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Touchdown Jaguars!
Touchdown Jaguars!
Episode 82: Final 2024 Mock Draft!
Gear up for an electric journey through the Jaguars' draft strategy and NFL fandom culture with your favorite gridiron gurus, Phil Smith and James Johnson. As we lament missing live draft action, we promise to make up for it with a wealth of insider info, from our final mock draft predictions to the significance of throwback jerseys and the impact of recent free agency moves. Join us for a toast to Josh Allen's signing and a nostalgic nod to Jaguarlegends as we set the stage for what's shaping up to be an exhilarating season for the Jaguars.
Dive helmet-first into the complexities of drafting as we dissect the Jaguars' cornerback conundrum and entertain the thrill of trading up for that game-changing player. Our draft board comes alive as we scrutinize wide receiver options and defensive prospects, ensuring that you're armed with insights into the strategic chess game that is the NFL draft.
As we reach the later rounds, our focus shifts to the Jaguars' savvy trade-back move and the potential steal of talents like Zak Zinter. Don't miss out as we evaluate late-round picks, drafting tendencies, and the overall blueprint that could very well turn the Jaguars into a powerhouse. Come for the strategy, stay for the camaraderie, and leave with a deeper understanding of the Jaguars' draft dynamics.
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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.
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 your other co-host, james Johnson and Jay. Good to be back here with you this afternoon as we are recording on the afternoon of April 20th here as we are turning the corner into the week of the draft, and I am back here after having a little bit of a personal issue for the last episode. So shout out to you, as well as our wonderful guest, ian Valentino, who did a great job with that episode. So if you have not listened or checked that out quite yet and you're, you know you're just looking for all the draft coverage that you can possibly get make sure you listen to the previous episode with jay and ian. But regardless, jay, it's going to be back here with you and you know you are in town getting some business done. And then also, you know, we're going to obviously take the opportunity to record a new episode that we want to release before at least round one of the draft.
Speaker 1:If you have been following us for a while, you know that we always like to put out an episode the day after round one, get that instant reaction and analysis out there for you.
Speaker 1:And this week will be no different. Unfortunately, our run of covering the team on site at the NFL Draft for the Jaguars will come to an end this year. We hope to return in 2025, but unfortunately it just wasn't in the cards. And you know that's no ill will towards the Jaguars PR department. They do an excellent job and they have always been very gracious with us, jay.
Speaker 1:So we hope to return there very, very soon, but unfortunately it's just not happening this year. But we do intend on it, on going to the draft day party, you know, just hanging out with everybody and and also still getting some instant reactions with some video content, possibly over on our Twitter page. But regardless, jay, just because we're not going to be in necessarily the media room like we want it to be, doesn't mean that our coverage is going to change really all that much. So, excited to talk about a mock draft today, we're going to wrap up a final mock draft using all the knowledge that we now know after some press conferences, after free agency, after all of that, and I'm excited to dive into all of that with you here today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I'm excited as well too, and you know, as you said, you know we'll have to cover the game from a different perspective. But, as everybody knows, man, like for us, man, when it comes draft time and we're going to give our audience what they want, regardless, you know, of how it's covered. So, uh, yeah, man, I can't wait to talk about this uh episode here, where you know I'll be giving everybody a uh, a head of uh, head of time release of my mock draft that I'm going to eventually post on the website anyway. But, yeah, people will be getting to look at it or get to hear about it before I actually post it on the website. Can't wait to talk about that.
Speaker 2:As you said, there have been some things that were disclosed in the recent draft luncheon and, as you said, we can also use the information that we've learned about the team on free agency and so on and so forth. So, yeah, I can't wait. As always, you all know where to get our content from WWW Dot Touchdown Jaguars dot com. We have archive episodes, we have written content, more written content coming, as I just said. And, yeah, man, ready to get to it, man, as we always say, the draft for us, and this podcast personally, is the funnest time of the year, or most exciting time of the year for us in terms of getting that out, getting this information out to the people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're definitely going to dive into all of that content here in just a moment. All of that content here in just a moment. Before we begin want to remind any, whether you're a new listener or a returning listener, just make sure you check out that Linktree link in the show notes of this episode, find everything you need in regards to our social media pages and where you can find the rest of our episodes. You also get the opportunity to download the SeatGeek app. Use that promo code touchdown Jaguars and save yourself some money on your first purchase with SeatGeek, courtesy of us. Once again, that is promo code Touchdown Jaguars.
Speaker 1:But really quick, jay, before we dive into the draft stuff, I do want to put my two cents in in terms of the Josh Allen deal and you know you discussed that very briefly last episode and also put up an article, you know, over on the website that you just mentioned, and you know what a great day it was. It was a really great kind of week. I guess we'll also throw this in here, jay. The announcement of the throwback jerseys. We don't know exactly. It is returning as far as like the teal, the black, like what it's going to be, but it was like a whirlwind of good news. You know, and this is the time of the year where they always get us right Like you know, free agency happens, the draft happens, we get some announcements about some stuff that's coming in the year ahead, and that's how they get us right. That's how we get excited all over again and you know they did a great job.
Speaker 1:But as far as Josh Allen goes, I mean, what was it? Five years, $141 million, $88 million guaranteed to keep a guy in-house who wants to be here, who wants to create his legacy with Jacksonville and who has just really bought into what's happening here and who has been through the worst of it right? I mean, we very briefly touched on the 2017 2018 team. I believe he joined us in what 2018, 2019? But, like, he saw a lot of that dysfunction and he obviously got through the urban meyer year. He's been through some of the, you know, most damning stuff when it comes to being in a, in a locker room and being in situations that are obviously not very good, and he's gone out there, put his hand in the dirt and got after the quarterback and now he is being rewarded, as he the contract and the reward that he is given. So it just feels good. Obviously you would have liked for this to happen sooner and it would have had a domino effect, and it would have had a domino effect on other things, calvin Ridley. But you know it is what it is here at this point I'm glad he didn't have to wait till training camp like Evan Ingram did Remember that was something that we discussed, that we were a little worried about.
Speaker 1:But to keep 41 here and get this deal done, and now they're seemingly moving on to Trevor and get this deal done, and now they're seemingly moving on to Trevor these are all things like we've been banging the drum for. Like hey, get this stuff done now. Right, Like, get this done. I know there's people in the camp of hey, get Tyson Campbell out of the way. You know he's hopefully going to have a bounce back year, but I think, barring something catastrophic, he is a guy that you want to keep around long-term anyway. So between Trev, tyson Campbell, get those deals done. Get them done early, save yourself some money in the long run. But as far as the Josh Allen deal, it just felt good in terms of what it meant for the organization, what it meant for Josh Allen and what it means for the fans. I think perception is so important right now because of how the season ended. So offseason champions right. That's what we always say here on this podcast, and this was an easy win. That shouldn't have taken this long, but at least it got done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, and you know, I think what I like about Josh Allen's development the most is after that Kansas City Chiefs loss, the one in the postseason, not the regular season one. You know, you can kind of hear it in his voice and feel it that it just didn't sit well with him and he even said it. You know, like I don't like this feeling. I gotta come back better than ever and I'm, you know, just paraphrasing here. And he came back the next year better than ever. And I'm just paraphrasing here. And he came back the next year better than ever. Put up record numbers that this franchise hasn't seen in terms of sack numbers. What was it? 17, 17.5, which hopefully this year I agree with Austin Lane on this we hope that he don't get to that number this year because that means something's terribly wrong with the pass rush, which I mean, if he does, you know he's getting paid for, you know when you look at that contract. But you know if he's getting that many sacks, then that means we didn't do enough to help the pass rush. That means Trayvon Walker didn't really take a step. That means we probably didn't get that edge three that we need. That you know we're hoping for, maybe in the draft, more on that later or you know, a late free agent pickup, kind of like we did many, many years ago with the kid he's escaping my name that went to the Titans a year afterwards. So yeah, anyway, man, yeah, just the development and the step he took after you know that loss to the Chiefs you know was apparent, worked his behind off. As you said, probably should have got done a little faster. He kind of showed his displeasure with it not getting done fast enough, with him not going to certain parts of the offseason workout. So you know his displeasure was apparent there. And I mean my thing is this with it as I just said, we wish it would have gotten done quicker and a lot of people, you know, patting Trent on the back for it. But you know for me you don't get a pat on the back for doing what needed to be done right. You don't get a pat on the back for putting oil or gasoline in your car. This guy went out there and you know put 17 sacks up for us. He should be back. He should have been a priority.
Speaker 2:As the gatekeeper or one of the gatekeepers for this franchise, your job is to do what's right by the franchise and keeping the players, whether you drafted them or not, keeping the players that, whether you drafted them or not, keeping the players that have stepped to the forefront and led this team and put this team in the best position to win.
Speaker 2:So I just think he's getting a lot of praise for doing something that he should have done, and also he's getting a lot of praise because we expected it to get messy and it didn't get as messy as we thought it would get, and he's getting a lot of praise for that. So, that being said, man can't wait to see Josh Allen on the field. Man pair it up with Eric Armstead, all of the other guys, you know whoever we get in the draft as well. And as for the throwbacks, man, yeah, man, that was very exciting to see, as me and our buddy Josh have already tried to piece together and probably more of our friends will get involved. But, as you saw in the text thread, phil, we're trying to be there day one at the mech shop when they release those and cop them straight out of the shop at the facility, man, because we were super excited about those. Hope the black ones are coming too, but we'll have more details on that later.
Speaker 1:Boy when I tell you my wallet was trembling when that announcement came out because the amount of money between hats, hoodies, t-shirts, the jerseys obviously are going to be the big ticket item. And yeah, I'm right there with you, jay, I'll take a day off and we'll go down to the miller electric center and we'll go buy one. I mean to think about even the throwback opportunities that they have here. Obviously, like, I want to get it, you know. You know, 16 is going to fly off the shelf, 41 is going to fly off the shelf on if they end up with one of these receivers in the draft, jay, and I'll buy one.
Speaker 1:I know, know, I'm happy that I didn't take that leap and get that Calvin Ridley jersey, like I know a lot of y'all did, and I'm sorry, but if they get one of those receivers in the draft or one of those big-time DBs, I might even make an investment in one of the rookies. But all I know is I'm going to be spending a lot of money. I want to get Liz one as well. She, she's excited about that. Obviously she wasn't around, you know, when those jerseys were, were still a thing. But yeah, that's, it's really exciting, but not exciting for my wallet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree. And also too, man, like something that creeped into my mind, the throat, the old school players Right. Are they going to have both Sally jerseys? Are they going to have Bocelli jerseys?
Speaker 1:Are they going to have Fred Taylor jerseys? Are they going to have MJD jerseys? I'll buy a Fred Taylor and MJD. I would probably get, honestly, I think, maybe what about one like a double D, like a Donovan Darius or a Rasheed Mathis? I'd buy one of those too.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. Tony Brackens, leon Searcy you know that was a guy that did some good things for us too. Whoever they put out there, you know I want to probably get a you know, an old school player, and as for the modern players, it's kind of a hard decision to make. Obviously, you know you want 16. But I mean, I guess Josh Allen makes a lot of sense, since we know he'll be here long term. Now, you know we have that Tyler Shatley get a Tyler Shatley one.
Speaker 1:There you go.
Speaker 2:Can't go wrong with that. Tyler Shatley returns every year. Shout out to Tyler Shatley for getting another deal, by the way no-transcript.
Speaker 1:So, honestly, if they release and we talked about this if they release like a Barry Sanders in that black jersey, I might have to get that.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I put it on Twitter. I agree, those are the best jerseys in football, and what makes the uniform just pop? Are the helmets right? The helmets are coming out in different colors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that Honolulu blue helmet is cold dude. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Man, look man. I really wish that was one aspect that the Jaguars got in terms of not just having a black helmet but other forms of a helmet color somewhere in there. But don't get it twisted. I'm still excited about the return of throwbacks, but yeah, man, the Lions knocked it out of the park in a time where, when it comes to these jersey concepts, they're not all that appealing. As of the last three, four years, you could tell Nike has toned it down, for whatever reasons. They're looking more bland. We complained about that with our jerseys that we currently wear, but they hit the nail on the head with going back to the throwback for us and also what they did with the Lions. Man.
Speaker 1:Well, speaking of bland, you know the Jets just rolled out. I don't even know what that was. They got totally overshadowed by the Jaguars and the Lions. So you'll love to see it and you know love to see Aaron Rodgers taking L's on and off the field. But we'll leave that discussion for, you know, off the podcast.
Speaker 1:But, jay, let's jump into this mock draft here and if you guys haven't seen it, I put up kind of a uh one and done mock draft with no trades about a couple weeks ago. It was at the very beginning of the month, so I'll kind of defer to that, maybe make some adjustments here. But, jay, I know you uh, like you said, you know this is going to be going up on the site here very, very soon. So people are going to be getting a little bit of a sneak preview that listen to this episode. So let's go to round one. Um, I'm curious to see you know how many trades you decided to make, if any.
Speaker 1:Obviously you know, when you spoke with ian last week he had us taking roma dunze, I believe, at pick 12 and one of my things immediately when I heard him say that was like man, man, I don't. Is Rome really. Does he think Rome is really going to be there at pick 12? And he made a good point, because every year something crazy happens, even five going in the top 12 when you're talking about obviously the big three. But then you throw in jj mccarthy and michael pennix jr or bo nicks whoever that guy ends up being.
Speaker 1:I think you could see five picks or five quarterbacks going in the top 12. There's probably going to be a run maybe on those offensive linemen like ian mentioned, and then you know that leaves the wide receiver position kind of up for grabs. So marvin harrison j, I think we believe is going to be off the table. So in this mock, did you decide to kind of make that move for one of those top tier wide receivers, or did you stand pat and maybe hope that one of those other players that you covet is going to be there at 17?
Speaker 2:Oh man, I was going to. That was the initial plan and if you look in the text thread, my initial draft, that I did before the draft luncheon. I traded up for Rome and I had ended up changing that after the draft luncheon because of what they said and they just kind of indicated that they really wanted a cornerback. And that need for a cornerback Trent Baalke has made apparent, dating back before the draft luncheon. He was talking about that during the post-combine presser. You know, when they get to the combine and they speak to the GMs before everybody takes the field and do the exercises and all of that. He spoke about the need for a cornerback there. And then of course free agency happened and we got Ronald Darby. So you know then you're questioning okay, you know they still may want a corner, but do they want a corner bad enough to draft one in the first round? You know you have those thoughts in your head. So he kind of clarified where they were and I haven't seen the presser but I've seen the articles that the Florida Time Union has put up. I think Justin Lewis and Demetrius shout outs to them. But you know they made the need for a cornerback apparent again in those press conferences. So I had to redo my mock. I had to scrap the one where I traded up for Odunze and I went with Terry and Arnold, which at that time I forgot that that's who you went with. So for the sake of a little bit of different content on the site, I probably should have went with another cornerback or something or another route. But yeah, I went with Terry and Arnold because it just feels like that's what this team wants. Or Quinn Young Mitchell, who in my simulation that I did with PFF wasn't available, or Quinn Young Mitchell, who in my simulation that I did with PFF wasn't available. But it feels like that's what this team really, really wants.
Speaker 2:Even with getting Ronald Darby, which me and Ian talked about this, and I mentioned this specifically Ronald Darby does have some injuries in his history. That's kind of something that has prevented his career from propelling to even greater heights. Don't get me wrong. The man played great football for the Ravens last year. But you know he's a guy, that he's 30, you know as well. So you have to wonder how long he's going to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars when you look at that. And I mean I just think you know Terry Arnold. He fits what they need, just not just from their vocalization of needing a cornerback. But you know he's a guy that has the man coverage skills that Ryan Nielsen may ask for in this scheme, because that's kind of what he did in Atlanta Heavy man coverage scheme. You know he's a guy that me and you talked about from the perspective of he fits what they want in a locker room leader too.
Speaker 2:We've seen this shift to them wanting locker room leaders right over the past few years. They go in and get an Eric Armstead, they go and resign Josh Allen. You know they are trying to fix the leadership aspect of this team and that's what Terry and Arnold is. You know he's a great guy off of the field as well. He's a guy that would come in be a leader for this team from a locker room perspective. But his play for the most part it's been times where he's struggled, but his play for the most part also speaks for what kind of player he is.
Speaker 2:So you're getting the total package there, what kind of player he is. So you're getting the total package there and I would not be mad with that pick at all, although I do think receiver is a bigger priority and I would rather get Odunze or neighbors or something like that, but I still wouldn't be mad with that pick Now. Admittedly, we probably would have to trade up from 17 to get him, but the results, you know, sounds like it would be the same regardless. If they trade it up, it's probably for a cornerback and it would probably be Terry and Arnold. If they stand pat and Arnold's there, you know they'll obviously take him. So, regardless, the plan seems like it would be the same in terms of the end result.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and in my mock Terry and Arnold was also there. Don't know if that's going to be the case. And then what I did today, quinion Mitchell was there, which I think is less likely. But let me ask you this, jay which group do you trust more going in? So in these scenarios we either are getting a wide receiver or a DB. So let me phrase it this way let's say we do not take a wide receiver and you roll out Christian Kirk, gabe Davis, devin Duvernay and Zay Jones, parker Washington, we'll throw him in there. Or we draft a wide receiver and you roll out Ronald Darby, buster Brown, obviously, tyson Campbell and whoever else they've added there. Which group do you trust more if we don't draft that position group? Does that make sense? Do you trust the wide receiver group, as is more, or the DB group, as is more? I guess I'll put it that way.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it makes complete sense. I trust the DB group more. I can answer that easily. I don't think we're doing Trevor Lawrence any justice with rolling out the current group that we have. And that's no knock on Gabe Davis, who I think is a good player and everything.
Speaker 2:But for you to lose Calvin Ridley and just be complacent with the addition of Gabe Davis, something don't sit well with my spirit about that. If you lose Calvin Ridley, you need to be trying to fix that, in my opinion, with a first round receiver, which has kind of been an issue for this team. I think when you look at not just Trent Baalke's issues with drafting receivers but the issues that we presented or caused for our quarterback, a lot of this is because sometimes we haven't been willing to put a first round pick into the wide receiver position. That's very important for a quarterback and, as you've seen in history a lot of times, investing a number of first round pick into a wide receiver quarterback helps a young quarterback tremendously or a franchise tremendously, like Justin Jefferson for example, and it's a few other examples out there. But something don't sit well with my spirit about trotting this current wide receiver group out there.
Speaker 2:I'd rather trot the defensive backs group out there that we have, even though I just said you know, ronald Darby, you know probably isn't a long-term answer, but I do feel like it's not out of the realm of possibilities that he can get through the season healthy and play all games. I think he could play in all what 17 games we have now. But history has said he's kind of had injury, concerns this, that and the other. But if he's healthy I think he'll be a very, very good player for us. I mean, just pop in the Ravens tape of him, man, and the Ravens also. They don't put any slouches on the field right. So I'd rather roll with that if that's what it takes at the expense of getting a receiver. I'd rather roll with that defensive back group and upgrading the wide receiver group.
Speaker 1:Yeah, makes a lot of sense, especially when you're talking about supporting Trevor Lawrence in any way that she can. I mean, I got to say if they don't take wide receiver, if they don't address it and get a guy that can benefit within the first two rounds, then they better be cooking something with Brandon Ayuk, right? Or T Higgins T Higgins, I think, is less likely, but Brandon Ayuk is the guy that everyone keeps circling. They better have some kind of backup plan if wide receiver isn't addressed within, I think, the first two rounds. I think you gotta do it there. So, uh, we'll certainly see what happened.
Speaker 1:But yeah, like I mentioned, terry and arnold was the pick, uh, for my initial mock draft and you know, for all the reasons you just mentioned, as far as obviously, on the field and off the field, it would be a a huge upgrade. But let's move into the second round, jay, and that is going to be pick number 48. And I guess I'll just transition with what we were just talking about. Is this where you have the Jaguars addressing that wide receiver position and getting Trev that additional weapon?
Speaker 2:Yes, I've joined the Ricky Pearsall to Jacksonville I don't want to say hype train, but I've joined the Ricky Pearsall to Jacksonville thought process that it is a strong chance it can happen. And I don't dislike Ricky Pearsall and the more I watched him I was like, ok, I like this kid a little bit more than I previously did. My only question is and I'm struggling with this, admittedly can he be a flanker? Can he play on the outside for this team? I'm not sure. I'm sure that some of these other names we mentioned can do that, but I'm not sure with Ricky if that's the case.
Speaker 2:But I mean, I like what I've seen on film from him. I especially like those videos. I know that you know there's this whole thing of like stop posting workout videos, like what's the point in them? This, that and the other. But in addition to the film, I watch a Pierce Hall. I think I watched three full games of his.
Speaker 2:But the workout videos and his ability to stop and start man, I was so impressed with it. I watched that cut up that he put where he was doing wide receiver training. I think Tyreek Hill might've been there too. I watched that like five times. I was like this dude's ability to stop on a dime. It's kind of crazy, it's kind of insane. I mean that's one of those things we associated with Calvin Ridley.
Speaker 2:Remember, phil, when we got Calvin Ridley and you first asked me, like, what are his standout skills? That was one of his ability to stop and start. Oops, I just hit my mic. So if you hit a bump here, heard a bump there, just disregard that. But yeah, man, when you look at that specific ability, it's possible he could play on the outside and, you know, have some success. And you know, what excites me about him is maybe he's this guy that I'm not as high on and he turns out to be this star, kind of like Puka Nakua, right, like I wouldn't like gaga for him coming out of the draft. You know I hadn't seen a lot of film on him, but he wasn't one of those guys I was like, oh, he could be a gym. So you know, maybe he overachieves what I have in my mind for him when he enters the NFL. And if he does, I mean, man, we'd be cooking with grease on this offense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean listen, the only thing with Ricky Pearsall and this is my own bias is just how drafting these Florida players has worked out for this team. And that is maybe an unfair assessment. I understand that. But when you just look at what has happened, when you think of the Dante Fowlers, when you think of the CJ Hendersons which may have been the worst of all of them what is it about that?
Speaker 1:Knowing, because you will, you have an intimate knowledge about the Florida program because of your ties to you know, being a Georgia fan, so you watch that team closely and obviously being in the, you know, in SEC country.
Speaker 1:So what is it about Ricky Pierce? Also, you know, for an uninformed person like myself and I've seen the tape and I've seen the workout video obviously all that looks very special. So, you know, with a florida gator team that obviously under, has underachieved at least to their standards, based on the type of program that they are, what is it about ricky persol? That is different, that you can tell somebody like myself and I'm sure others that feel the same way hey, this is not the same type of Florida prospect and obviously a second rounder will be a lot different too. We're not talking about taking a guy in the top 10, top 15, whatever it may be. This would be a second round pick and a guy that again has a lot of supporters, and I get that. What would you say to those people that are concerned about bringing in yet another Florida prospect here when that just has not worked out in previous years on numerous occasions, when that just has not worked out?
Speaker 2:in previous years on numerous occasions. Oh yeah, admittedly, it's hard for me to get over that too, admittedly, as you said, as a Georgia fan, and not just my hatred towards the Florida Gators program, but history has served me correctly many, many times on these Florida prospects. Now I think there are some, obviously, some outliers and some exemptions that I saw coming that actually had success. The Pouncey brothers right, I think we all could see that they were going to be very good in the NFL. Percy Harvin you know, had he been able to stay healthy, he would have been another one of those guys. But I think for me is I believe, with Ricky, that he'll be a much better NFL player than he was a college player, and I do, or I am, intrigued by the whole aspect of getting him with a guy like Chad Hall, our receivers coach, who has coached up you know Stefan Diggs, who you know I don't want, who has coached up. You know Stefan Diggs, who, you know I don't want to say coached up, but you know, served as a vital part of his career when he was with Buffalo and, you know, I just think like it's a lot of also good veterans for him to learn around in this program too.
Speaker 2:While I have my concerns about this group, one thing I can't say about the group is that not only do they have Chad Hall, but they have some guys here that could really take Ricky under their wing and get him to overachieve where he was in Florida. You have a Christian Kirk that can help you out. You have a Zay Jones here. You have a Gabe Davis now who's been four years into his career. So those are the things that I'm more so, or that more so make me optimistic that he could overachieve. This whole thing of Florida prospects not working out is because of what we have in place to help him become a better NFL player or more notable NFL player than he was in college.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I mean that makes a lot of sense, like I said when you put the tape on, and we've always been a big advocate of this, it doesn't lie and I think he could be better in the right system and be successful, especially with a plethora of veterans that we have here. I mean, you know, having him and Parker Washington together kind of learn and and hopefully be that you know the next run and next generation of receivers here in Jacksonville would would be great. In my mock I have in the one I put out in the beginning of the month, was Xavier Leggett, and you know that was a guy that we had kind of gone back and forth on. I haven't heard too much about him in recent weeks as far as what the kind of general consensus has been on him, but you know it. Just the fact remains that they have to address wide receiver within the first two rounds and I think he could pause. I think Clay Harbor is also a big fan of his.
Speaker 1:I think that guy definitely has all the tools that if you, if you had to put, you know, the two next to each other between Leggett and Pearsall, I think I would still lean towards Leggett, but you know, if it's we're talking about round two wide receivers, I think either one of them would be solid, and I know there's also been kind of a little bit of a swell of support, jay, for Jalen Polk from Washington. Now, that's a guy I think actually Ian mentioned it last week that's a guy, more so in the mold of a Calvin Ridley, so maybe not a guy that's necessarily going to take the top off, but I want to get your thoughts maybe on that little bit of kind of kind of again noise that's coming out of the Jalen Polk camp for as far as Jaguar fans. Um, and then also, you know, would you welcome Xavier Leguette as the pick there as well?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, you know, in the beginning of the draft process I was real high on Xavier Leguette and then, you know, the senior bowl kind of put him down on some people's list. But as me and you have discussed I I think it was the episode before this one it's like you just go back to the film and ask yourself does it make sense and what you're seeing there? And I still come away a big fan of Xavier Leguette. The only reason why I'm a little bit down on him is not even because of the senior bowl, though. It's because we got Gabe Davis, and Gabe Davis is at least for this offense. Their skill sets are a little too similar.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying. Like I don't want to stockpile a lot of guys with the same skill set and that is why I lean towards a Ricky Pearsall who you know, has shown that ability on film to stop and start, you know, at the drop of a dime. That skill set that is a little bit different from Gabe Davis, that's a little bit different from Isaiah Jones, you know. So that's why I'm kind of like, not as high on Leggett because of the addition of Gabe Davis. Had we not added Gabe Davis then I'd be like, yeah, probably, you know, go there, but then again we would still need two receivers at that point as opposed to one. Now, the Jalen Polk stuff. I'm going to have to watch some film on Polk. Admittedly, he's one that I haven't gotten around to as many receivers as I've seen in this draft. He's one of those guys that I admittedly want to see some more film on before I speak on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really, the only thing I know in terms of Jalen Polk is him and Roma Dunze cooking my Texas Longhorns in the college football playoffs, but I have seen his name pop up and some people throwing out mocks out there and some again within Jaguar Twitter. I've seen some people mention him. But let's keep this train rolling, jay. Let's move into the next pick here, and that is here in the third round, and I believe, if I recall—oh no, not yet. Oh yeah actually. Yeah, I believe this is where you might have some movement, and you saw a guy that you wanted to target and you wanted to go up and get correct.
Speaker 2:Yes. So the way that the board fell, you know I and this is one thing I watch in the simulators, I do it. I make the simulator go, not turbo speed for those of you who use the simulator um, not too slow either, but kind of mid speed so I can kind of like monitor the draft board. And I noticed that austin booker was getting in striking range for me here so I went with him, the edge rusher out of Kansas. He's a guy that has a lot of bulky traits. He has a frame that he could probably add more weight to A guy's 6'4" 240 pounds. So he can add some more weight to that frame.
Speaker 2:And I mean this team simply needs an edge three. You know we lost Caleb on chase on, who really wasn't successful in that role anyway to the Carolina Panthers. And you know, while it's not a pressing need like receiver and cornerback is it's it's close, it's close and this team just needs to do something there. Um, because obviously josh allen and trayvon walker you know their work speaks for itself last year but you know when those guys are not necessarily off the field as a pair, but you know when those guys need to come off the field for a little bit, man who can step up and provide that. You know that edge rusher three pass rush that we need, like Arden Key did, who his name escaped me early in the podcast. That's who I was referring to, like Arden Key. So I went with Booker.
Speaker 2:I see a player that's real raw, but I got a really good feeling about that kid in terms of over time becoming what you would like in maybe an edge rusher three and maybe even you see a scenario where he's so good to where you know he's at the end of his contract and people are trying to pay him edge rusher one type of money.
Speaker 2:So I think he would develop fine here. You'll put him under the wing I speak on this often you'll put him under the wing of a Josh Allen who just got paid crazy money. That can show him the way who learned from Calais Campbell. Right, you can. He can learn some things from a Trayvon Walker who knows what the pressure is like of being a high round draft pick and being asked to do a lot upon your arrival. So you know that puts him in a good position In terms of his skill set. You know he's a guy at time that has shown, depending on who you ask. Some people don't think like he's super bendy, but he's shown a good enough bend, in my opinion, on the field and yeah, just over time, I think he would be a guy that could really really help this team from the perspective of replacing Caleb on chase and giving them more than they had in him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, austin Booker is a guy that early in the draft process that I saw I kept seeing pop up on draft Twitter. So, you know, I just had to look into him and, yeah, I agree, I think that guy is going to be a steal. He is explosive off the line and he I'm super physical. I saw him popping up in the run against texas. Uh, this is a guy like, yeah, I totally agree that he is going to be a guy that's going to get a big second contract. I mean, I just hope that the the wrong team doesn't get him in terms of you know how it affects the jaguars, right, I don't want to see him coming to the afc south, don't want to see him going to the afc. In general, I don't want to think. I think this guy has a very, very high ceiling. So I'm definitely on board with that.
Speaker 1:Um, for my round three pick, I actually went to wayne carter, which, to kind of give you guys a little bit of a preview, I think is going to pop up here in just a moment. We talked about it, jay. For whatever reason, pff is just not a fan of Dwayne Carter, no matter where you draft him. That's why I've been using the pro football focus uh, or the pro football network, uh draft simulator because they don't give me any grades and they don't make me feel bad for, you know, doing what I think is right. But yeah, and then that was at pick 96 again. This was no trades for me in my mock draft. But yeah, I would love to see them be aggressive and go get a guy like an austin booker and pair him with an already with a defensive line that we already have lofty expectations for. We're talking about josh allen returning to forum and then adding eric armstead to that, and then obviously we we expect trayvon walker to continue to ascend and we still kind of don't know about Yassir Abdullah.
Speaker 1:He was a little bit of a project pick. Actually, in my mock draft I had Austin Booker and I don't think this is going to happen. I had him at pick 116 in round four. He's going to be gone well before then. He was just available in that mock draft simulator again at the beginning of the month. So we're talking weeks from now. So I forgot. I did have Austin Booker a little bit later. So you know the two guys Dwayne Carter, austin Booker, jay I think we would love to see added to the defense again to kind of give people a little bit of a heads up as to where you're leaning towards at pick 114.
Speaker 2:So, phil, I can absolutely understand why you feel the way you feel about Austin Booker and why we share the same you know viewpoint of him. His PFF grade against your Texas Longhorns was an 82.3. That was his best grade of the season, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you couldn't help but notice it. That's what it was. It was probably like some kind of PTSD. I was like why does that name sound so familiar? When I was going through this this draft season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, he absolutely crushed it that game, according to PFF. But yeah, I mean going ahead, as you said. You kind of mentioned this in round four of my mock here I went with Dwayne Carter, who probably won't be there, but yeah, he's a guy that and I hate to like put a mock out there that has similar picks. I should have probably went back and look at at your draft, which I you know, I was the person that posted it and edited. I should have known. But it's OK, we're here now, Right. But yeah, Dwayne Carter man, he's a guy like. When I watched him on film he was real slippery man. He always found himself into the backfield, always helping from a tackle for loss perspective.
Speaker 2:Not sure why PFF isn't high on him. He does fit that model. There was a Twitter user out there that commented on one of my tweets that did bring it to my attention of the type of body types that they like in Ryan Nielsen's scheme. He has that type of body type, right, Not overly tall as a defensive tackle. Let me pull up his measurables as a matter of fact here. Yeah, 6'2", 302 pounds, you know. So he's one of those guys who he fits that mold of what we saw in Atlanta in the interior part of the defense, and, yeah, I'll be excited to get this guy, whether it's in the, if we get him in the fourth. I mean that's a steal in my opinion.
Speaker 2:I don't know what PFF is talking about, but, as me and you have said, PFF isn't necessarily the know-all be-all. But, as me and you have said, PFF isn't necessarily the know-all-be-all, though we often refer to them in terms of statistics and grades and stuff. But, yeah, man, I would be excited about getting this young man. As we said, man, we learned this in 2017. When it comes to the interior and the defensive line, it's about stockpiling on top of what you have, and this is a guy that can come in and learn from Eric Armstead for a few years and, you know, maybe in two years or three years, whatever the case may be, you got a guy who's a flat out stud for the interior part of your defense.
Speaker 1:Yeah and listen. Obviously we want it to happen, but if Devon Hamilton, for whatever reason, can't return to form, they're going to need another guy alongside Eric Armstead to fill that role we had added in. You know he took 422 snaps in the B gap in 2023 and over 100 snaps outside the tackle, so I mean we're talking about a guy with a. That's really great. Against the run, Obviously we love that. High IQ, high motor, good hands. This would be an absolute steal again, if we walk away from this weekend, jay, and we are able to pair Austin Booker with Dwayne Carter are you kidding me, like on day three, that would be an absolute steal. Now the problem is is Trent Bulkey and his staff? Are they thinking the same way? You know that remains to be seen. But let's move into the next pick here, jay, which is another fourth rounder. I think you also had some movement here. So what did you have the Jags doing with their second fourth round pick? Did you stand back at 116 or was there a little bit of movement here?
Speaker 2:So I think I traded back a little bit with the Jets. Yeah, I'm looking at it here. I traded back with the Jets from 116. I went to 134 because I wasn't like super impressed with what was available at that point and I was eyeing somebody who I could get later a few picks back in. That person, for injury reasons, which we discussed with Ian on the podcast, was Zach Zenter, who you know. Zach Zenter had third second round grades before, maybe even higher, before the injury right, which, as Ian pointed out, there wasn't any ligament damage in the leg.
Speaker 2:I forgot what kind of specific injury it was, I'm blanking out on that but it wasn't any ligament damage. So it's probably nothing long term. You know, you may be dealing with a guy here. I would have to see what's the timeline for his injury where he might not be available for some of training camp. Look, that's OK, we're in the fourth round here. You know what I'm saying. Like it's not that big of a deal, like typically you're not going to start her in the fourth round anyway. So you know, here you have a guy when you look at where he was before the injury. Here you have a guy when you look at where he was before the injury. Here you have a guy who you probably would have drafted as a starter before the injury, but teams can't afford to do that right now because he might not be able to be a part of camp or whatever the case may be. Again, I'll have to look at the timeline, but this is a bulky special. Get a guy that falls for injury red flag reasons and, you know, hope that they can get back to where they were, and I believe Zach Zinter can get back to where they were before their injury. So you know, I have a guy here who we know, brandon Scherf, probably won't be here long term, past this year. You know we'll have to see if there aren't some kind of extension. I think they altered his deal to where he's on just one year left on the deal now, so you got to have a succession plan for him.
Speaker 2:That's one thing that I kind of heavily consider in this mock draft before I even press start on. It was like we got to find, you know, somebody to succeed Brandon Scherf and yeah, this trading back with the Jets allowed me to do it while picking up a few extra picks, so why not and then also to feel, you know, we brought in Tom Gamble here who you know was one of the personnel executives over there with Michigan. Now we all know Balky and Harbaugh don't really like each other and maybe that's caused some you you know maybe some hesitation from drafting Michigan players on Balky's part. But with Tom Gamble coming in, who you know, tom Gamble, it was what not too long ago, phil, eight years ago, maybe a decade ago we were talking about Tom Gamble on one hour other versions of this podcast back in the day being a potential GM candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars before they got Dave Caldwell. So you know, tom Gamble will definitely. That was part of why I went this route could definitely influence this.
Speaker 2:They have some in-house intel on Zach Zenter and I think this is the year that you know we break that whole not taking Michigan players thing. I mean, and this is a year that you know we break that whole not taking Michigan players thing. I mean, and this is a talented Michigan team, albeit like these. These kids are a little bit older, you know the 23-24 range, but when you look at this class that they're putting out there no, I mean, it's not a Georgia class, of course like we're the best to do it, but it's a very good class.
Speaker 2:Zenter Mike St Cyril, the cornerback that a lot of people believe will be a very good nickel. Some people might feel he'll be a very good outside corner. Chris Jenkins Jr so that's the son of Chris Jenkins, obviously from formerly of the Carolina Panthers, if I'm not mistaken. You see all of these kids JJ McCarthy I know the takes on him are some people love him, some people hate him, but the fact remains that he's a very highly discussed prospect in this draft, and there's some others out there there's another guard that's escaping my mind right now that they have entering the draft as well too. So this is a very talented Michigan class that nobody, you know, for whatever personal reasons or whatever reasons, should be overlooking in terms of bringing these kids into the NFL and them turning out to be very good players.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, with Gamble coming in a pencil in, we're taking JJ McCarthy, we're taking Blake Corum, with Gamble coming in Pencil in, we're taking JJ McCarthy, we're taking Blake Corum, like you said, we're doing Chris Jenkins, zach Zinter, roman Wilson, all those guys Pencil them in, and we're going to have the Jacksonville Wolverines here, that's with the team that we're going to be fielding in 2024, 2025.
Speaker 1:But no, I mean, like you said, with him being here, it lends a lot of credence to, you know, the zach zinter and the zach zinter pick and, uh, you know, if the medicals are all good, uh, you know, I think he is definitely an opportunity to to be the succession plan. Uh, like you mentioned, to brandon scherf. But uh, jay, if you want to, just, you know, we're kind of getting to the latter stages of the draft here. We want to wrap up this episode. You know, if you want to kind of rattle off the picks for the fifth, sixth and seventh round that you got, because I do believe you got that extra sixth round pick, because we don't have a fifth round pick, if I recall correctly, as of right, as part of that trade maybe, or we traded it elsewhere. But yeah, what do you have as far as the last few picks here on your mock draft last few picks here on your mock draft.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we lost the um, I think it was a fifth or six for um for the quarterback.
Speaker 2:Uh, oh, yeah, that's right for mac jones. Yeah, yeah, yeah for matt jones. So yeah, um, which again we kind of discussed that like um, I don't think we have a problem with giving up a six for a kid that was a former first round pick that could develop into a solid quarterback too. But I mean, I guess sometimes it's about trusting players that you've seen in the NFL against players that you haven't. But yeah, I mean in terms of how I rounded it out at 185, which I picked up. I think that was one of the joints I picked up from the Jets.
Speaker 2:I took Javon Foster the tackle from Missouri. I took Javon Foster the tackle from Missouri. You know he's a guy that you know he'd be viewed as a developmental tackle for the NFL, obviously, and you know he's a guy that they can just kind of bring along. You know this won't be the first time that they take an offensive lineman late and have tried to develop them. You know this is a kid that'll get a lot of time in the preseason. You know you get a good look at him. You add yourself some tackle depth there because you know there's kind of the thought process that maybe you know this team might look to trade Cam Robinson. You know some people think that that's possible and you know they just kind of don't know what they have in.
Speaker 2:Walker Little, obviously, because he's been in and out of the lineup and they don't obviously they're not, they don't feel concrete about him. And then Elijah Jones, the cornerback from Boston College. I saw some statistics on PFF where I think it was PFF or Twitter where he had some very good high numbers in man coverage. So that was the thought process there. And then I went with at pick number 236, because Trent Baalke can't go without drafting linebackers and drafting halfbacks, slash running backs in the draft. I finished it off with Kendall Milson from the Georgia Bulldogs, who I think is going to be a gem, by the way, when you look at the history of Georgia running backs, this is a guy that history is on his side for sure to be. Not that, you know, not necessarily a great running back or number one running back is what I'm trying to say, but maybe a solid contributor that can come in there, help, you know, alleviate some things off of Travis ETN.
Speaker 1:Yeah, expect that. That running back selection to show up this year. I don't know how they feel about. Take Bigsby Snoop Conner is all but Avengers.
Speaker 1:Infinity War dusted, we haven't heard from in a bulky draft is hopefully hit on that first-round pick, not have a whole lot go on in the middle rounds and drafting a linebacker and or a running back. Those are the bulky principles that he seems to. Oh, and draft a guy that's coming off that has a questionable injury history as well. Those are the bulky commandments. And long arms and long arms and long arms yeah, that is what we will.
Speaker 1:Comes to Cam Robinson, you know, with his injury concerns and you know kind of being up in the air. As far as you know what Walker Little is going to be, you know we all think that Anton Harrison is the left tackle of the future and I think that kind of leaves right tackle up for a discussion, a debate, a competition. And I slotted Blake Fisher in there. So you know kind of want to get your thoughts on that. I think he has some promising attributes, especially as a run blocker. Could develop into a long-term starter in the league. You know, want to get your thoughts on that before we wrap up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I love Notre Dame linemen. I know some of them haven't panned out and then some of them have, but I love Notre Dame linemen. One of them that I think I was high on correct me if I'm wrong phil ronnie stanley, who he's with the ravens and has been a long time tackle with him, he came from notre dame. Am I correct on that?
Speaker 1:let's see here.
Speaker 2:Yes, he went to notre dame 2012 yeah, I love ronnie stanley's tape coming out of the um, coming out of notre dame. I love what he you know he's become uh with the bal Baltimore Ravens and it's been a bunch of other guys that, a lot of them I've chosen, a lot of the guys who haven't panned out in the NFL. It's another one that's escaping my mind right now. Zach, he's with your Cowboys right now. He was a very good starter.
Speaker 1:Zach Martin.
Speaker 2:Yeah, zach Martin. I love Zach Martin coming out of the draft, even interviewed him in the senior bowl. But yeah, man, I like that pick. Yeah, you mentioned it. Man, like what stood out to me for him is his ability in the run game, right, and that kind of makes me concerned that the Jaguars won't pick him, because a lot of these guys that I see is great fits in the run game they don't draft.
Speaker 2:So I don't know if they'll go that route, but I would love to for the sake of Travis Etienne, right, for the sake of we'll call it right now, for the sake of Kendall Milton, our future number two running back from Georgia, for the sake of you know, just this running game that we just been very disappointed with. And you know it's clear that I know Doug Peterson, his offenses have not been that run heavy for the most part of his tenure as a head coach, but they need to get back to that and he's a guy that can help them get back to that if they were to draft him. So I love that pick. Feel We'll see if it happens. That's another one field, we'll see if it happens, that's another one I feel kind of high on, just kind of like, I feel, with Austin Booker of what he can become in the NFL. But we'll see if, as you said, the Jaguars mind and thought process matches what we think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, time will tell. This is always a very exciting and anxious time of the year for Jaguar fans, but there's a lot of talent in this draft and, if they're looking in the right places and are valuing the same things that we value, I think we can come away with some really, really solid players here, jay. So, as we wrap this up, our final episode before the NFL draft happens before night one at least happens and we post our next episode, which will be, uh, on Friday. Uh, we'll get that up for you right away. Burning the midnight oil and getting that episode recorded and edited, jay is there anything else you want to mention?
Speaker 2:before we wrap up? Any other players, you think maybe we should have an eye on um and then, yeah, we'll get out of here and look forward to thursday? Yeah, man, no, um, I think we uh made good time speaking on the players that were in our mock draft, so I I won't talk anybody's ears off and go into more prospects, um, but yeah, man, um, as you said, man, I can't wait for the draft, wait to burn some of the midnight oil and come back after the draft process when our eyes are heavy and still discuss what took place. Man, that's always the most exciting part of the season for us and, as I said, feel free in the meantime to check out our content touchdown, jaguarscom and, of course, we're on each and every major podcast platform there is. So, yeah, man, enjoy this episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah, guys, I look forward to all. Yeah, everyone look forward to bringing you all that draft content this week and we're going to have we have a couple of guests penciled in as well for the next couple of weeks to talk about the fallout after the NFL draft and it's just going to be an exciting time as we get closer and closer to you know, rookie training camp and then official training camp, preseason, regular season, all of that. So if you want to keep up with Touchdown Jaguars, make sure you click the link tree link in the show notes of this episode. Follow us on Twitter where we are the most active. The podcast page is TDJaguarsPod. You can find me at Phil the Filipino, f-i-l-i-p-i-n-o, and Jay at SportsGrind underscore.
Speaker 1:Don Make sure to check out the website as well, touchdownjaguarscom, and download the SeatGeek app. Use that promo code. Touchdownars helps us out tremendously and we appreciate the support. Also, share the content. Head on over to apple podcast spotify, wherever you can leave those five-star reviews. All that helps when it comes to algorithm stuff and we truly appreciate it. Folks, that is my co-host, james johnson, and I am phil smith, and do not forget to tune in the touchdown jaguars for each and every Jaguar touchdown and we'll see you in a couple of days after the NFL draft. Take care.