JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Marc from Oceanway
Mr. Funky King, now that we have pretty much filled out our roster, can you shed some light on which players will play where when we line up in a 3-4 defense?
The Jaguars haven't released an official depth chart – and likely won't until the regular season – and they have discussed few specific defensive roles. We also haven't seen how defensive coordinator Joe Cullen and the defensive staff will use various schemes in various situations. For those reasons and more, the specifics of how the defense will look likely will remain something of a mystery until training camp – and as a result, projections have the feel of piecing together a puzzle. The Jaguars likely will line up in a 3-4 in many base situations, something like 30 percent of the time or so, but they will have a more 4-3-based scheme for offenses that are more run-oriented – and many players in the front seven will line up in different spots in different situations. Veteran defensive end Dawuane Smoot, for example, likely will play off the ball outside in base situations and slide inside in passing situations. I expect Myles Jack and Joe Schobert to start at Will and Mike linebacker, respectively, with Josh Allen and K'Lavon Chaisson playing the outside-rush linebacker role. Roy Robertson-Harris, Taven Bryan and Jihad Ward figure to have key big-end roles on the line, with Malcom Brown at nose and rookie Jay Tufele and second-year veteran DaVon Hamilton capable of playing multiple down positions. Those are a few generalities. I suspect we'll know many more specifics in training camp and preseason.
Michael from Middleburg, FL
You keep calling Tebow tight end. He is not (probably never will be) and never has been. Call it what it is ... a has-been quarterback who doesn't know when to quit and NO OTHER team would be doing what is going on in Jacksonville.
Tim Tebow was signed by the Jaguars as a tight end. He's on the roster as a tight end. I'll refer to him as a tight end until he is otherwise designated. Thanks for the advice, though. I'll give it the merited credence.
Tom from Jax
Would you be able to tell me what haircare products Trevor uses?
Soon, Tom. Soon.
Ed from Jax
Regarding the draft-day issue where the Jags couldn't get in contact with quarterback Trevor Lawrence while they were on the clock, what would a team do if they couldn't phone the draft prospect prior to time expiring? Is it just a courtesy that a team would call first? Would prospects feel insulted if there wasn't a call? Do later round prospects get phone calls?
A team in that scenario would almost always go ahead and select the player. Yes, the pre-selection phone call is pretty much a courtesy. I have no idea how a particular prospect would feel not getting a phone call; I don't pretend to know how other members of my species react to every conceivable situation. Yes, players drafted in every round usually receive a call.
The Real JT from Fort Worth, TX
Don't know why Duuuval locals care so much about anything that takes place in the offseason. It's not like the Urban Renewal is going to mess anything up here around here in the 904: 1-15, one winning season in ten. Folks should be mad if he left ONE thing alone. Shake it all up, try everything out of the box. A deep scrub to the culture is years overdue. Coming off the bench to box, contract holdouts, driving Brinks trucks, etc.??? Good riddance. Folks, give the guru coach and his brand of "fast-team guys" a chance to show regular season wins when it matters. That's when you should begin to care. The national idiots? Who cares? Let them ridicule us all summer; it only makes the upsets that much sweeter when they come. Absolutely all in for Urban and the 90 today, and Urban and the 53 when it comes to that. Shock the world, or at least the AFC South for starters.
The Real JT is "all in," and yeah … not a lot has worked around here enough in a long time. And TJ's right … can signing Tebow really be that much of a disaster? Is this the end of civilization as we know it if he's not good? Really? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Jim from Jagsonville
How soon before the fans start chanting for Tebow? Will it be Lawrence's first interception, or his first three-and-out?
Tebow is being signed as a tight end. Trevor Lawrence was selected with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft and is considered the future at quarterback – perhaps of the league and certainly of the franchise. I do not expect Tebow chants after Lawrence's first interception or first three-and-out. At least I think I don't.
David from Ada, OK
On days I don't read this column, I miss the snugly secure football fans with their completely inarguable football insights demonstrate a strong need to be validated by you. And then you say something snarky, or completely debunking. That's the real payoff.
Shut up.
Mark from JACKSONVILLE
I can't believe it, but the Jaguars did it. They managed to screw up obtaining Trevor Lawrence. My theory, and I genuinely believe this, is that by signing Tebow, Head Coach Urban Meyer has created a rift between Trevor and the Jaguars. He's planted the seed of what will become a deep resentment that Trevor will keep to himself and his inner circle. Because the team showed him this disrespect, the long-term plan will be to serve his mandatory, contractually obligated five years in Jacksonville, after which he'll refuse to ever play another down for this team again. He'll raise Lombardi trophies in a different uniform.
I want to believe this was written tongue in cheek. It would make me feel so much better about the future of humankind. But I fear I could be wrong. Either way, to truly believe that Lawrence would see signing a reserve tight end as disrespect … well, even ignoring the fact that there isn't the slightest reason for this to be the case, or the slightest evidence that it's even a hint of a possibility … it's just a reach of epic proportion. And I've seen some reaches in my day.
Josh from Atlanta, GA
Answering question after question about the schedule and Tim would drive me bananas. You win, you get primetime. Why would a network put a team that won 49 games the last ten years on prime time regardless of whatever coach or rookie is starting? At least ask something new. Like who is John's favorite NFL player of all time?
I must separate this answer, because I view the game and the players different when professionally covering the NFL compared to when I was a fan. My "favorite" players to cover have been ones I got to know on something of a personal basis, and with whom I enjoyed discussing football. Tops on that list: players such as Fred Taylor, Paul Posluszny, Tony Boselli, Calais Campbell and Aaron Colvin with the Jaguars and players such as Bob Sanders, Marcus Pollard, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark with the Indianapolis Colts. There were others, but those come to mind. My favorite players before covering the league played for what is now known as the Washington Football Team. In the mid-1970s, my favorite player briefly was Mike Thomas, a running back who was very productive from 1975-1977. I once waited for hours in a Holiday Inn in Tampa waiting for an autograph from Thomas – and to finally meet him and receive it was sheer joy for this nerdy seventh grader. My favorite all-time Washington player, though, is an easy choice: John Riggins. His performance in the 1982 postseason remains one of the NFL's all-time great playoff stories – and led the franchise to its first Super Bowl victory. While I no longer claim allegiance to that franchise, the team winning that Super Bowl was a culmination of a long wait for this young fan and his father – the latter of whom had been a fan of the team for more than 40 years and who had once snuck into games at old Griffith Stadium as a boy to see the franchise play. Watching Riggins' touchdown run Super Bowl XVII, and high-fiving with my father after the play and after the victory … well, while I'm no longer a fan of the franchise, that memory will burn bright – and bring tears – as long as I have memories.
Mac from Jacksonville Beach
Big fan of sports movies! If Tim Tebow ends up becoming a star, then I think it would make for a fantastic movie plot. Now here's the question: If they make a movie about Tim Tebow playing tight end for the Jags, who will play John Oehser?
Drew Carey, one would assume. Or that Pitt guy. One of the two.
