JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Christopher from Jacksonville
Getting Brenton Strange signed seems like a big deal. It's a big deal, right? How come no one is acting like it's a big deal?
The Jaguars on Wednesday reportedly signed tight end Brenton Strange to a three-year contract extension worth up to $48 million with $25 million guaranteed. It's absolutely an important deal for the Jaguars, with Strange from this view as important to this offense – and this team – as any player other than quarterback Trevor Lawrence. He somewhat quietly last season emerged as a core player, with his physicality one of the defining points of the franchise and his versatility/reliability key to the offense. Why isn't "anyone" acting like the signing is a big deal? I never know how to answer questions about why observers and fans react in certain ways. It's a slow time for NFL media. So maybe that's a factor. I do know the Jaguars considered this very important and I know having Strange around for the foreseeable future is critical to this franchise.
P Funk from Murray Hill
When teams release the depth charts, do they have to stick to it? Can they say certain players are starting and then play completely different players? Why or why not?
NFL teams can start any eligible player(s) they like no matter where the player(s) appear(s) on the depth chart. Why? Because even when depth charts are "official," they're unofficial.
Sal from Austin, TX
The Prowler design is timeless. They nailed it. Fierce, athletic, forward looking. Sake for the sake of change is fickle.
One not fer change.
Travis from Chattanooga, TN via Ormond Beach, FL
Hey, O. Now that we're firmly in the dreaded DEAD ZONE, I was wondering if we should take a step back and ask simply: How are you? How is the family? Do I remember you saying that O Jr. was getting married? I could be wrong because wasn't he just playing high school tennis, like, last month? I know Mrs. O is out with a knee right now, but does she think you're any cooler yet? What about Rat Dog? We would just like to check up on how our resident King of All-Funk/Streak Keeper/Bullet Bob-loving Senior Writer and his family are doing.
I'm good. The family is good. O Junior is married, in University of Florida Pharmacy School and continuing to tolerate his male parent. Mrs. O is rehabilitating from knee surgery, which – though difficult – has not affected her judgement to the extent of thinking I am either cool, cooler or anywhere close to cool. Rat Dog, unfortunately, as of last summer is no longer with us. We miss her greatly in these parts. She was just past 13 when she met her end. She had a hell of a run.
Mike from East Alabama, (Pensacola)
Zone, following the "best of them" theme in this year's dead zone. Best all-time Jaxson de Ville?
Jaxson de Ville is a heck of a good mascot. The Phillie Phanatic and San Diego Chicken also were cool mascots. When he was little, Junior O-Zone liked to hug mascots and pose for pictures with them. Mascots are cool. Fans like them.
Pedal Bin, IFOTY 25 from Farnborough, Hampshire, UK
Oh Mighty 'O' / King of all Funk, are we in The Dead Zone now? Asking for a friend.
Sure you are.
Mason from Palm Bay
We're slowly approaching the 60s and that's going to get real tough to name players – assuming you aren't using Google. A few months back, I tried to name a Jaguars player for every number 0-100, and the 60s really humbled me. Best of luck to you, KOAF.
We're into the mid-50s in this exercise, which means we will reach the 60s sometime next week. I haven't grinded through the specifics of this yet, but I know the 60s will include many offensive linemen. That may humble many observers. I doubt I will need much luck during that time, though. Offensive linemen are cool. O-Zone likes them. And he has no issues naming 10 of them as memorable players in this franchise's history.
Kenneth from Jacksonville
What about "O," O?
We are up to "O" in this discussion of best players in Jaguars history with a specific last initial, with possibilities including tight end James O'Shaughnessy (2017-2021), defensive end Jared Odrick (2015-2016), linebacker Foye Oluokun (2022-2026), wide receiver Kassim Osgood (2010-2011), long snapper Matt Overton (2017-2018), running back Montell Owens (2006-2012). We will go Oluokun here, with a serious hat tip to Owens – a special teams extraordinaire if ever there was one.
James from Jacksonville
Who's the best player in Jaguars history to wear No. 54?
Possibilities for this discussion are scarcer than one might expect, with comparatively few Jaguars players wearing No. 54 for more than one season. A shoutout here to Keith "Go Go" Goganious (1995), a memorable name from the inaugural season. Linebacker James Hamilton (1997-1998) wore it two seasons. But the easy selection here is linebacker Mike Peterson (2003-2008), a leader and memorable player on a lot of good Jaguars teams in the 2010s.
Nicholas from Fort Hood, TX
KOAF: Dead Zone question: With the World Cup going on, it got me comparing football and soccer. Do you ever see the NFL taking steps to shorten the length of the game? As a casual soccer fan during the Olympics and World Cup, I love that each game is about 100 minutes plus the length of halftime so about two hours in total – compared to the NFL, which is three and half hours or longer despite only being two thirds as long as a soccer match for playing time. Do you think a 35-second play clock after an incomplete pass and out of bounds plays along with a shorter play clock for extra points and kickoffs are viable options to speed up play and keep player safety in mind? Also, soccer has few commercials breaks compared to the NFL which has six-plus breaks per quarter. Is the revenue for the NFL significantly greater than revenue from soccer with all the advertising?
Soccer – or as Mrs. O-Zone now confidently calls it, "futbol" – is uniquely designed to control game lengths because the clock does not stop for any reason except for halftime until the end of regulation. The NFL is always conscious of shortening game lengths. But the league's not going to eliminate commer$ial break$, and I don't know that shorter play clocks will have much support. I suppose the NFL could allow the clock to run after incomplete passes, but that would have the effect of shortening actual game play and I can't see that having much support either. Remember, too: NFL games are already shorter than college games by about 20 minutes. One way the NFL could shorten games is eliminating instant replay. But seeing how every fan seems to think officiating is so awful that all plays must be reviewable, there likely won't be much momentum for that.
Howard from Homestead, FL
Who is the best questioner whose name and town starts with the letter "H"?
Howard Hughes from Honolulu, Hawaii.
Charles from Riverside
Hello, John. With the World Cup in play, it reminds me of my first, and the Jags' first game against the Houston Oilers. At the time, I was working for a German company. My boss was in town and wanted to see an American football game. He pretty much enjoyed it despite not really knowing the rules. His only complaint was the pause leading up to and after a play. Soccer being a continuous 45 minutes per half. But the best memory of the day was having brought my son, in elementary school at the time. We had a blast, and he still proudly wears his Jags hat from that game when we, and now also my grandson, attend the games. While the memory and excitement of Jacksonville being award the Jaguars franchise still lingers for all of us, as each year passes stronger traditions are being built!
Indeed.
Chuck from South Mandarin by way of Westside
Yo yo O! When the cops kick your door in, who pays? Asking not for a friend but my ex-wife. (Chillin' in the dead zo).
Jaguars 2026 Training Camp is scheduled to begin in late July, with rookie reporting July 25 and veterans reporting July 28.
Rob from St Augustine, FL
Why, with lists of best Jaguars with number/letter, do you include players who shouldn't even be mentioned/in the conversation? Are you simply making an honest attempt to name EVERY player who's ever worn the number/ had the letter?
If I was trying to name every player who ever has worn a certain number/had a certain letter, here's what I would do: Name every player who ever has worn a certain number/had a certain letter. Why do I name the players I do? Because I feel like it, I suppose. My column, my rules.
