JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Bradley from Death Valley, CA

You have always done what you had to do in support of the various Jaguars front office and coaching personnel, but it's pretty clear that you have always genuinely thought a lot of Jaguars Owner Shad Khan and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli – and that you think General Manager James Gladstone and Head Coach Liam Coen are in the infancy of what will be legendary NFL careers. Do I have that right?

Pretty much. I often have spoken positively of past Jaguars general managers and head coaches. While many readers attribute this solely to me working for the team, it has a lot more to do with the fact that most NFL general managers and coaches do a lot more right than fans and readers realize – and most of the people who have run the Jaguars in the past were good football people even if they weren't always successful. The NFL is ultracompetitive – and decent people with decent approaches don't always produce decent results. You're correct that I feel differently about this regime than most Jaguars regimes of the last 15 years or so. I always have thought Khan was a good owner who was extremely good for Jacksonville – and who would do whatever was necessary to win. I believed for a long time that Boselli would be a high-end leader who would make a real difference in this organization's culture – and he absolutely has been the right person for his current position. It was clear immediately upon meeting Gladstone last offseason that his communication skills and ability to organize were high-end – and those traits continue to help me believe he is destined for a long, successful career. I wasn't as sure about Coen initially because it's impossible to know how a head coach will lead until he actually is a head coach. He showed during his first season on the job he is exceptional in this area, and I now believe he will be successful here for a long while. Will all the Jaguars' leaders turn out to be legendary? It's hard to say. Is my confidence high that they will excel for a long time? Absolutely.

Robert from Elkton

John, it would seem so very weird, but signing Calais Campbell and K'Lavon Chaisson could be affordable and very intriguing. On passing downs, Campbell and defensive end Travon Walker inside with Chaisson and defensive end Josh Hines-Allen outside. How would you feel going into next season adding those two to last year's starters and the pair of undrafted rookies who showed potential and hopefully grow? I might be fanning like crazy, but it sounds way better than what we had last year.

It would be fine, I guess. Or at least OK. I don't know if my excitement level over the idea would quiiiiite match yours, but it would be fine. Or at least OK.

ChatGPT from San Francisco, CA

Actually, pressures only lead to an interception on roughly 1–3% of plays. In the modern era of mobile quarterbacks, a pressure is just a "maybe." A sack, however, is a 100% guarantee of lost yards and a wasted down. I will take the guarantee over the 3% chance every time.

Of course you would. Anyone would. Sacks are better than pressures. Anyone who understands the NFL understands this. Pressures are often as good a measure of a player's level of play as sacks because of the often uncontrollable individual nature of sacks. Anyone who understands the NFL also understands this.

Chris from Mandarin

If anyone thinks Hines-Allen is a premier pass rusher that is living up to his contract, they need their head examined. Look, he's a good player – for God's sake I know this – but he is incredibly overrated. He disappears from productivity for weeks at a time and then has streaks of good play. The fact that he is the Jaguars' all-time sacks leader is more of an indictment of roster mismanagement by the team and poor players over its history than it is a glowing accolade on his part.

Hines-Allen is not a perennial All-Pro defensive end. I don't know that he will be a Pro Football Hall of Famer. There's a place between that and "incredibly overrated."

Anthony from Richmond, VA

What are void years?

Void years in NFL contracts also are often referred to as "dummy years." They are years teams add to the end of contracts exclusively for salary-cap purposes, meaning they are accounting mechanisms rather than real contract years. They are added to a contract so that a team can spread the amortization of a signing bonus over numerous seasons – a move that can ease cap impact for a single season. Example: If Player A has two years remaining on a contract with a $10 million cap hit for each season, adding two voidable years would lower the cap hit for all seasons – perhaps to around $5 million each (ish). The team still has to "eat" an accelerated cap charge when a player is released, but it can ease the cap burden in the short term.

Bradford from Orange Park, FL

I see both sides of the stage of running back Travis Etienne Jr.'s Jaguars plight. On one hand, he plays a position whose production can often be replaced with a cheaper, younger option. He's entering his now fifth season in the NFL – right around where many who play that position begin to plateau and/or start to decline in production. But I'm of the camp that sees a player who was an integral part of the offense, having 13 touchdowns last season. He offers high-end pass-catching abilities for a running back, and I think his familiarity with the offense and ability to grow in it and his potential usage in Year 2 shouldn't be overlooked. While I understand having cap issues, self-inflicted or otherwise … if that isn't the kind of guy that you figure out how to hang on to … that's unfortunate. If it's a "just can't do it," my hope is that it's not rooted in being brazen or what proves to be a false confidence.

Etienne is entering his sixth NFL season.

Josh from Atlanta, GA

Do you foresee the AFC South requiring 13 wins to win for the foreseeable future? Obviously a million things can happen to each team each season, and you cover the Jaguars, but what are your thoughts on the overall regimes around the division? I'm old enough to remember – as is anyone one year old – this was perceived as the worst division in the conference and possibly the league.

I expect the AFC South to be very competitive in the coming seasons because I expect the Jaguars to contend for the postseason and because the Houston Texans' defense is elite enough that it's hard to imagine them not being really good. The Indianapolis Colts were really good in 2025 until quarterback Daniel Jones' season-ending Achilles injury, and there's little to suggest they won't continue to have a chance to be good most of the next few seasons. The Tennessee Titans have been the division's worst team in recent seasons, but they have significant draft and free-agent equity. I don't know what all that means in terms of specific victories needed to win the division. The better tact as an organization is to not worry about winning the division and worry about being the best team in the NFL. If you do that, winning the division often takes care of itself.

William from Orange Park, FL

J.P. Shadrick … man or myth?

Yes.

Jim from Middleburg, FL

Hi, John. Is there any reason, besides injury, to believe the AFC South Champions will regress? Same coaches, basically the same players, next season looks promising, so why whine about an abbreviated draft day? Looks good from here.

There certainly are reasons the Jaguars could "regress" in 2026. The NFL is a league of close games, and in a league of close games, a play here or there going the wrong way a few times can lead to four or five losses. The Jaguars went 13–4 in 2025. If regression means not winning the same number of games as last season, regression therefore would mean losing five close games. That can happen any number of ways in a razor-thin-margin league. But if you're asking if I believe the Jaguars should be as good or better in 2026 as they were in 2025 … yes, I believe that's very possible. Remember, though: This is a year-to-year league. Past success does not guarantee future results.

Woody from Dunlap

KOAF: Wow! The NFL Combine must be really tough! Most – if not all – the major draft sites had Iowa State defensive tackle Domonique Orange listed at 6-feet-4. After the Combine, he comes out at only 6-2! Where could those two inches of height have gone?

The NFL Scouting Combine is not for the faint of heart.