Drive Time - Know the Enemy: Jacksonville Jaguars

of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, we continue the summer No the Enemy series as we take a look at Miami's Week three opponent, the lone primetime game on the schedule this year up in Duval as the Finns travel to Jacksonville for a Thursday night affair on September on NFL Network. And to help us get acquainted with the version of our in state in conference rivals, is John Oser of Jaguars dot Com, Is Gardner Minshow

Go Kogs? The long term answer at quarterback? Will Jacksonville still be a black and blue style of football team? How will the pair of first round rookies on defense fit into that defense? All of that and more on this Thursday, June edition of the Drivetime Podcast. And I've mentioned us a few times now here on the show.

On the Drivetime Podcast. But I always love using this portion of the calendar to sharpen the sword with regards to the other thirty one teams around the league, and in particular the thirteen opponents on the Dolphin slate getting into the film seeing how the Finns match up in that game to be all that fun stuff. And now with Drivetime we have the benefit of talking to those most in the know with those respective franchises. We've done New England with Evan Lazar of c l n S

Media in Boston. That was two weeks ago. Last week we had Sal Capaccio of w g R and the official Buffalo Bill sideline reporter there for the Bills to help us get in dated with two a f C East rivals here in division. But now we shift to more of a geographical rival as we welcome in John Oser of Jaguars dot Com and buckling in and writing Shotgun Now on the Drive Time Podcast is John Oshan. He's a senior writer at Jaguars dot Com and the

host of the Ozone podcast on the Jaguars Podcast Network. John, welcome in, my friend. Thanks really good to be here. I appreciate you having me on. Yeah, We're looking forward to that Week three game here and joining up with you guys in Jacksonville for a primetime game the Dolphins Week three opponent. But first I want to ask you, how is this unique offseason treating you so far? John Well, I think it's like anybody you know. I Uh, I

worked in newspapers for five, six, seven years before. I've envy in the NFL for about twenties, So in my newspaper days, I worked virtually a lot. I think that's what everybody's sort of getting used to. Um. In terms of the team, I think I think it's like everybody. Uh. They're answers to get him the feel and they realized that there's a limit to what this virtual of off season with the white board meetings and everything can do. But the Jaguars feel like they've gotten a lot out

of it. Uh. They're a young team, but the question is going to be how much can they translate that to the field once when an IF training camp gets go. And to me, one of the more fascinating teams in the league right now because maybe they're a team in a period of possible transition, but they also have an old head of the coach at the head coaching position. Let's go ahead and start there with Doug Brown, who enters what is probably a pretty critical year number four.

What are the expectations of him and what does he have to do to kind of get this team back on the track that it was on where it was just one quarter away from playing in the Super Bowl in that season. Well, it's always hard to set expectations in terms of a number before the season. There's so much that can go on during the season. Two know change.

What's the reality of that. But they believe they have a young team, uh, with a lot of talent, and it's it's gonna be a matter of how quickly can they get the experience needed to compete to make plays late in games. Doug's excited about the fact that it's a young team and he believes it's a talented team that's gonna be hungry. They have parted ways with a lot of older guys. They feel like they now have

a good locker room. Uh. You get the idea, and I would expect some of the Dolphins coaches to feel something about their team. You get the idea that the coaches are excited about what they're going in to gain with what they're going into the season with. They are looking forward to seeing these guys grow. At the same time, whenever you use a phrase like seeing guys grow in the NFL, it implies a lot of rookie mistakes. There's a lot of learning curve. I think there's gonna be

one for the Jaguars this year. What that means for how they treat the coaching staff after the season, I'm not sure, but they certainly believe that they have a young team that's better than people think. Yeah, we don't have to look far here in my AAMI to see how much you can go as far as what you look like in September compared to December. Obviously, the plan there is to grow and get better as the year

goes along for all thirty two teams. And you mentioned the other coaches on the staff that I want to start here when over your Twitter timeline a little bit checked out some of your work. Saw your recent post with Todd wash and the one gap defense, single high safety and playing some more manned defense on that back end. I'm curious for you are the two rookies and Calevan Chason and C. J. Henderson the first the two first round picks, are they kind of the drivers of that idea?

And what was that defense gonna look like under Todd Wash? Yeah, it's uh, I think Chasan maybe a little bit more. I mean c J. Henderson. They needed cornerbacks because they traded Jalen Ramsey and they traded J. J. Boys. They just needed to get there. How they play back, they're probably gonna change a whole lot. They What they run here is basically the Seattle scheme, which is sort of a hybrid for three, three four. It's been more for three in the last you know, five six, seven years.

Todd WASH's point is it's gonna remain a four three, but they now have linebackers like Chason, They have Cassius Marsh, Josh Allen and a unique and got Way who are holdovers if you will, from before also have the ability to play end then linebacker. So their point is it's gonna look on paper a little like a three four because you're gonna have linebackers playing with their hands down sometimes, but overall it's still a one gap get to the

quarterback penetrate. It's not your standard three four with three big space eaters up front who aren't trying to penetrate. So the big story with the defense is it's gonna have much more looks up front than it has in the past. And they believe overall they're gonna be better against the run. They were. They had five games last year where they allowed two d more yards rushing. They

lost all five. It defined their season when they slipped from playoff contention at four forwards out of the playoffs. They believe they are a better run defense and that's really what their theme is defensively, and you get those run stops to set up your pass rushers and get big time situations there. And I thought last year the biggest deal of the draft was the Jags getting Josh Allen at number six overall. Probably thought he should have

gone higher than that in that year's draft. And we saw him firsthand in the preseason last year, just wreck shop on the defensive line for the Jaguars. Was he build as advertised? He exceed expectations. What did you guys think of Josh Allen in that rookie year? It was big time. It would have been interesting to see what his numbers would have been had they been able to stop the run because in this league's you know, it's hard to rush the passer in third and one or

second and three. They weren't in very many pure pass rush they didn't lead at Layton games where you compile a lot of sacks, he still had ten and a half. So he's the real deal. I hate, I hate to compare him to von Miller because that's the gold standards. Hardly up to that. If they believe he's that build around guy that you need, he he's high character. He's a guy that you wanted to cover your media guy

for fifteen years. He's that guy. And uh yeah, he played to that level, which is hard to do on a struggling defense as a rookie. It's hard to get stats. It's hard to be dominant when your defense is always behind and in bad situations. He found a way to produce in that situation. If the defense is good around him, he can really be good. And that's really all he's done his entire football life. Going back to Kentucky was

produced Saxon produced quarterback pressures. I want to get back to the defense here in just one second, but we mentioned the possible star power of Josh Allen and I think on the offensive staff, you guys went out and hired one of the biggest star names offensive coordinator, and I'm curious what you think a potential adaptation of his scheme and Jacksonville could look like. Are we gonna see a bit of a departure from the black an Blue style of team that Tom Coughlin built and go more

towards a j Gruden style offense? Well, yeah, I think anytime you bring in Jay Gruden with the West Coast offense, it's going to be you're going to have more passing short to supplement your run game than you are just driving right at the right at the defense. So I think you're gonna see a change there. Uh. It's the key to this season for the Jaguars is Gardner Minshew. He showed signs last year of being pretty good. He also showed signs of really struggling the way rookie quarterbacks do.

So they're giving him the ball. It's his team for at least a year. And how he adapts this West Coast offense, how he learns to be better from the pocket, is really what he needs to do. He's got a certain magic to him that is hard to describe because he makes plays at the end of games. So really how Jake comes in. Jay's big on creating mismatches by moving his skill receivers around. And they think they've got guys like that in rookie Uh, they like DJ Shark.

They believe they're tight ends are better, so they believe that they can create some things for Gardeners. Maybe weren't created last year, but it all comes down to Gardener Menshew. Yeah, I think my daughter was a little bit upset down in the background that I didn't lead off with Gardner Menshew because we are Washington State Cougar family here. I don't know if you heard her crying. She's having a rough afternoon today. The wife is trying to get her back,

uh settled and under control here. But I want to go back to Gardner Minshew because, first off, go Coug's But second you mentioned the stats and kind of the

way he played up to that that magic level. We saw it every week here on the polos in Washington State, and he had twenty touchdowns last year, six interceptions, like the game winning drives, the fourth quarter comebacks, that locker room mentality, I recall Jim Naggy the director of the Reese's Senior Bowl down there and Mobile and friend of the Drivetime podcast, and he talked about that ideal backup

quarterback mentality that Gardner Minshew has. The guy that can come in and galvanize the huddle and get guys to really play above their means because he has that infectious personality, kind of a Ryan Fitzpatrick type of personality. But we saw him come in last year and do that as a starter, which you wouldn't expect as a sixth round rookie. I just want to have you go further on Gardner Minshew here, because what does this guy have to do to stave off a potential high pick maybe taking his job,

and what are the expectations for him this year? Does he improve upon those rookie stats last season? Well, he has to um and it's the only thing in the NFL no matter how you get there, you gotta win. And even though the talent based around him most people wouldn't think was as high is on some teams, I mean,

because it's young here. But in order to be the guy going forward, he has to maintain the magic because, as you know, being a Washington State fan, he's got something when it comes to leadership, when it comes to what he can do at the end of games is poor ways is remarkable. He never gives up all that stuff,

all the tangibles you love. At the same time, there were some stretches last year where it looked like defenses had figured out what he was and there were some games where he really struggled, and at the same time, at the end of the season he came off of that a little bit, meaning he had an awful half against Oakland in week fifteen, I think it was out there, but then came back in the fourth quarter and let it come from behind when that was the last game

in the black hole. Add game in week sixteen, but then he came back with a really good game in week seventeen. So he won two out of his last three after being banster on the on the bench, behind folds, whatever you call it. So you know, because it's a one year window, it's tough to figure out what he is. They believe that the magic that he has can be coupled with a second year jump learning to work from the pocket a little better. That's really the big thing

on him. So many of his plays last year were off schedule outside the pocket. It's hard to win in the NFL if your game is based on that. How he plays from the pocket, whether he can cut out the inconsistency, that will determine what he is going forward, because if he does those things in the team's record's gonna be a lot better way to do what most of ever think it is doing. Those things will take

care of whatever problems there are. You mentioned the magic factor, and I definitely saw that, you know, talk about going back to Washington State. Saw that all the time. But I also thought he was so strong and poison the way he played within the structure of the offense there in that Mike Leach offense, and the way he processed and anticipated. That's why I just thought so highly of him,

even as a w s U fan alumni. It just I could see it was different than the year before with Luke Falk, who had broken the pack twelve passing record all time there. So not to get too far into a Pac twelve rabbit hole here, but I just I think the world of Gardner Minshew and last year I actually went to the game against U C. L A. It was it was a horrible thirty eight point comeback for the Bruins. We had to sit there and watch this entire thing collapse. But Gardner was there for the

game back after. I think kind of his Thursday night arrival against the Titans in that big win they had last season. He was there in the cut high gene shorts, the Washington State baseball jersey, getting the crowd pumped up. It was seventeen. Everybody's happy, and then the wheels fell off and things went backwards the other direction. I think he left the game at halftime, and I'm blaming it on his absence there in the second half. But all

jokes aside here. As high as I think of Gardner Minshew, I think there was one even more clear strength of this football team here for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it's the offensive line. I've always been a big Brandon Lindor fan. I think Jowan. I liked Jowan Taylor and Cam Robinson coming out. You've got the big money guy in Andrew Norwell and then a j can there on a second contract. Are they gonna build this offense around that offensive line?

The story? Because yeah, there are talented guys there and it's got a it's to be a really good group. Uh, it hasn't always as a group in the last couple of years played to that level. For whatever reason. Cam Robinson last year was coming off of an a c L that he sustained in eighteen that seemed to limit him a little bit. The big key for this offensive line,

they believe, is that he will be healthy. Andrew norwell, as he says, a high price free agent, He's had some inconsistencies how the offensive line plays, and this is true of any NFL team pretty much. But if this offensive line can play to its potential, then yeah, the the offense is a whole will be much much better because again, they like DJ Tarkt receiver, they liked Schanalto receiver. They feel like they've got some weapons if they can get into the good down and distances, which usually is

the offensive line play. And how about the guy that they're gonna be blocking for in that backfield, a former top five pick there and Leonard fur Nett has the big rookie season, kind of a step back, misses some games in year two, and then I think last year people maybe forgot how productive he was in another one thousand yards season. Is that kind of the expectation for him.

What's his long term future looking like they're in Jacksonville. Yeah, he's a He's a guy that was rumored to be on the trade block right before the draft, which that seems to be sort of a common story with a lot of running backs these days because teams don't always sign these guys the long term deals. But for two, the Jaguars believe that for Nette is a huge part of their offense. Obviously, they believe he's an eleven twelve

hundred yard guy when things are going right. Last year at mid season before the run defense sort of went away, for Nette was on pace for about a hundred yards season when the offense was built around him, when things were going well. If the Jaguars are good, and if the Jaguars are playing in other areas well, then for Nette has a chance to be a yard rusher. And he's a better receiver than people give him credit for as well. He's definitely a big, physical, bruising style of back.

And you mentioned earlier in the podcast that stopping the run was kind of the focus on the defensive side of the ball. That can only help Leonard Fournette in terms of getting more carries, more touches, and being more productive on the offensive side. Let's go ahead and talk about how they're gonna stop the run on defense, though, because gone is Klaius Campbell. I'm curious to have your

opinion here about what replaces Calais on the inside. We know about Tavan Brian there staying in the state of Florida. Here coming from Florida to Jacksonville talking about this Dolphins Jaguars rivalry and state. Is he kind of the guy that has to step up and take those shoes of Klaias Campbell. Yeah, he has to play better. I mean as a first round pick, he's been inconsistent. I wouldn't say that he's going to replace Klaius. I would say

it's more. Uh. They went out and signed Joe Schobert as a free agent from Cleveland, who maybe a lot of people don't realize, Uh, it is a good player who will allow the Jaguars to move Miles Jack from the middle to the outside. They think their linebacker corps will be much better because of that. And they also focused on shoring up the defensive interior, meaning they went out and draft to Divon Hamilton the third round. From Ohio State. They signed Rodney Gunter from Arizona, who's an

underrated guy. Al Woods from Seattle, also an underrated guy. They tried to get more numbers where they can have a better rotation inside on the interior. They believe overall that if they're better on the interior of the defense, they're gonna be able to rush the past or they're gonna be fine on the edge, which is where Campbell played. They've got Josh Allen, They've got Chason, They've got guys

who can play on the outside. They need to get better from the interior the defense, and they feel like those additions we just talked about that they have. Yeah, Devon Hamilton's with my favorite picks the entire draft. I thought he was just he showed up on tape every time you watch Ohio State and then again at the Senior Bowl. Good looking player there to steal in the middle rounds of the draft this year, we talked about the first round draft picks and C. J. Henderson and

Calebon Chason. I'm curious because you want to play that cover one defense, that single high safety and play man on the outside and have that version of the Seahawks cover three defense you have as well, you have to have a good second cornerback who was in the catbird seat, who's in the driver's seat to take on the other cornerback spot opposite of C. J. Henderson. Tray Herndon. He he started last year when Jalen Ramsey was traded. They

believe he's a very very good number two starter. They also love d J. Hayden, who was a former top ten eleven pick who is now their nickelback. Uh. They believe he's one of the better nickelbacks in the NFL. So they feel good at corner uh, particularly if Henderson comes in and is a lockdown player, which being number three over I mean, I'm sorry, not number three, but being the number nine overall pick, he's supposed to be that. So they feel like they have good three good front

line corners. Uh. The issue, of course C. J. Henderson rookie, very young, sort of translates after their whole team. How young players play and how they developed quickly is going to determine a lot about this team. Who is going to be the guy that does kind of fulfill that single high safety all the guy that has the range and kind of calls the defense. Is there a guy that's that's already kind of slotted into that position, or is it gonna be a camp battle who wants to

play that single high safety spot. It's gonna be Uh. Gerard Wilson is the free safety and Ronnie Harrison is a strong safety. So I don't know that they go quite as single high safety as the city as the steep Hawks did. When they're really running this defense, they pretty much play side by side. Uh. There, guys, Ronnie Harrison's the third round pick. They believe it has a lot of potential to be a big time strong safety. Gerard Wilson is a veteran, fifty year guy, very very solid.

Probably doesn't make a whole lot of plays above the xs and ohs, but that's more of their defensive philosophy. They don't go a lot of single high safety where they just have that one guy had the responsibility back there as much as maybe Seattle did. Okay, and that you mentioned Ronnie Harrison there, he really compares favorably to Cam Chancellor in terms of their build. My goodness, that

guy has rocked up solid just to workout warrior. There go two more questions for you here, We got John Osher of Jaguars dot Com talking about the Dolphins we three opponent in Jacksonville Thursday night Prime time. Who is the most unsung player on this Jacksonville roster? A player that maybe the casual fan doesn't know much about, but you guys in Duval really appreciate his game. Um. You know, probably it's such a young team that there's some guys

who have a chance to be that. I would say DJ Shark, but he was a Pro Bowler last year, so maybe people realize what he is. Um. Probably the guy who we haven't talked about that really matters for this team is Tyler Eifford, who they signed as a free agent from Cincinnati's ad all kinds of injury problems. They really need the tight end to be better than it has in this scheme. They also have Josh Oliver, who's the third round pick in two thousand nineteen. They're

tight ends need to be more productive. So a huge key that maybe people aren't thinking about, which might answer your question a little bit. Can Tyler Eiffort stay healthy and be even close to the level and he was a Pro Bowl when he was healthy in Cincinnati. That's gonna be huge for this offense because they just haven't had that position produced lately. Yeah, pretty much just the Marcedes Lewis days, right, Yeah, and even then, I mean

Mercedes played here a long time. He had a Pro Bowl season two thousand and ten, but really not a huge producer in terms of numbers of the receiving position. Great blocker and very solid, but they really haven't had that go to passing game tight end uh in about a decade. And uh they signed Julius Thomas to do it, who had a cup of coffee in Miami, But they

really haven't had that guy who's a go to. And you can make the argument in the NFL it's hard to win and be effective offensively if you don't have that these days. Yeah, it certainly adds a different element to your passing game. We saw it last year and Mike get Sick kind of came on down late in the end of the season. One more question for you, John, The Jags will be a playoff team if um, if they stopped to run better and if Gardner Minshew is

what they hope he is. Uh. This realistically, this feels a little bit like the Dolphs probably felt two observers last year and that everybody's saying this is a rebuild. They don't consider to rebuild, but that's what people look at. But it's not a It is not a deficient roster in terms of talent. If they can stop the run and be really good there, and if if Gardner's the franchise quarterback, then yeah, maybe they can get to nine and seven and sneak in. But I think this is

a team that will be very, very good and building. Yeah, it's a fun position to be and when you have the potential for maybe a high draft pick and multiple draft picks, and also if you do have that quarterback, that franchise quarterback in tow and Gardner, Minshew, nobody outside of Jacksonville is rooting harder for that guy than me. John. I promise you that. He is John Osher Jaguars dot com the Ozone Podcast and you can find him on Twitter at John Osher. John thank you so much and

we'll see you down the road in September. All right, Betty, anytime, And one last big thank you to John Oshero Jaguars dot com for coming on talking some Jags football. It's always great to get some outside perspect of on these teams we're gonna be seeing this season. Last year Jacksonville six and ten, no playoffs. They were twenty six and offense twenty one in defense, that's scoring. They had some key additions. We talked about c. J. Henderson, Calevan Chason.

He talked about Joe Schobert, the really, really good linebacker coming over from Cleveland. Also Tyler Effort, Rashaan Melvin, a couple more additions veteran to that roster. The ESPN Continuity Rankings had Jacksonville number eight overall in the NFL with seventy of their snaps returning this season. And we talked a lot about Gardner Minshew in that podcast. He really is the guy that's gonna really really define the future the direction of the Jaguars going forward, because what is

he at quarterback? I mean, last year was such a unique situation when they went to Nick Foles big contract, he gets hurt game number one. They go right into Gardner Minshew who comes in and plays well right away. Kind of tapers off there like John had mentioned, and he really helped keep them in some football games where they go down the stretch and the last six games of the year they lost six of those final eight by a combined score two thirty four to one seven.

And that's probably where you get some of the roster overturned there in Jacksonville heading into the season. Get that young team out there, a team that's just three years removed from an a f C championship appearance. There with Jacksonville. Jalen Ramsey, Telvin Smith, Calais Campbell, A J. Bullyer, Paul puzz Lusni, Malik Jackson, Dante Fowler, We're all in Pro Bowls at one point in their career and each has moved on from Jacksonville. A lot of change there, but

still they have some continuity number eight. Overall. Most of that comes from offense, but the defense is in continuity with sixty nine point eight percent of the STAPs returning next year. And the Jags, like Miami does, has a war chest of draft picks to come back to and help restock that defense on that side, in addition to their free agent signings like Rashaan Melvine, like Joe Schobert, So Dolphins Jaguars Week three Thursday Night Football, September kickoff

eight twenty is as scheduled. Looking forward to that game, my first prime time game here as a member of the Miami Dolphins, and my first ever primetime game that's gonna start beyond that five thirty or six o'clock kickoff. Being a West Coast guy, the game's always kicked off at six o'clock on Monday night, five thirty on Sunday night. Now that's changed more to five thirty in that time slot. So I'm curious to get inundated with the eight twenty

eight thirty kickoffs over there on the East Coast. Covering a game on the road a late night for sure, but I cannot wait. I cannot wait for football. We're gonna do plenty more of these Know the Enemy series here, both on the podcast and on the Miami Dolphins dot com website. We currently have the written piece I went really in depth on Jacksonville, Buffalo, and New England. You can check that piece now on Miami Dolphins dot Com.

We'll have the next edition of October teams. I think we'll do Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and the l A Chargers. We'll get into that here probably next week, both on the website and get some more podcast interviews with those that know these teams. The best on the Know the Enemy series. As for today's podcast, that is gonna be my time you all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, tuned in, wherever you get your podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating,

leave us a five star review. It helps grow the podcast get out to more Dolphins fans and we would greatly greatly appreciate that. Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield, NFL, follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins, check out The fish Tank and the audible podcast. The Fish Tank just put out the j Feindler episode. You do not want to miss that, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up