JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Richie Rich from Somewhere Wealthy
Pretty impressed by how much Shad money Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke flushes down the toilet. Pay Cam, trade that linebacker, re-sign and then trade Roy. It's like we don't have a plan. Sure, the money doesn't matter to me. I'm rich, but it just smacks of someone that has zero plan.
You're referencing multiple moves the Jaguars have made this season, most recently trading left tackle Cam Robinson to the Minnesota Vikings for a conditional selection that is perhaps most likely to be a fourth-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. This move, as well as trading defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris to the Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago, is the sort of move teams make during disappointing seasons – and at 2-6, the 2024 Jaguars season is nothing if not disappointing. These moves aren't reflective of having or not having a plan as much as not having success. In the NFL, you have a plan and you stick to that plan if it works. If it doesn't work, you reassess. Trading Robinson and Robertson-Harris are the sorts of moves you make when there's a whole lot of reassessing going on.
Josh from New Mexico
I love you, John, but we all know you're a devoted company man and have to be very careful what you say. How can you not admit we were sold a bill of goods regarding quarterback Trevor Lawrence? He was supposed to be the next Dan Marino, the next Peyton Manning. His numbers are identical to New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. If you're being honest with yourself and the readers of this wonderful column you would say this guy isn't even remotely close to being the kind of elite player he was predicted to be. The team is suffering because of it, John.
People ask questions and I answer – and the "company man" thing is a bit tired and unoriginal, which I know because I am nothing if not tired and unoriginal. I also spend little time thinking about hype or perception – but these also can't be controlled and it's hard to write informatively or analytically when worried about such things. Lawrence isn't yet elite. I've written and said this often. He also is improving and still developing with the potential to be a high-end starter for a long time. I don't know how "high end." I'm not as good as seeing the future as I would like. I do know I have seen far worse quarterback situations than the Jaguars have right now, and I know there's no reason to think he won't keep developing.
Karter from Sahuarita
For the people that want to use stats for their reason as to why they think Trevor stinks, he's No. 2 in QBR over the past four weeks. It's funny how easy it is to find statistics that support a narrative.
It's not that funny.
Jason from Jacksonville, FL
I'm not really understanding the fan frustration with Lawrence. He has played pretty good the past few weeks. The fumble wasn't great on Sunda,y but I see what he was trying to do when he threw the interception. Most impressive were the final two scoring drives with only two healthy backup receivers available. I think the kid is doing just fine, what about you?
I feel better about Lawrence's prospects to become a front-line, elite quarterback than I have in any of his four NFL seasons. He has played very well for the most part for the past four games and showed some really good clutch play and poise Sunday.
Chance from Tecumseh
There will be more changes in the coming weeks, what is the next change you foresee, Dr. O?
The NFL trade deadline is November 5. I don't know that there will be more trades for the Jaguars before then.
Roy from The Bloody Dirt Roads of Ridgewood
John, since Trent is making trades for the 2026 season, I'm assuming that Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan has told him that he will be retained as general manager for the next few years.
I have no idea how long Baalke will be the general manager of the Jaguars. I don't remotely think it's safe to assume anything based off a midseason trade.
Christopher from Durham, NC
People keep acting surprised that our punter is outstanding. He should be. He gets more reps than just about any other punter in football. Until we learn how to convert third downs, we'll keep getting more than our money's worth of work out of him, right?
Logan Cooke is one of the NFL's best punters. I know of no one who is particularly surprised at this, particularly if they have watched Cooke punt in recent seasons. He does not get significantly more repetitions than other punters. The Jaguars need to convert third downs better.
Ron from Orlando, FL
I can tell you why receivers always run wide open! Because we draft a lockdown corner like Ramsey, trade him away and then draft a WR with our next first round pick, when the entire country can see that we need help in the secondary! Poor GM decisions, again.
The Jaguars selected a cornerback (C.J. Henderson), outside linebacker (K'Lavon Chaisson), quarterback (Trevor Lawrence) and running back (Travis Etienne Jr.) in the first round of the two drafts after they traded cornerback Jalen Ramsey in 2019.
Bill from Saint Augustine, FL
Why are we trading players for picks in the draft in 2026? Late rounds too. We need help sooner than that!
The Jaguars in recent weeks have traded two players – Robinson and Robertson-Harris – for future draft selections. Such trades are made to get maximum value for players who won't be with the franchise in the future. The reason the trades were made for mid-to-late round selections was because that's the market value.
Greg from Section 122, Jacksonville, FL
They should rename October 31 to "Jags are out of playoffs" day. Seems like a pretty recurring event every. single. year. By Thanksgiving, we are hip deep in draft talk. Freaking sad. God can we PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE just fire everyone from Baalke down and start over. Hire someone as EVP and then let them decide on a new GM ... tired to the endless suck.
The Jaguars won the AFC South in 2022 and lost the division in the final game of the 2023 season. It's fair to say the Jaguars for the last decade and a half or so haven't been good enough. It's also fair to remember that the Jaguars were not out of the playoffs on October 31 the past two seasons.
Fred from Naples, FL
How about one last Cam Robinson question. If we had held on to Cam and he left in free agency next year, wouldn't we have received a third-rounder in next year's draft as a compensatory selection?
No. Compensatory selections are awarded based on free-agent transactions from the previous offseason.
Mike from Cartersville (AKA Trevortown), GA
By my estimation they can only lose on more game the rest of the season to get into the playoffs. That would put them at 10-7. With an extra wildcard slot maybe at 9-8, maybe. I don't see that looking at the schedule over the next four weeks. Would you agree that the free agent class, or the lack of addressing the deficiencies they were supposed to fill, is what did the 2024 season in? I'm thinking that we overperformed in 2022 with a big push of expensive free agency signings that had us tight against the cap recently. After last season we all knew the Jaguars would need to run better, defend against the pass better, and get more interior push from the defensive line. These roster deficiencies over the last couple seasons for whatever reason, have not been sufficiently addressed. What I'm getting at is this is a roster problem not a coaching problem.
My thought is most NFL teams would be better served with far less activity in free agency. Signing multiple aging veterans deep into their careers and expecting them to be front-line players is rarely a path to long-term stability, and it almost always leads to overpaying. Drafting players and trusting the draft selections remains the best means to a strong roster.
Roy from The Bloody Dirt Roads of Ridgewood
Are the Jags a bad team?
They're sure not good.
Kevin from Jacksonville Beach, FL
Hi, John. I don't believe the offense is as bad as others do. We are scoring points. I believe this season falls squarely on the shoulders of the defensive backend. How do you think they can fix the defense?
By covering deep passes better, being more consistent against the run and getting more pressure from the interior defensive line.
Johnny from Jax
In the AFC half the teams have three wins or less. At least one will probably make the playoffs. Just sayin!
You go, girl.
