The Jacksonville Jaguars select Brian Thomas Jr.

Ever wondered how the Jaguars might shake up their game plan with fresh talent from the draft? Get ready to be enlightened, as we, James Johnson and Phil Smith, take you on a lively journey through the team's strategic maneuvers. Straight from the Everbank Stadium Draft Party, we dissect the Jaguars' savvy move to secure LSU's wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. at the 23rd pick, a strategic play that's as much about supporting Trevor Lawrence as it is about smart salary cap management. We also dive into the exhilarating trade with the Vikings, unpacking the additional draft picks that could shape the team's future.

Feel the anticipation build as we switch gears to Day Two prospects, where names like Kool-Aid McKinstry and Johnny Newton should be on the Jaguars' radar. We excitedly discuss the possible outcomes while celebrating the acquisition of Brian Thomas Jr. Our conversation is ripe with predictions and analysis, making this episode a must-listen for any Jags fan eager to welcome the new talents and understand the impact these pivotal decisions will have on the gridiron. Join us for an episode filled with passion, strategy, and a glimpse into the future of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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James Johnson and Phil Smith bring you the best and most up to date Jacksonville Jaguars news. "Touchdown Jaguars!" is a tribute to the prospective ownership group "Touchdown Jacksonville!" In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams and "Touchdown Jacksonville!" announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists. In November 1993, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. James and Phil have been fans of the franchise ever since and have had the honor (and sometimes dishonor) of covering the team professionally since 2017. The rest as they say, is history.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:18

Welcome to the Touchdown Jaguars podcast. Here are your hosts, james Johnson and Phil Smith. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Touchdown Jaguars podcast. I am your co-host, phil Smith, and joining me is James Johnson, as we are truly burning the midnight oil here tonight on Touchdown Jaguars.

Speaker 1: 0:45

It is a little past midnight as Jay and I returned from the draft party down at Everbank Stadium. Hope everybody had a good time down there. It was a fun atmosphere, the weather was perfect, so I think that was pretty much the most important thing I was a little bit worried about. But the other thing we were worried about is what would the Jacksonville Jaguars do with their first round pick? And, jay, we are here to talk about it here, as we always have After the draft happens.

Speaker 1: 1:11

We always put out an episode the very next morning, and this year will be no different. We are sharing a microphone just because we had some technical issues. So we'll be managing the back and forth the best that we can. But, Jay, how are you feeling overall? As we'll just jump right into it, we'll cut out all the excess stuff the Jacksonville Jaguars traded back from pick 17 so that they move back with the Minnesota Vikings and end up taking Brian Thomas Jr, wide receiver out of LSU at pick number 23. So, jay, you've been kind of looking into him here over the last, I would say, 30 minutes or so since we got back. How are we feeling about the pick? How are you feeling at the moment and how do you feel now?

Speaker 2: 1:52

Yeah, as you all will see in our instant reactions at the stadium, I didn't feel bad about the pick at all. You know, when we traded back, we did a little reaction video for that too, and you know he, he was I think he was one of the names I mentioned as a potential guy to trade back for and AD Mitchell, the cornerbacks that we coveted or we really like they were still on the board too at that time, at least the both of them and Mitchell and, uh, terryon Arnold. But yeah, um, thomas was one of the guys that we uh mentioned and uh, yeah, I mean I felt one of the guys that we mentioned and, yeah, I mean I felt good about the pick when we initially got it. I mean, because it, look, man, me and Phil can't sit here and complain and complain and complain about doing what's right about Trevor Lawrence, and when the team does what's right for Trevor Lawrence, we sit here and be like, well, that ain't what I had in mind, like this is exactly what we wanted for our young quarterback.

Speaker 2: 2:46

Now, look, you would probably prefer, if you can, pull a bayonet and go back in time, right, you would probably prefer to keep Calvin Ridley and not go through that situation and use the pig somewhere else. But we're here now. You can't change the past, it is what it is. And also, I mean, you get a young man who's moldable and more affordable than Calvin Ridley. So it's exciting from that perspective of you know what you can mold him into, what he can blossom into.

Speaker 2: 3:14

And also he's exciting from the perspective of which this is something we've mentioned and I hate to call it this field, but cheap labor, right. When you have to pay a quarterback what we're going to have to pay, trevor Lawrence, you're going to have to start looking in places and saying, like we got to cut salary down there, especially at the receiver position. The salary there is sky high, you know, between Zay Kirk, you know, possibly Calvin Ridley would have been in there too. So this replaces that salary with a cheaper salary, at least for three years. Right, a lot of salary. So it's good from that perspective as well.

Speaker 1: 3:51

So not mad at all, man, we're taking care of our quarterback, as I wanted us to do yeah, and you know we wanted the jaguars to target one of those positions, whether it be a wide receiver or a defensive back, and they had their pick of the litter when it came to certainly DB at pick 17. But they ended up trading back. We'll kind of I guess we'll circle back to that really quick, jay, for those of you that did not see our reaction video in the moment traded with Minnesota and they got pick obviously 23, but also 167, which is the fifth round pick this year, and then a third and a fourth round pick next year. And I know trading down is never the sexy option. People want to see the pick happen when it happens, especially after last year after multiple tradebacks.

Speaker 1: 4:31

But this was an excellent trade for Jacksonville and a lot of people online were reacting very positively to that as well. So I think you got great value there with the picks next year, which is supposedly going to be just as deep, or maybe perhaps even deeper the 2025 draft. But what do you think about the trade back, jay? And they did say in their presser that Brian Thomas Jr would have been the pick at 17 regardless. Who knows if that's true, but what do you think about the compensation that they received for pick 17 from Minnesota.

Speaker 2: 5:04

Yeah, initially, on our on-the-spot reaction, I said that I would have preferred we would have gotten some more compensation, more so for this year. But again, as I also told you and Eric, getting a third and a fourth rounder, even though it's next year, know, for next year, that's not bad at all, you know. And then, um, you know, you get a late round pick for this year as well, and I mean, at the end of the day, it was no harm done from it because you know the option they wanted at 17 was still there and other options they probably wanted were, you know, there as there as well. So no harm done there. Again, you know there has been discussions about how this draft has a drop off at a certain point. So maybe, what you know, trent Baalke is thinking, he's of that mindset, of that belief as well, to the point where, like he would have just he just preferred to have the third and the fourth for next year and if that's the case, you know we'll have to revisit it in 2025.

Speaker 2: 6:11

Right To see if that was a good idea to, you know, jump on or pounce on, but nonetheless, like I said initially, you know I would have preferred to have gotten compensation for this year. But now that I've kind of gotten to think about it and think about their thought process, perhaps I'm down for it. So not bad at all. You still get your receiver and you know you stacked you some picks up for next year.

Speaker 1: 6:40

Yeah, brian Thomas Jr had a monster 2023 season 68 catches, 1,177 yards, 17 touchdowns. So, jay, being the resident SEC fan, I guess I will be SEC fan now as well, now that Texas is hanging out with everybody here in the greatest conference in the nation. Thomas Jr, you know, did you see a lot of him as far as SEC play? And what do you think about the new weapon? How does he fit, you know, amongst Christian Kirk, amongst Gabe Davis, zay Jones? What do you think about the? You know just the player that we are getting and that Trevor, and you know the target that Trevor Lawrence is getting as well.

Speaker 2: 7:17

Yeah, so you know he was a guy, as you said, the 17 touchdowns standout. That was the highest in the highest total for FBS players. So there is that. So you know, highly productive, had over one thousand one hundred yards, if I can recall my memory serving me correctly there. So you know, productive from that that standpoint and was able to do so, you know, with Malik neighbors playing alongside him. So you know with Malik neighbors playing alongside him. And you know that's one of the interesting things about it is because you know there were times where I feel like you know, at least in some games that I watch, where you know Malik neighbors would steal the show. And you know Brian Thomas, you kind of forget he's there and then he'll, you know, make an occasional play here and there and it's like, oh yeah, they got who most would actually save. And Steve Smith is among these people. I remember him saying this on his podcast that he does.

Speaker 2: 8:14

But one thing that you notice about Thomas, you know when he did get his opportunities, is you know a lot of people would say he he's more athletic than neighbors from an athletic standpoint. You know a lot of people would say he, he's more athletic than neighbors from an athletic standpoint Neighbors was more so the one that kind of stood out from a you know visual perspective, from you know what he was able to do and the production and so on and so forth. But Thomas is a guy that, as I said in the reaction video, he's a guy that when I looked at the stats on PFF reaction video, he's a guy that when I looked at the stats on pff now, the numbers weren't crazy in terms of how many uh snaps in the slot he took as comparison to what he did out wide. It was a big discrepancy there and if I'm not mistaken here, phil, you got the numbers pulled up as a matter. So, yeah, 40 in the slot and then 259, 253, 359 out wide. So like, the numbers aren't crazy there.

Speaker 2: 9:12

But still you could tell that this is a very versatile young man from the perspective of although the slot number is way smaller than the outside number, a lot of his touchdowns came from the slot. A lot of the damage he did was from the slot. So therefore that's what we mean when we say the versatility. That's what I meant when Daniel Jeremiah mentioned that he believes that this young man could play from multiple spots is because, when he did play from the slot, you know, as Daniel said, quote unquote, he was a player that provided death by slot phase for these defenses in the SEC and, as we all know, the defenses in the SEC are the best in the country. So, phil, you know, sooner rather than later your Texas team will get to have an SEC defense.

Speaker 2: 10:05

You know I might take a few years of recruiting but, um, you know, I know you guys didn't play a lot of good defense in the previous conference, but that's something that will improve uh, mark my words on that because of the recruiting process and what have you. But, yeah, um, brian Thomas, I mean he has the size you would like In terms of, you know, six to what, two hundred like fourteen pounds give or take somewhere in there as well. So he has the size and, most importantly and we've seen this as a theme right for this Jacksonville Jaguars offense in terms of the additions this offseason the theme has been, if you notice deep threats, Gabe Davis can help you deep, which you know when we watched the Jaguars last year, a lot of people's complaints even casual fans complaints was we're not vertical enough, and the Jaguars obviously heard it, doug Peterson, being an offensive minded coach, he clearly saw it. Trent Baalke, being a scout, clearly saw it. And they're applying, you know, know, what they saw last year to this year and they, they have gotten Trevor Lawrence or um, added Trevor Lawrence, some vertical threats.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Um, as you all will see, brian Thomas, a lot of his, you know damage was done vertically.

Speaker 2: 11:18

Gabe Davis, big time vertical threat. So you know, this team did become more explosive this offseason. Now, if the offensive line can hold up and, you know, give Trevor enough time to, you know, do what he has to do, that's another story for another time. But this does show that they knew that they lacked the vertical threats in this offense and that also shows that and this is a key one for me because I talked about it they weren't complacent with just adding gabe davis. You know they didn't want to stop there when they lost calvin ridley, obviously, you know they thought that was significant and that was a concern. Yeah, yeah, and that was a concern with trent balker. We've seen in the past like they lose a player and then they'll come back and come around and say like, hey, like that loss isn't as big as you think it is and it was no way they were going to convince me that losing Calvin Ridley wasn't a big loss, and this shows that they believe that that was the case.

Speaker 1: 12:17

Yeah, and not. Not sure that came through in the mic or not, but, as I mentioned, you know, kick the tires on Brandon Ayuk mic or not. But as I mentioned, uh, you know, kick the tires on brandon iuk. So they understood the significance of losing calvin ridley and knew that it needed to be addressed. Want to shout out d rock this tweet he put up a little bit earlier in the night.

Speaker 1: 12:34

Btj had 12 catches of 20 or more yards at lsu last season, which is the most by an fbs player since espn stats and information began tracking air yards in 2011. He also had 10 touchdown catches on go routes or fade routes last season, as you just mentioned, jay. Death by slot fade that is what we are getting here with Brian Thomas Jr, so really exciting. I think the pick was definitely received pretty well within the stadium. Once you get past the initial, I think, irritation of the tradeback, but, as we have discussed, I think it is a solid move overall. But yeah, jay, I mean a lot of good players left on the board. Don't want to jump too far ahead, but if they want to have some maneuverability, they have a little bit of extra capital next year to do so.

Speaker 1: 13:22

Db obviously still a big need. We definitely want to see them address that in the second or third round, but with any of those players, jay, as we kind of keep this one a little bit more short and sweet, just to kind of look ahead a little bit. Any of those guys that you are looking at we got Kool-Aid McKintry still available. Johnny Newton, I believe, is a name that's still out there. Any of those guys that have now fallen out of the first round that you would love to see the Jaguars target on day two?

Speaker 2: 13:53

So, yeah, I mean, when you look at this list, I mean Johnny Newton, right, who we've heard frequently.

Speaker 2: 13:59

He's a guy that you know I don't know if he like necessarily fits the mold of what Trent Baalke likes in. When you look at what Ryan Nielsen had in Atlanta, the measurables sometimes don't necessarily pop out for the defensive tackles, not necessarily. So that'll be something worth watching. But you know, newton was a guy that was, you know, pretty disruptive. You know, I personally wish he had a little bit more lower body strength. But everything upstairs from the you know waist up the technical part of it, he has that down. So he would be an interesting pick for him. As you said, kool-aid McKinstry man like which I think you know, when you look at how the Jags played this, they knew Kool-Aid was more along the lines of a guy that would fall to him in the second round. But they may have been willing and you know, don't quote me on this, this isn't like information or anything like, I didn't see the draft for it but they, you know, I think that they knew he could be a guy that you know. Hey, we can take him in the first round. If you know, the board gets a little wacky if needed, and we'll be more than OK with doing it. But we also believe that this young man will be available, more so in the second round. And here we are, he is available in the second round. So I mean, he probably would like to trade up to secure one of these young men. When it comes to when you look at who's picking in front of us and you know we're picking 17th in the second round, but look, you know, that's what you get additional compensation for sometimes. Like we got that third round pick and that fourth round pick for next year and then we got what was it? 154 for this year, the additional one that we got, 153. I was in one off for this year. So you got that additional firepower. If you want to trade up, it's easier to trade up in the second round than it is the first round, of course. So we'll see if they do that that. I wouldn't be shocked if they did.

Speaker 2: 16:02

I think, if I'm not mistaken, the jags have traded up in the second round and trent balky's tenure. Don't quote me on that y'all. But if they haven't, this would be the perfect time to do so, because look at how, looking at how this board looks. You know you can get you another very good player. And again, you know, not necessarily me and Phil feeling this way, but you know again, that were just talks and discussions that a lot of people believe that it's a drop off at a certain point in this draft.

Speaker 2: 16:27

So that's another reason to trade up in the second round. Get you, you know, a guy that you really, really, really like. So yeah, man, I can't wait to see what they do in the second round. Man, I couldn't be happier with what they did in the first round, but I do think in the end they'll come away with that combination. We were kind of predicting field wide receiver and cornerback either way that it went. In our draft we went cornerback first, but if they get the cornerback second in the second round, that's okay, because Kool-Aid McKinstry is more than a good enough cornerback to add into the mix with Tyson Campbell and Ronald Darby and what we already have.

Speaker 1: 17:05

Yeah, mckinstry is definitely the guy that I have circled as well. As he continues to, we'll see how far he falls when it comes. When it comes to round two. And yeah, like you said, jay, a lot, a lot easier to move up in the second round. Um, we obviously see them move, seen them move back into the first round multiple times here in the last few years, uh, but you know, we will see what happens. But, jay, anything else you want to mention? I want to get this episode up and out first thing in the morning for when you guys wake up and get your Friday started. Anything else you want to mention in regards to, you know, our newest, our newest Jaguar, brian Thomas Jr, or anything else that we're going to keep our eye out on for the rest of the weekend, because we will have an episode up early next week as well as we cover the entire draft, and we will be having a guest on for that too. That we're very excited for.

Speaker 2: 17:53

Yeah, no, not really to add there, but welcome to Jacksonville. We didn't really formally say that just yet, but welcome to Jacksonville, brian Thomas. We think you'll fit in just fine here, fit in with the culture, and, yeah, we look forward to what you can do for us. And Trevor Lawrence says this offense does need some, some more weapons. Also, one thing we forgot to do, phil, is shout out to our sponsor, seatgeek. You know this is the perfect time to do it because you know the draft episodes get a lot of listens. So shout out to SeatGeek, who is your go-to provider for your ticket and needs, whether it's sports, whether it's concerts, whatever the case may be, they got you covered. You can feel free to use our promotion code for first-time users or first-time purchasers, which is Touchdown Jaguars. Get yourself $20 off of your first order. And, yeah, let us know that you use that code as well. Man Say you sell some money. Get you some gas with that money, or some hot dogs or something.

Speaker 1: 18:57

Yeah, and also let's shout out Tony Khan for keeping Kayfabe alive with the neck brace today. We all wanted to see it. I can't imagine how many people were just confused as hell, wondering what happened to Tony Khan and why is he in this neck brace. But yeah, everything you need as far as our links, all the rest of our episodes you can find in the link tree link of the show notes, as Jay mentioned. You also find the link to the Seeky Gap. Save yourself that, that 20 bucks promo code, touchdown Jaguars whole bunch of events coming up this summer. But yeah, folks, thanks for joining us for this very brief round, one episode, as we are excited to see Brian Thomas Jr link up with Trevor Lawrence. I can't wait to hear from the man QB1 himself as the Jaguars bring in a new weapon for this offense. But, folks, that is my co-host, james Johnson. I am Phil Smith. Thanks for tuning in to Touchdown Jaguars and we will see you next week and let's hope that the remainder of the draft is just as exciting as tonight was. Take care.