JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Robert from Fernandina Beach, FL

Etienne is the Jaguars' McCaffrey. Would San Fran let McCaffrey go? No way! We can't afford to let Etienne go. He is a very important piece of our offense, and our offense is critical to our overall success. Do you not see this?

Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr., scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next Wednesday at the start of the 2026 NFL League Year, is a very good NFL running back. He is versatile, productive and professional. He has made many important plays for the Jaguars, and I have enjoyed covering him very much during his five NFL seasons. You can have a very good NFL team made up of a bunch of players as good as Etienne, and I wish very much he could spend his entire career with the Jaguars. But there are levels of good in the NFL – and while Etienne is one level of good, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is at a higher level of good. McCaffrey's level of good has him in the Most Valuable Player conversation pretty much every healthy season, and is the sort of level around which you build an offense – and even a team. His level probably will earn him a gold jacket as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he retires. If a running back is at that level, then teams almost always figure out a way to extend him to a long-term contract. If a running back is at Etienne's level, teams often acknowledge that that is a good level but often don't sign the player to a long-term contract. This isn't fun, but it's the nature of the NFL. This doesn't mean the player isn't good. It does mean the player is considered more replaceable than a player such as McCaffrey.

Jadon from Raleigh, NC

I would be pretty sad to see BT get traded. During '24, he was really the only enjoyable part of watching games over the back half of the season. I would love to see him get to rebound in Jax. Do you think General Manager James Gladstone will desire to ship him off, or just be open to offers?

This remains a pressing O-Zone topic, likely fueled by recent internet speculation/reports/aggregation that teams were interested in trading for Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. Here's the thing to remember about internet speculation/reports/aggregation: Where there's smoke in this case, there often is not fire. In the case of internet speculation/reports/aggregation, smoke often is just smoke – and when you reach for the smoke looking for substance, you're left with sad and empty fingers. Ater a tough start with drops in 2025, Thomas settled into a second half of the season in which he became a valuable part of the offense. Is there a price at which the Jaguars would trade Thomas? Sure. There's a price at which most teams would trade most players. But the sense here is not that the Jaguars have a real desire to trade Thomas.

Mike from Daytona Beach, FL

I played high school football, but my position was usually on the bench. After receiving a doctorate in statistics from a Southeastern Conference football school (where I attended almost every home game played by Pistol Pete Maravich), I officiated high school football and basketball for a number of years. Avid sports fan? Guilty! Data nerd? Oh, I hope not!! But recent O-Zone discussions about personnel decisions, high amounts of dead cap money, and the Jaguars ability/willingness to sign players led me to check out past and current contracts. Clearly, the new regime was hamstrung by a number of "bad" contracts that not only overpaid some players, but unfortunately also mortgaged the future by deferring large amounts of money large amounts of money, including to void years. As a result, rebuilding the roster required the Jags to not only absorb significant dead money last year, but this year as well. This means that the Jags simply do not have the financial latitude to sign some players that they (and fans) would love to retain. Thus, even after an amazing 13-win season, I (and many other fans) will most certainly will continue to question some personnel decisions. After all, that is what we fans do.

Well, at least you played high school football.

Stokes from Orange Park, FL

Just curious as to your take on the Daniel Jones injury. I don't know if Jones pushed for playing on that fractured fibula, but I felt like not keeping him from doing it was malfeasance on Head Coach Shane Steichen's part. Being it ended up that it went on until something worse ended up happening.

I tend to avoid "takes" on injuries/medical situations unless I have intimate knowledge of circumstance. This is because severity and circumstance tend to vary wildly, and what is a correct opinion based on one set of facts can be way off in another situation. It's easy to speculate that Colts quarterback Daniel Jones shouldn't have played on his injured fibula last season, particularly considering he tore his Achilles. That's in retrospect – and it's without real knowledge of facts and circumstance. What were the Colts' physicians seeing? What were they saying? What was their fact-based analysis? That's the information outsiders rarely know. Without it, opinions are more common than they are valuable.

Michael from Orange Park, FL

So, Tuesday came and went with no tag. Disappointing, I must say.

Tuesday indeed was the deadline for NFL teams to use the franchise or transition tag on pending unrestricted free agents. The Jaguars did not use either tag on any player, including Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd. While this is understandably disappointing to some Jaguars fans, it's hardly a surprise. I sense more disappointment coming in this vein when unrestricted free agency opens. That's just a guess, but that's the guess.

Scooter from St. Augustine, FL

What's the difference between a defensive end and an edge rusher? Also, nose tackle versus defensive tackle?

This is a fair question, one without an absolutely correct answer. This is because defenses continue to evolve, which means position descriptions – particularly at these positions – often vary from team to team. A defensive end in a 4-3 defense is usually an edge rusher whereas in a 3-4 defense an end can be more of defensive tackle-ish player. An outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense is usually an edge rusher, but he can be an off-the-ball linebacker in a four-three. Further muddying these waters is the league increasingly features "hybrid" fronts rather than pure three-four or four-three schemes. The verbiage in these areas has evolved over the year to the point that "edge" is most often used pass rushers who aren't interior defensive linemen. But not always. Nose tackle is a little clearer as it is almost always the defensive tackle most responsible for plugging the middle and disrupting the run game. This player in a 4-3 defense often comes off the field in passing situations with the other tackle playing more in passing situations. And sometimes he doesn't. And around we go.

Chris from Mandarin

Fifty team sacks in a season will make the defense much better than 50 team pressures. People need to stop equating the two as if they are equal because they are not. I did not say Jaguars defensive ends Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen are not good pass rushers, but they are not elite even though we have spent top tier equity on them. Also, imagine for a moment there are two defensive players. One had the most quarterback pressures in the league over a four year period, and the other had the most quarterback sacks over a four-year period. Who earns the bigger contract? It's not the first one.

Sacks are better than pressures. No one who knows football would tell you different. Great pass rushers can't always control their sack numbers because game circumstances, play call and other players can influence it. No one who knows football would tell you different than that, either.

Chris from Jacksonville

I like to put things in my mouth that aren't good for me. Is this bad?

No. Go for it.

Daniel from Johnston, IA

Your response that "contend for the postseason and for the AFC South title pretty much every season..." when was the last time you felt this? Did you feel that with Doug P with their initial success?

I felt it a bit following the Jaguars' 2022 AFC South title. I feel it a lot more now. These are feelings, and the feelings of this senior writer are just that – feelings.

Scott from Gilbert, AZ

Zone, is the inside linebacker who will be starting next to linebacker Foye Oluokun currently on the roster? If so, I would think that's Ventrell Miller's job to lose, but am I wrong in thinking he is more of a downhill thumper than a blitz and drop into coverage guy like Lloyd?

Stay tuned.