Jacksonville Jaguars DOUBLE DOWN on Positional Value And Keep What's HARD To Find In Free Agency

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1:06All right, welcome to a bonus edition of Lockdown Jaguars as we do each and every day. I'm Tony Wiggins, the host of the Lockdown Jaguars podcast, and here's what we're going to do in the two halves of this show. The second half, security, the things that are hard to find. And in the first part of the show, the undefeated positional value point of view, it strikes again, the Jaguars, as you all know by now, have picked up the fifth year optional offensive tackle, Anton Harrison. After the last year, they picked up the first year, the fifth year optional trade won Walker. That's offensive tackle, edge rusher, and prior to them coming here, of course, Treble Orange had his fifth year option picked up and then got on the contract extension. So that's how this works. They picked up the previous regime picked up Travis ETN's fifth year option, or, yeah, I think the previous regime did that. And then it may have been last year, I can check on that real quick, but I know they did

2:08not pick up the one on Devon Lloyd. So that's the thing. Running back, even though H&N, let me say that correctly, got his fifth year option picked up, he played through it, played well. When I got 12, 13, 14 million dollars in free agency, they did not bring him back. He's home in New Orleans, so that's done. But you see all fall linebacker running back, no, quarterback, wide receiver, quarterback, edge rusher, right tackle, yes. And it's status quo. This is the way it goes in a national football league. It's not just about the positions when it comes to those guys, because if they hadn't done, they were supposed to do, they'd be gone too. Remember, Jawan Taylor, Jawan Taylor, I think he's still out there right now as a free agent. If he isn't, he got picked up by somebody, but he ain't playing for Kansas City anymore. They didn't pick up anything, but Jawan Taylor, they let him walk out for four years. They just didn't see the value. That's not this crew of people, but sometimes you don't get that fifth year option picked up, even if you were first or second round.

3:09Well, Jawan Taylor was a second round pick, so he didn't have his fifth year, but they didn't resign him. And the point is, it's about the commitment, not whether you're fourth or fifth year player, but it is about the commitment. That leads you to take that and put it over here in the draft category. This is why and how teams draft the way that they do. This is why and how teams go with the first round pick. It's usually at a position of value. You notice that Travis H. Chan, as well as Devin Lloyd, those are first round picks that were not at what you would consider positions of value in the national football league, unless you were just a great player, and that's different. So these non-positional value positions, if you're Bijan Robinson, you're a player of value. So regardless of your position, you're a football player. If you're Fred Warner at Lionbacker, that's a player designation as much as it is a

4:09positional designation. If you're a great player, great players don't get. Good players can be let go. Great players will not be run out of the building. And all I do, all I tell people is this, if the team is the same when the guys off the field or there's not much drop off at that position, and it's not as if that player doesn't mean anything to your team, it just means that even if he's better than the next guy, the next guy can still perform at an extremely high level with what you want or expect them to do, then there's no reason for you to overpay that player. And I saw Devin Lloyd running off the field. I saw fans wondering why Basel Tutton didn't get the ball anymore against Buffalo and the playoffs and the playoffs lost after he had three straight carries for 15 yards. Anytime you can ask why those guys didn't get more carries or why they're off the field in critical positions, that's nothing to do with them as much as it has to do with, it's easy to find people that can play and help you at those spots.

5:13That leads to this, securing the things that are hard to find when you have premium picks or free agency. That is the goal here. So now when you turn that towards the NFL draft, you can now have the help that you need to decide who the Jaguars will pick, and we'll get to that in just a second here, on locked on Jaguar. All right, today's show is sponsored and brought to you by Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when momentum shifts, you can move with it. It's new the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. Now I can actually take part live in a market powered by people.

6:17You're no longer just a spectator, played by play, you decide. Trade every play with Robin Hood now available across the US, download the Robin Hood app now to begin futures and clear swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Independent contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives, LLC, a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. I have number two of the bonus episode here on Locked On Jaguars, securing the things that are hard to find. We just discussed that and why it's important to use the results of fifth year offices and extensions for players. Why it's important to use that when you look at the other equally as probably more important area of player procurement and that is the NFL draft. You're going to get player every position.

7:17I said this on an episode earlier today that every position is important and the importance of that position can you can be reminded of that as something as simple as this. Go back to when Brett, what's his name, Mick Mannes, the dude Mick Mannes was kicking field goals and he was missing them. Now go to Cam little. You see the difference when you got one and you don't have one, what about long snapper? You see these teams lose their center or their long snapper and then you see the ball rolling like a bowling ball back to the quarterback or the punter and you just, you just know at some point it's going to bite you in a big game or in a big moment, right? When you have running backs that are good at running downhill but can't want them block a tad. But now you're down 14 in the fourth quarter and you got to throw. You can't put them in the game because they can't pass protect. If you got a good running back that can get you 1800 yards rushing but he can't catch a lick in the flat. He's useless to you in certain situations and teams will put you in those situations

8:22to negate or nullify the effect of that one player. What if you have dudes that don't have catcher radius? That means your quarterback has to actually throw the ball even more accurate to make a pass as opposed to having a guy that just make a play on the ball, right? If you have a safety that can't cover, he can tackle, he can hit everything that moves but he takes the worst angles then you give up chunk plays. All of these positions are important when you don't have players that play those positions adequately. But there are some by nature that are more important than the others. Offensive tackle is one of them. Quarterback of course. Scentler, somebody, we know that around here. Until Robert Haines showed up, man, we have been begging for anybody to play center since Brandon Linda left back in like 2018, 19 or whatever year it was. The Jaguar was like, we want Brad Meister to come back, somebody, yeah, when you don't have something, it becomes an emergency and a priority, but it's considering if all

9:27things are equal, if all things are equal, there are just some positions that, well, it matters a little bit more because they're hard, it's hard to find people. You can get a running back that compassionate check. You can get a jump ball while receiving it. You can get a catcher radius wide out. You can't go get a quarterback unless you draft them in development, and y'all know that. Trevor Lawrence, I mean, they were trying. They tried forever, firing left with Mark Brinnell, who is in the ring of honor. David Garard, who was good for a while, Blake Borders. I mean, you constantly saw the Jaguar's reaching to get that franchise type quarterback that could absolutely make a difference in Trevor Lawrence played like that last year because he was the top five pick. I mean, the top five MVP candidate. It's why they went up and got Travis Hunter last year. The dude that would be the best prospect in this year's draft and probably would have been the best prospect in the draft the year before he got picked. It's what you get rare when you have a rare opportunity.

10:28And even in the draft this year when they don't have a first round pick, it's the closest they're going to get to the top unless they trade up sitting at 56. They're going to try to find something that they can't get anywhere else or that the other teams have let slip back to them. And that's why best player available outside a quarterback, of course, best player available is still on the board and then play regardless of where it is running back. I doubt it because I don't think there's going to be a running back at 56, although everybody's looking at the second running back up at Notre Dame as a possibility. I don't think they do that with what they've done so far. Going out and getting Chris Rodriguez having the confidence in both Laquan Island and Basel Tutton, who they took in last year's draft who played a lot last year and played well. So, no, do I expect them after signing Chris Rodriguez to go and get another back absolutely not at least not early unless they get there in the draft and they look up and then boom, this dude is just too good to pass up. And then yeah, you bring him in and you figure it out, right, make him your fourth running

11:30back. Some positions like why receiver, you have to fill your room in and you need to do that with the best players that you can, not just special team guys or specialty dudes. Guys that actually have a superpower that will help you. But now you're starting to see through what they've done, not what we talked about, through what they've done where the commitment lies and why position of value is so, so important. Apply that to the draft also especially early. Once you get past the second round and you head to the round three and then you can start looking at okay, now let's find the dudes that have the extra thing or that one thing about them that can really, really help our football team because you're going to need them too. I know y'all sick of all of the value disavow, y'all want to know who the Jaguars are going to pick. Well, tune in the locked on Jaguars each and every day because we get closer and closer to trying to narrow it down and find out, but we ain't going to know until they actually get on the clock at the draft and that pick goes up to the podium. You will discuss it every day and also provide you with the everydayers club, a link down

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