JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Tom from The Mean Streets of Nocatee

If the conventional wisdom is that contending teams are built through the draft and big-money free agency does not lead to sustained success, why does ownership continue to allow it to happen?

This question is as fair as it is tricky. The trick lies in temptation and reality, and what I mean is this: The reality when building a franchise – particularly when inheriting a roster – is there will be weaknesses. Early in a building process, it's quite likely that there will be too many weaknesses to turn into strengths with simply one draft – or even two drafts. It's difficult in the quick-fix, win-immediately world of the NFL to be patient and eschew free agency in favor of the long-term build. It's therefore tempting to dive deep – something too deep – into free agency. And make no mistake: Teams can fill needs with free agents. You can improve positions from deficient to adequate and make your roster look much better on paper. An NFL franchise absolutely can reach a level of competitiveness through that route. But if you're looking to build an elite roster for the long-term, it's exceedingly difficult to do so via free agency. Why does ownership allow it? Party because you must partake in at least a little. Sometimes it's to get your franchise out of the abyss when it's at a talent deficit. Sometimes it's to supplement a specific roster deficiency if you're already a strong team. There's no inherent shame in the free-agent market. It's when it's overused and it's when free agency is the core of your roster that it's a problem – because you can wind up with an older, average roster. The difference is often one of degrees and it can be hard to avoid the temptation when the pressure is high to win, which is pretty much always in professional football.

Dan from Sofia

Hi, John. You reiterate in your recent column that is always coaching in the NFL. In your opinion, what is most important – general manager or head coach? Is it a general manager's job to find players that fit into head-coaching style or do the coaches have to adapt to what the general manager brings? For some reason it feels like the Jags always are trying to fit square pegs into a round hole. Thanks!

What is imperative is that personnel and coaching work in lockstep with one vision as much as possible. Neither is all that much more important than the other, but you have to have good players at key positions before you can coach them correctly.

John from Jax

Hi, KOAGF. A healthy roster is our best shot at making a run to change our luck and to win the close games. A healthy roster it seems we have if quarterback Trevor Lawrence can start on Sunday. It starts with Houston and we can at least make a bold statement to our division opponents by giving them all a smackdown as we close the season. You ready?

Boy, am I.

Rob from Orange Park, FL

If you were the head coach and since the rest of this season is kind of garbage time, would you be 100 percent in to win (play all starters, etc.) or would you experiment with some young players and perhaps move a player or two around?

I would be 100 percent all in to win until the team is mathematically eliminated from the postseason – and I expect Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson essentially will take that approach the rest of the 2024 regular season. That's the only appropriate approach to take because the NFL is a weird league and coaches should coach to make the postseason until it's no longer possible to do so. Once eliminated, I expect the Jaguars will move to playing younger players. Remember, though: There's a limit to how much teams can do this. You don't want to play so many inexperienced players that it takes away any chance to function. There's also a limit on NFL roster sizes, which means there are only so many young players you can play.

John from Jax

Hi, KOAGF. I see a lot of criticism on our quarterback. Can you imagine the mayhem if he was not selected No. 1 in the draft by the Jaguars. It was an across-the-board consensus he was the best quarterback and it would have been UGLEEE embarrassment for a long time.

But of course.

Hugo from Portland, OR

People keep saying to fire everyone to get a head start on the coaching and general manager search. Didn't the NFL pass rules recently specifically saying teams cannot start interviewing coaches and general managers until after the regular season?

Teams with head-coaching vacancies may not begin requesting interviews with candidates employed by another team until after the regular season. These interviews can't begin taking place until three days after the regular season. There are more rules regarding timing for candidates employed by teams in the postseason. The idea of most of these rules indeed is to prevent the process from beginning until after the regular season – and also to slow the process to allow more candidates to participate without the process being rushed. Owners of course can begin planning the process and considering possible candidates sooner than that, but the process itself can't begin until after the regular season. This doesn't apply to a candidate not currently employed by an NFL team.

Doug from Jax Beach

My sense is that as soon as the Jags are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs (assuming that happens), TL goes under the knife. Your take?

I don't know this to be an absolute. It absolutely feels like a possibility.

Crash from Glen Saint Mary

OZ! So, the Jaguars could run the table and still win the AFC South with an 8-9 record? Barmaid! Get Santa on the phone!

The Jaguars are mathematically alive and can finish 8-9 if they win the rest of their games. If the Texans lose the rest of their games and the Colts lose one game other than their remaining game against the Colts, the Jaguars will win the AFC South if they do not lose a game. Let's not bother Santa until the Jaguars win another game or two.

Don from Marshall, NC

I still think if the Jaguars could win their remaining games that there is a slight chance to win the AFC South. The Houston Texans are kind of struggling and the possibility of picking up two wins with their schedule is challenging. The Indianapolis Colts also are not out of it, either. The Texans better seal the deal this week or else they might be last year's Jaguars. It's not much, Zone, but it's all I can come up with. It's like Staying Alive by the Bee Gees. The girls still dance. Go Jaguars

When it comes to being right, then providing insight – and then, alas, veering a little too far in some direction and losing us all – Don remains "all in."

Crash from Glen Saint Mary, FL

OZ! So, let's daydream. The Cats run the table. Win the AFC South with an 8-9 record. Get lucky in the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl. Has a team with a losing record ever won the SB?

No.

Rich from Dacula, GA

It appears we are at the FORK IN THE ROAD. We can go in two different directions this coming off season. The NFL has been changing over the last four years to what the colleges have been doing longer. The more versatile quarterback. TL has some of those skills but has proven to be a little brittle as have other running quarterbacks. The game is changing from the pocket quarterback to a more option quarterback. If we are changing management and coaching, will they embrace the new trends, or rebuild the current one into what we currently have? Can the coach be the one with a different system or do we admit the time has come today to re-think the whole big picture and clean house. The fans are impatient and want change, but what will the head man do?

I don't yet know what the offseason will bring for the Jaguars. A lot of the NFL indeed is changing, and versatile quarterbacks are the rage. This is in part because colleges are producing a lot of them. But the thought here is you still better have a quarterback who can win from the pocket to win a Super Bowl – and you sure better have one if you want to be a long-term contender. The list of teams that have accomplished either without that sort of quarterback remains very short.

Mario from West Kelowna, BC

John, I think that people want you to say the same thing that NFL "experts" and "analysts" say about the Jaguars not realizing that you're the real expert here.

My experience tells me that mostly people want to hear what they already believe regardless or the source or that source's level of expertise.