JACKSONVILLE – Let's get it …
Mike from Daytona Beach, FL
Apparently, the Jaguars plan to use more 12 and 13 personnel in 2026. This is partly because the Los Angeles Rams had such great success using 13 personnel in their 35-7 victory over the Jaguars in Week 7 last season. As I recall, the Rams did not use 12 personnel even once, but used 13 personnel 24 times - a 39 percent rate. That was the highest rate by any NFL team since 2016. And tight ends accounted for 55 percent of Matthew Stanford's passing yardage. Three questions. Why do you think the Jaguars were so susceptible to 13 sets? Since the NFL is a copycat league, will the Jaguars see a lot more 12/13 sets in 2026? How can the Jaguars' defense prepare for the potential onslaught of 12 or 13 sets - personnel, scheme, etc.?
The Jaguars do plan to be prepared to use 12 and 13 personnel – multiple tight end – sets more often in 2026 than they did in 2025. This is a major reason why they selected Tanner Koziol and Nate Boerkircher in Rounds 5 and 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, respectively. The Rams indeed had success using 13 personnel – three tight ends – against the Jaguars last season. But the Jaguars' efforts to improve the tight-end position this offseason was more because the Rams and quarterback Matt Stafford – aka, Matt Stanford – had success throughout the course of the season than any particular game. The Jaguars were susceptible to 13 personnel sets that day against the Rams partly because it was an unexpected wrinkle and partly because that Stanford guy is really good. I do expect the Jaguars to see more 12 and 13 personnel sets from opponents in 2026. How do you counter it defensively? By having good safeties who can help neutralize bigger tight ends in the passing game. That's a start.
Bruce from St. Simons Island, GA
O, so it's the "Dead Zone." Time for speculation. Which NFL teams, at this time, do you believe will win the AFC and NFC? Likewise, which NFL team, at this time, do you believe will win the Super Bowl this next season? What about the Jaguars???
Loyal O-Zone readers – and he knows who he is – know I'm not big on premature speculation. I expect the familiar AFC teams with front-line quarterbacks such as the Denver Broncos Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers and perhaps the Baltimore Ravens to be very good again in 2026. I expect the Houston Texans also to be very good and I don't know that there's a real "favorite" in that conference. I expect the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles again to be strong in the NFC. I will also keep an early eye on the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. Let's go with the Broncos and Jaguars as AFC favorites and the Rams as NFC favorites. That gives me as good a chance to be wrong as any.
Jack from Satsuma
Sometimes I laugh out loud at your answers, but only sometimes.
You should hear and see me when I read your questions. All the time.
Zac from Austin, Tejas
I've asked you this every Dead Zone for the last several seasons, but allow me to switch up since you always answer "Seabiscuit." Have you read any new sports-centric books in the last year? What is one book that impacted you enough that you still occasionally think of it? Are you into any wild fiction like high fantasy or science fiction? To be honest you peg me as a Noir guy, but I am wrong about something new every day.
I am currently steadily reading Stamboul Train by Graham Greene while more intermittently reading Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship. Stamboul Train was written in 1932 and is something of a spy thriller. Though it is not "sports-centric," it is incredibly well-written – as was the case with most of Greene's work. Sound and Fury is the story of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell. It was written by Dave Kindred, one of the best sports writers of my generation or any other. While decidedly sport-centric, it provides remarkable insight into two men who helped shape culture in the 1970s. Many books have impacted me, though Travels with Charley (John Steinbeck) and Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway) are ones I will revisit on occasion. I'm not a science fiction or wild fiction guy. I lean toward the classics and simpleness of style more than anything "wild." I'm boring that way. And a lot of other ways, probably.
J.Hooks from Pawnee, IN
What do you think the true essence of the Cones of Dunshire is? What character would you be?
When people get too chummy with me, I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don't really care about them.
Charles from Riverside
Hello, John. Whew! Glad I got the West Coast Offense checkdown to WCO almost right. Guess I lost points for using the wrong formatting? Evidently the standard formatting requires writing out the full term and immediately placing the acronym in parentheses. After that, you can simply use the abbreviated version. The Dead Zone (DZ) can take us to strange places!
Just keep working. You will get there.
Sad Sam from Happy Valley
Exceptions to your rigid acronym rule: FBI. USA. NFL. There are many other exceptions. It requires common sense to identify them.
Yes, it does. And in the case of anterior cruciate ligament, AP style indeed says it's OK to say "ACL" and not anterior cruciate ligament on first reference. I could therefore start simply writing ACL on first reference and not anterior cruciate ligament. As Bartleby, the Scrivner – and my good friend, Mark Canon – liked to say, "I would prefer not to."
John from Jax
Hi, KOAGF (King Of All Grizzly Funk). When does an offense have to have only 11 players on the field before a play starts? Is it literally when the ball is snapped or prior to then? If the former, could a team have a couple of extra players in the huddle to keep the defense guessing on personnel for the play? Then, when the huddle breaks, the extras go to the side by the team's sideline and quickly exit the field right before the ball is snapped. Is this genius or stupid? By the way, you are the KOAGF.
If the offense substitutes at least one player in the NFL, officials must give the defense sufficient time to make its own substitution in response. Your idea therefore would be genius except for the fact that it is against the rules.
Bradley from Death Valley, CA
The new Netflix documentary about the rivalry (and friendship) between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova is a must watch for tennis and non-tennis fans alike. I believe both won 18 major singles titles, which is no small number and their battles against cancer are inspiring.
Evert and Navratilova have been the subject of previous documentaries. The new Netflix documentary, Chris and Martina: The Final Set, documents not only their on-court rivalry and subsequent connection and bond, but their respective battles with cancer. I have yet to see it. I have heard some people involved with it discuss it and it absolutely sounds as if it's worth the watch. I plan to watch very soon.
Raymond Sis from Windermere
Raymond Sis ABSOLUTELY LOVES the extra popups and click bait all over the website. It really gives it a "I'm about to get a virus from this site" vibe.
What's a "website?"
John from Jacksonville
What would the O-Zone be if not for the readers and submitters to your column? Our pertinent questions and your intelligent answers are what feeds the O-Zone and gets us through the Dead Zone. Your streak of answering questions is only made possible by us asking questions. I bet some of us were loyal readers of "Ask Vic" as well. Also, when you answer a question with "OK" do you roll your eyes when you type it? Somehow, that is the picture in my head.
When I answer a question with "OK," I thinking, "Wow, what a great question. What would the O-Zone be if not for the readers and submitters to this column? Their pertinent questions and my intelligent answers are what feeds the O-Zone and gets us through the Dead Zone. My streak of answering questions is only made possible by their asking questions." Or something like that.
Rob from San Antonio, TX
KOAF, just wanted to say thanks. In this (mostly) football Q&A forum, you give us fans a place to share love of sports and to occasionally share our personal ups and downs. We are all strangers but to some degree we are a community. Having a daily respite to share and celebrate together matters. I say, One for the Funky King today.
Nah.
