JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Kinzie from Asheville, NC
Besides quarterback Trevor Lawrence, what player on offense – if you remove them – affects our ability to be most productive? My guess would be between wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. or tight end Brenton Strange.
There are multiple possibilities here beyond the ones you cite. One reason for that is Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen's offense operates best when decisions on who carries or catches the ball happen organically rather than coaches forcing opportunities to a certain player or players. Another reason is this is a balanced group of skill players – particularly at wide receiver, but really at all positions outside quarterback. While Lawrence is far and away the offensive player the Jaguars can least afford to be without, Strange from this view is nearly as clear a choice for the most important offensive player other than Lawrence. His absence significantly affects not only the passing offense and running offense, but the offense's overall physicality – and if the offense has an identity, it's its physicality. Look no further than last season: The Jaguars lost three regular-season games. Three of those losses came when Strange was out with a hip injury. He's critical.
Howard from Homestead, FL
Seeing all these full stadiums for World Cup group play worries me a bit. Any chance NFL owners will see $700 parking spaces and $800 cheap seats being filled and decide that that is the way to go? Every single fan in these games is the one percent or close to it. If you can churn a profit by focusing on the one percent, will there be football for the rest of us?
I don't doubt that NFL teams and owners would loooooove to see $700 parking spaces and $800 cheap seats be the norm. Professional football is about money, and multiplying anything by $700 or $800 starts resulting in a lot of money in a hurry. Remember, though: The World Cup is a once-every-four-years event and it's closer to once in a lifetime for some fans. NFL regular-season games, while cool and very important to many fans, are little more commonplace and therefore unlikely to have the same insane demand as there is for a World Cup game. Remember, too: There's a reason NFL owners aren't charging $700 for parking and $800 for cheap seats. That's not the market. If it was the market, those would be the prices.
Kaydie from Riverside, Jacksonville
Since we are now officially in The Dead Zone, just for fun, which non-quarterback player would you add to the Jaguars' roster right now if you had that level of Black Magick?
Prime Aaron Donald – or any version of Aaron Donald, for that matter. The Jaguars are good on the interior of the defensive line. They would be better with more disruption from there.
Rob from Jax
My biggest takeaway from looking at the best players from the past is the amount of churn on NFL rosters. I have not missed more than a game or two since the early 2000s and I am blown away by the amount of players I have forgotten were ever Jaguars – let alone fairly good players for the team for a year or two. Also, hat tip for Brandon Linder? Maybe not as the best L in franchise history, but he did give my buddy a grill he didn't feel like packing when he moved out of his townhouse. That was nice. Which is important. Thanks O.
Former Jaguars center Brandon Linder deserves mention in any discussion of very good players – whether it's best "Ls," best offensive linemen, best centers or best No. 65s – in franchise history. He was a good player for a very long time. And it's not surprising you and your friend like him. Free stuff is cool. People like it.
Josh from Atlanta, GA
I pray Mr. Brian Kane is still with us. If my Google is correct, Mr. Costello is shredding the UK right now. You should take some PTO, go live the dream.
My good friend, Brian Kane – among the funniest people I have had the privilege to know – indeed remains with us. As for seeing Elvis Costello live … I am happy to report I have had that privilege twice – once in the early 2000s in Indianapolis and once at the Florida Theatre in the early 2010s. I feel secure saying that early 2000s and 2010s Elvis – while terrific, memorable shows – didn't quite match the energy/rawness of early 1980s prime Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The 1982 tour I missed was vintage Elvis, my music of memory. Ships sail when they sail. That ship has sailed.
Michael from Sanford
Hey, John. Wanna go to a rave with me?
Absolutely.
Kenneth from Jacksonville
What about "M?"
We continued careening along in this discussion about best players in Jaguars history with specific last-name initials, and we now have reached … "M." Possibilities here include running back Stacey Mack (1999-2002), guard Vincent Manuwai (2003-2010), defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks (2013-2016), cornerback Rashean Mathis (2003-2012), long snapper Ross Matiscik (2020-2026), wide receiver Keenan McCardell (1996-2001), defensive end Bobby McCray (2004-2007), cornerback Demetrius McCray (2013-2015), safety Marlon McCree (2001-2003), linebacker Tom McManus (1995-1999), running back Natrone Means (1996-1997), center Brad Meester (2000-2013), defensive lineman Rob Meier (2000-2008), wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (2025-2026), defensive tackle Roy Miller (2013-2016), defensive end Jeremy Mincey (2007-2013), quarterback Gardner Minshew II (2019-2020), left tackle Eugene Monroe (2009-2013), linebacker Chad Muma (2022-2024) and center Tom Myslinski (1995). There are many good selections here, including McCardell, Mathis and Meester. Too close to call? Certainly. I will lean toward McCardell here, perhaps because I covered more of his career here than the other two.
David from Jacksonville
Who's the best player in Jaguars history to wear No. 52?
Possibilities here include linebacker Brant Boyer (1995-2000), defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton (2020-2026) and linebacker Daryl Smith (2004-2012). We will go Smith here, but Hamilton is close and may be the choice by the time his career is done.
CaptBob from St Aug
KOAF, the tiebreaker has to go to Poz. First, he played one year longer. And the gutsy man played the rest of a game with one arm because of a pulled or torn muscle. Lastly, during a stadium scrimmage he gave it his best to reign in Justin Blackmon that foretold Blackmon's fate. Ah, not to mention I did buy Poz's jersey, so …
We are evidently revisiting the discussion about the best Jaguars player to wear No. 51. The choice from this view was between linebacker Paul Posluszny (2011-2017) and linebacker Kevin Hardy (1996-2001). If you argue Posluszny, I understand. If you argue Hardy, I understand. CaptBob leans Poz, which is fine. One fer Poz.
Paul from Cary, NC
John, longtime listener, first-time caller. Do you have any insight into who designed the Stadium of the Future and whether they ever spent much time in Jax? Having lived there for 20-plus years, I'm struggling to understand the design of the new stadium. It sounds like it will be a lot like a greenhouse, except the ends will be open. KOAF, greenhouses get hot and humid. If the concept of having the ends open worked, I'm sure all the folks in North Florida would just leave their windows open in August, September and October, but they don't. Cooling is one concern I have, but another is hurricanes. I don't have a good feeling about the roof when the first 100 mph gusts hit it. I know His Funkiness is not an engineer, but perhaps he can calm this reader's concerns in some way?
The design for the Stadium of the Future is led by the global architecture and design firm HOK, which designed – among many other major projects – Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. I'm not smart enough to out-engineer the engineers, out-architect the architects the architects or out-design the designers. The architects and engineers who designed the Stadium of the Future used a "passive" cooling system designed to reduce heat retention and lower temperatures. They also designed it to utilize natural breezeways. How will the roof withstand a hurricane? It will be built to withstand one. One would assume there will be limits in this area because it is a structure and structures often have limits in this area.
Kevin from St Johns, FL
Not to beat a dead horse, but whatever, it's there ... regarding the uniforms. Personally, I am not a fan of the Prowler uniforms. Pining for a uniform from past is just that ... looking back. I don't want to look back, I want to look forward while we move forward and become something new. So new unfirms are on the way, but I want to move fromward. (for the sake of this having to be a question, what do you think?!?)
A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward – or fromward, as it were – or it dies.
