jaguars get this season including late-season flexes (we know they get one Thursday night game guaranteed?)
I don't really have an over-under on this. The most primetime games for which a team can be scheduled on the initial regular-season schedule, which is expected to be released this week, is five. I'm guessing the Jaguars are scheduled for three because they're a smaller-market team and because they aren't yet considered a perennial contender. I also expect they could be flexed to a prime-time game or two late in the season. Three is just a guesstimate and it very well could be wrong. Don't get angry. Save that for later this week.
John from Boynton Beach, FL
What is the last thing you remember listening to on cassette? Mine is CCR's Chronicle greatest hits. Listened to that waterskiing on Lake Bradford in Tallahassee back in high school until the deck ate the tape. Then it was on to CDs.
I listened to Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits on cassette in my old Toyota Corrolla driving to and from Orlando to cover the high school state track meet in 1989. I had heard Dylan on the radio, but this was the first steady diet. I didn't start fully appreciating him until long after that. I'm sure I listened to other cassettes after that, but that's the last vivid memory.
Joe from Louisiana
No question. Just a comment. The "average length of an NFL career" is a misleading stat, in general. It includes every single player on the 90-man roster, not the 53. If you make your rookie 53-opening day roster, the average career is 6.1 seasons. If you make it three seasons, your average is 7.9. If you are a first-round pick? 9.3. Play in a single Pro Bowl? 11.7 years. Thoughts, Mr. O?
I don't see it all that misleading. If the average NFL career for a player who makes it to a third season is 7.9, that means there are a lot of players out of the league after three seasons. The point of the initial discussion is a lot of drafted players don't sign second contracts. It's a difficult, brutal sport. Some careers are long. Some are painfully short. Whatever the statistics say.
Daniel from St Johns, FL
I've often thought that the high "bust" rate among top draftees was largely due to the lack of time given them to develop. There are no long training camps. Little-or-no full speed/contact and too often it's trial by fire. The best of our new Day 3 picks will hopefully get as much time as needed to learn and adjust to the speed and competition. This is how draft and develop should work. If we end up with a bunch of Tyler Shatleys as our depth, we could be really good for a real long time! Go Jags!!!
There's a good amount of truth here. I don't know that all early draft selections who get written off as "busts" would become star players given more time – and patience. I do believe many such players could at least be serviceable players if there weren't such a prevailing attitude that players needed to become stars immediately upon entering the NFL. This always has struck me as being particularly true at quarterback, a position where insanely high expectations coupled with increasingly short development time has cause many first-round selections to be out of the league or jettisoned to backup roles phenomenally quickly. It's more common at other positions for first-round selections to have average careers, but the factors you cite are real and they make it difficult for young players. Without question.
John from Lancaster, PA
JO- The Jags could have taken a consensus second-rounder who did an Oehser-esqe 38 bench press at the combine with a sixth or seventh-round pick. Why did our general manager waste draft capital on guys that won't make the team, yet pass on a stud who just needs time to recover from an injury (Andrew Vorhees)?
The Jaguars saw traits in the sixth- and seventh-round selections that made them believe they could develop and therefore liked them better than the players they didn't select. Were they wasted selections. No one knows? We'll see in a year. Or so.
Zach from Jax Beach
With all this talk about how to structure the offensive line when Cam Robinson returns, wouldn't the most awesome potential scenario be that the line looks fine without Cam, and you swindle him to a team that believes they are one Cam Robinson away from being a playoff contender? He's only 27 and left tackle is a premium position, so I'd imagine he would have decent value. You save $18 million by moving on in 2024, so I think this being his last year in Duval was always really the plan anyway. Thoughts? THE Ooooooo Zooooooonnnnee!!!
I think you're advocating trading Robinson after the 2023 season. That's unlikely because other teams will assume Robinson is going to get released because of his contract and will wait for that to happen. Look: There are going to be a lot of questions about Robinson's future because he is expected to be suspended to start the 2023 season and because his salary-cap figure for 2024 makes it possible – even likely – he won't be on the team that season. I expect this situation to be fluid. I also expect him to be on the roster for 2023 because he's a good player who can help the team. Time will tell what happens after that.
Cliff from Everywhere with helicopter
"Hard Knocks" in Duval this season?
Four teams under NFL rules can be mandated this season to appear on Hard Knocks: The Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Washington Commanders and New Orleans Saints. I would expect one of those teams to be featured on the show.
Nathan from Utah, US
Zone, regarding Tank Bigsby, he wasn't drafted to be depth for Etienne. He was drafted to replace Etienne when the time comes. All the same - the Jaguars have a stable of capable running backs and wide outs and offensive lineman. So, who makes it? Who don't?
Your boldness is impressive if not necessarily based in fact or knowledge. Bigsby was selected by the Jaguars in Round 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft to complement Etienne and be part of the Jaguars' running back rotation. Perhaps he will replace Etienne someday, but that's at least two seasons away and perhaps three. Or more. I would expect the Jaguars' running backs in 2023 to be some combination of Etienne, Bigsby, JaMycal Hasty and E'Ernest Jackson and the Jaguars' receivers to be Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Jamal Agnew with the last one or two to be determined.
Ken from St Augustine, FL
Hey, John. How many of our 13 draft picks need to have a meaningful impact on the team in order to consider the draft a success and who do you think they will be?
How do we define meaningful impact? Left tackle Tony Boselli was the Jaguars' lone Pro Bowl player in the Jaguars' 1995 draft, but he was a generational talent who made the Hall of Fame. That has to be considered a good draft. If offensive tackle Anton Harrison becomes a long-term starter and makes a Pro Bowl or two, if there's one more long-term starter, a short-term starter and two or three players who make significant long-term contributions … that's a good OK draft. I would guess Harrison, second-round tight end Brenton Strange and third-round running back Tank Bigsby would be the most likely long-term contributors. They're the early-round selections and that's where you get long-term contributions.
Shane from Boston
According to Derek Parish's Wikipedia page, in college he "won an eating competition between his Houston Cougars teammates by eating seven pounds (3.175 kg) of steak in one sitting." Sounds like great value and elite skill for a late-round pick!
He is the king of all steak.
Regan from Melbourne, FL
Have the Jags done enough to improve the 27th-ranked pass defense to make a deep run into the postseason? What more do you expect them to do in order to improve in this area?
Get leads more consistently to get in more obvious passing situations. And improve from within, particularly veterans such as outside linebackers Josh Allen and Travon Walker. I also expect the Jaguars could sign either a veteran corner or pass rusher.
VaJagFan from Stuarts Draft Va via Jacksonville
The last line in your answer to Sal from El Paso was, "I support your right to be wrong." This just sounds too good to be an O-Zone answer. Please enlighten me as to its source. If it is an original KOAF line, congratulations on a classic. I'm going to steal it, of course.
I think I heard it somewhere. I know a good line when I steal one.
