2021 Jacksonville Jaguars - Time for some "Urban" renewal

[JaxRed]

So far I hate the Jags draft. We picked a 3rd down RB, a backup corner and a backup OL.

I feel better after hearing some analysis. I guess you need more than 2 corners a majority of the time and a lot of people really like this guy. Also the Offensive lineman hasn't played in 2 years does to 1) ACL and 2) Covid opt out, but was considered to be a top talent prior to his injury. He's really good size. And now gives up options at either LT or RT going forward. He could be our lockdown LT of the future.

[oregonred]

Yeah, it has been a bit of an odd draft for Urban & Company since Trevor

[Rojo Rijo]

Overall i'm happy with the draft, though I think that was going to be the case regardless of what happened after we got our guy at #1. Surprisingly this is the first time Jacksonville has ever had the #1 overall pick.

1st (#1) - Trevor Lawrence QB - Clemson - Nothing to be said, just hope that he reaches his potential. In a league where nothing is a sure thing coming from college he's about as close as it comes for a QB. Jacksonville doesnt have a great history of drafting franchise QBs with 1st round picks, the only three in franchise history being Byron Leftwich (7th), Blaine Gabbert (10th), and Blake Bortles (3rd). Those 3 combined for a record of 53-91 and a playoff record of 2-2, with 3 of those games coming in 2017. Needless to say i'm super excited. I remember watching Lawrence as a freshman thinking how incredible it would be to land him but figured enough teams would be looking for a QB/tanking that the chances we could get him wouldnt be very high. Well here we are.

1st (#25) - Travis Etienne RB - Clemson - Really surprised by this pick, though I get it. Meyer thrives on high character guys. I figured the pick would be Moehrig but getting Cisco later and hearing some tab him as the top safety makes me understand why he wasnt picked here. Barmore made sense until reports started coming out about why he fell. I still feel like RB and Etienne was an overreach. Things have come out that show it was clear they wanted Toney, who went to the Giants at #20. Meyer wanted a weapon, one who can run, catch, and be used to do a bit of everything. Meyer has said Etienne will be "dual trained" so I expect him to be on the field often, in some packages with James Robinson. I like Etienne a lot. He's not as well rounded as Harris appears to be but Etienne runs violently, was used a ton in the passing game and has good hands, and he's got great balance. Some compared his ability to stay upright and bounce off/out of tackles to Kamara and when I watch the tape I see why. For this season i'm expecting we'll see a split where JR gets 15-20 carries and 2-5 targets, Etienne will see 10-12 total looks, and Hyde will see 5-7 carries and 1-2 targets as well. Eventually Etienne will be a 20+ touch/target a game guy. *I also like this pick for surrounding Lawrence with what he needs and things that make him comfortable. He and Travis have 3 years of QB/RB teamwork so they should be in sync from day 1.

2nd (#33) - Tyson Campbell CB - Georgia - With some of the guys still on the board this pick was...interesting. At first I thought, we have CJ and just signed Shaq....but I understand you need more than two good corners in this league for many reasons - injuries, different offensive sets with many wideouts, and honestly these gadget players that can't be covered by non-elite LBers. The good news is Campbell should be good enough already to man cover, which sounds crazy but he still has plenty of areas that will need work. I like his size (6'2 190+) and his fit with CJ and Shaq. This was another solid step towards rebuilding the secondary.

2nd (#45) - Walker Little - OT - Stanford - I Loooooovvvveeeee this pick. 6'7 300+ pounds on a tackle who has a tremendous pedigree. Negatives are knee injury as a sophomore and opting out in 2020 due to Covid. As a Freshman he was co-Pac 12 freshman of the year and earned All Pac-12 first team honors. Little is not only tremendous potential for the OL but also insurance for the future with Cam and Jawaan. This is probably tied for my second favorite pick of the draft for the Jags.

3rd (#65) - Andre Cisco - S - Syracuse - Another pick I absolutely loved. Meyer and Baalke sat on addressing the back of the defense and it paid off. While Moehrig was seen by many as the top safety in the class some see Cisco as that guy. A 3rd team All American as a freshman Cisco suffered an injury early in 2020 that closed the book on his 3rd season with the Orange. This guy is a ball hawk and a fearless downhill DB who will aggressively come up to attack the run. He's going to be a good one.

4th (#106) - Jay Tufele - DT - USC - I like how things played out, feeling like not only were they going somewhat BPA but also moving around the field and addressing all spots. While we signed some interior DL help in FA the future needed to be addressed. Tufele is another 2020 opt out and he only played one season for USC after redshirting as a Freshman. Tufele has good size at 6'2 300+ but needs to work on defending against the run. He has a top notch swim move and should be effective on 3rd down early on. He's going to need a good bit of polishing to become a complete player. Of course day 3 of the draft is when these types of guys are drafted, could be very good to great, could be a few years of nothing and they're out of town and you didnt even realize. Hopefully he commits to what it will take to be a big contributor for this defense, he has the raw talent needed to make it happen.

4th (#121) Jordan Smith - DE/LB - UAB - As a Florida Gator fan i'd forgotten about this guy and his involvement in the credit card fraud scheme he and 8 others got caught up in which led his journey to community college and then to UAB where he was second team all conference USA in 2019 and first team all conference USA in 2020. Smith is going to need to get stronger to play effectively at the NFL level but he seems like a good bet to fall in behind Josh Allen in the DE/LB hybrid pass rusher mold. Another move by Meyer/Baalke to load up on defense.

5th (#145) - Luke Farrell - TE - Ohio State - This pick has the feel of Meyer-OSU connection as he recruited Farrell. Maybe Meyer sees a way to utilize his abilities in the offensive scheme but Farrell is undoubtedly there to block. Some scouts have said he may be the best blocking TE in the draft. It's difficult to see the need for this based on the way the game is changing. Most primary TEs now are just oversized receivers who block on their days off. Many teams do have at least 1 guy in their TE room who specializes in blocking so that's what we have here. Whats hard to get a feel for is taking this guy at a position of need. Many felt we would address this spot with one of the first 4-5 picks and come away with a guy like Freiermuth or Long. Farrells lack of flash in the receiving department kept him out of most discussions but it's clear to see what he's capable of, which is blocking. The head scratching part is using a 5th round pick on him.

6th (#209) - Jalen Camp - WR - Georgia Tech - Big outside receiver - 6'2 220 with a 4.43 40, 39.5 inch vertical, and 30 reps of 225 lbs at his pro day, Camp didnt do a lot in college but that's not surprising considering he went to Georgia Tech and played for Paul Johnson. He's a sneaky sleeper imo but an interesting add with Colin Johnson coming on last year. It's going to be a battle for him to make it with the WR room is currently packed, with DJ, Marvin, LV, CJohnson, Dorsett, and Agnew all on board.

UDFAs
Dylan Moses - LB - Alabama - Love this pick up though it could very easily be hollow as Moses has struggled with pain in his knee and even considered quitting football because of it. Upside is this is a kid who was the #1 overall pick coming out of HS and has great talent. A lot of questions surrounding his knee/health and his production at Alabama so we'll see.

Others -
Josh Imatorbhebhe - WR - Illinois
DJ Daniel - CB - Georgia
Tim Jones - WR - Southern Miss
Kenny Randall - DT - Charleston Southern
Corey Straughter - CB - Louisiana Monroe

Overall I like our draft. I do have some concerns such as not getting a better TE and not adding to the LB corp (well aside from Moses and Smith, who is more of a pass rushing outside 3-4 DE/LB hybrid) but a lot of the other picks like Lawrence, Little, and Cisco I think were great, and I have high hopes for Etienne as well. For a first draft i'd give Baalke/Meyer an A- though again they wouldve had to try to actually have a bad draft considering they got one of the top players coming out of college over the last 10 years.

Really looking forward to this season. Go Jags!

[RedTeamGo!]

I think the plan was to draft Friermuth. Ferrell was the back up plan.

[oregonred]

I can't wait to see what happens with the Jags/TL and Urban over the next couple of years

Jags picked it up after the less than compelling Etienne and the two round 2 picks

[JaxRed]

The Monday after the draft is to scouts what the Monday after the season is to coaches and GM's. Black MOnday hit for a bunch of Jags scouts, as Urban will seek to moves his guys in.

Black Monday begins in #NFL scouting departments as the #Jaguars part ways with 5 key evaluators: Director of College Scouting Mark Ellenz, Asst Dir of College Scouting Paul Roell, Assistant DPP Andy Dengler, Director of Pro Scouting Chris Driggers & area scout Jared Kirksey,

[JaxRed]

OTAs began today. All 90 players reported much to union's chagrin. Tebow trying for a TE spot.

[JaxRed]

Guys on the radio today were commenting that far and away Minshew has been the best of the backup QBs in three OTA sessions the the media attended. They've gone from thinking that Minshew is gone and Beathard is the backup, to thinking unless they are blown away on a deal, that Minshew will be in Jax as the #2 and Beathard might be gone.

[Rojo Rijo]

Guys on the radio today were commenting that far and away Minshew has been the best of the backup QBs in three OTA sessions the the media attended. They've gone from thinking that Minshew is gone and Beathard is the backup, to thinking unless they are blown away on a deal, that Minshew will be in Jax as the #2 and Beathard might be gone.

No reason to throw the guy away for nothing. No telling which team might end up QB needy during the season and we could snatch a nice pick.

[JaxRed]

Well it's been a couple months. No news in the off-season is generally good news. No injuries to speak of. So far Trevor has been everything they have hoped for. Not perfect, he's a rookie, but doing everything they want.

Minshew seems solidified as the #2, unless they get an offer from a team with a QB problem. Interestingly enough the two most obvious teams that might have a problem are Indy and Houston both in the division. Walker Little has been the talk of the non-Trevor picks, impressing since Day 1. As Urban said a couple days ago "he's been better than I thought, and I thought he was really good". It seems a matter of time until someone on that Online loses their job to him.

Several people (most notably Jags media guy and ex-player Jeff Lageman, who's been studying practice tape) says he is really impressed with 2nd year DL Davon Hamilton out of Ohio State. He played last year till an injury took his out an people came away impressed, but according to Lageman he's come back bigger and better than ever and it shows.

There are early indications that Urban is not in love with with Dave Caldwell's first two round picks from 2020 (CJ Henderson and K'Lavon Chaisson). Henderson under-performed last year, there were rumors of unprofessionalism this year, and he followed up a Covid- session with missing the scrimmage for personal reasons. Now NFL types are saying Jags are shopping him. Helps explain why Jags used the first pick in Round 2 on a CB. No talk of Jags not liking Chaissons' attitude, just seems he's not where they would like him to be for a #1 pick.

Surprises - Apparently Laquon Treadwell has opened a lot of eyes at WR. Jags seem very happy with WR corps and suspect there will be some tough cuts.

[JaxRed]

A couple more posts of the CJ Henderson issue; Gene Frenette a local reporter tweeted that one of the outgoing coaches warned him about off the field issues with Henderson. I assume there is enough professional courtesy between coaches so that info got to Urbans attention.

Dilla (a local guy to twitter with seemingly great sources) said Urban and Charlie Strong had to go to Henderson's house recently to try and get him to practice.

[JaxRed]

Some more Henderson/Chaisson talk. First Chaisson... he had been listed as disappointing because he was getting beat on one vs one drills. But he's a speed guy, and power is not his game. Local reporters who were at the weekend scrimmages say he was outstanding over the weekend because of his speed.

Henderson... apparently this thing is out of control. Hayes Carlyon with 1010XL said flat out, he will never play another down for Jags. I guess there was an incident in the last couple days where he was at practice ridding the stationary bike. When it was time to go on the field, he didn't have his cleats. He couldn't go get them, staffers had to. When they retrieved his cleats and he went to put them on and tie them up, it took more than 7 minutes (it was being timed by the press). At the 7 minute mark, staffers had to finish tying up his cleats.

[Rojo Rijo]

I'm all for trading Henderson. We obviously feel comfortable in our CBs minus him and he's still very valuable in terms of cost and age. They should get a 1st no problem as there are plenty of teams who would love to add a 2nd year top 10 pick CB who showed potential in his rookie year. The question is will they hold out for more than a 1st? That may depend on the team. If its a team thats a strong candidate for the playoffs they might want more as that 1st would potentially only be in the 20-32 range. Obviously I don't expect them to get a Ramsey return (two 1sts and a 4th) but with Henderson costing less and being younger maybe a haul of that nature is not as far away from what they'll get as I would expect it to be. Obviously Ramsey was/is a no doubt top 3 corner in the league, but who's to say Henderson won't be one of the best one day. He was phenomenal at UF and is one of the better cover corners to come into the league lately. He's not a great tackler/run support but who's to say he doesnt turn out to be a Nnamdi type corner? Either way I hope they get this taken care of sooner than later, this situation seems like it will only get uglier and with games starting this weekend i'd hate for the young team to have this kind of distraction.

[JaxRed]

I'm all for trading Henderson. We obviously feel comfortable in our CBs minus him and he's still very valuable in terms of cost and age. They should get a 1st no problem as there are plenty of teams who would love to add a 2nd year top 10 pick CB who showed potential in his rookie year. The question is will they hold out for more than a 1st? That may depend on the team. If its a team thats a strong candidate for the playoffs they might want more as that 1st would potentially only be in the 20-32 range. Obviously I don't expect them to get a Ramsey return (two 1sts and a 4th) but with Henderson costing less and being younger maybe a haul of that nature is not as far away from what they'll get as I would expect it to be. Obviously Ramsey was/is a no doubt top 3 corner in the league, but who's to say Henderson won't be one of the best one day. He was phenomenal at UF and is one of the better cover corners to come into the league lately. He's not a great tackler/run support but who's to say he doesnt turn out to be a Nnamdi type corner? Either way I hope they get this taken care of sooner than later, this situation seems like it will only get uglier and with games starting this weekend i'd hate for the young team to have this kind of distraction.

Well I certainly hope you are right. But I'm thinking if they got a 3rd rounder they are lucky.

[JaxRed]

Jags traded 2020 FA signee Joe Schobert. Salary dump pure and simple. They save about $5 million. They get a 6th rounder back. Jags under Urban Meyer want speed across the board and that's not his game.

Notable by this transaction? All 2020 Free Agents signed by Jags are gone.