Now as we prepare for preseason game number three, who is the biggest threat of the Dolphins starters?
Looking at the numbers to.
I gotta go with Tyree.
Welcome in to JAG's Am on this Thursday, presented by Field's Auto Group. I'm kay Nannie Stevens, Brian Sexton, John Osier with us and a very special guest. We're gonna talk Miami first. We're switching things up a little bit today because we're gonna have that third preseason game against the Dolphins, so we wanted to check in with one of our insiders, Armando Selguero, covered the team forever, so we want to check in with you and kind of
get an update on where the team's at. We were just talking about threats on the starters, but as a of what you've been hearing, are we going to see any starters?
Well, that is being decided this morning.
As a matter of fact, as we speak, Mike McDaniel is speaking to the media. I, however, am speaking to you.
We appreciate uh, We're we're.
Going to see in the next couple of minutes whether he is going to play those guys. I would say to you that I wouldn't be surprised if either way. To be honest with you, you know, McDaniel isn't one for exposing his guys. But on the other hand, you know, Tua and Tyreek could probably use a little owning.
And it's on the defense.
I would think that there will be starters on the field for the Dolphins.
Armando, John Osher, I appreciate you doing this. How you doing?
I'm doing great?
John, How are you good?
Hey? Uh, We've talked a lot over the years, and you know, we've both sort of covered some teams.
They're on various level.
Haven't gotten deep in the playoffs in a long, long, long, long time. I'm curious we followed the Jags so closely so we know what expectations are here. How high are expectations. Everybody talks about the Bills in that division nationally, But I get the feeling that Dolphins people and Dolphins fans think they've got something this year, maybe to get above that hump that they haven't gotten over in so long.
Yeah, it's and.
It's really now a couple of humps, right because everybody talks about the Bills because they've won the AFC East for three consecutive years.
There's a little buzz about the.
New York Jets as well, apparently this summer, and they've got a certain four time MVP quarterback that has made them very, very relevant. And that is also a team that now is a fan and pundit.
Favorite in the AFC East.
Meanwhile, in Miami Dolphins, people forget they did make the playoffs last.
Year in Mike McDaniel's first year.
They did go to Buffalo without their starting quarterback too at the Tongue v LAA and they lost the playoff game by you know, two points. So I would say to you that it's a team that believes itself to be a contender, more so if Jalen Ramsey hadn't gotten hurt, and more so if their talks with Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts bring them an actual running back that you know is going to be their belcow ball carrier.
Hey, Armando is Brian Sexton? How are you today?
Hey? Brian?
I want to double down on that thought, but only on Tua. And I have to admit I was caught in the bubble. We didn't see the Dolphins last year, and my impression was, well, you know, Tua was injured, he was out with the concussions most of last year, and I'm reading the numbers. His passer rating was greater than Patrick Mahomes, led the league in third down quarterback efficiency, was at the top of the league in the red zone. And the whole time I'm thinking, yay, yeah, but how
much did he play? And then I looked and he played thirteen games. So my question is if not for those you know, concussions that kind of created the air that Tua was so limited last year, would we be talking about him as an elite quarterback, one of those you know, top tier guys.
Absolutely, And I get it.
It's a one year change, of course for Tua because the previous you know, two years under a different coach.
By the way, under Brian Flores, he wasn't that guy.
He didn't show a whole lot that would suggest he's going to be in the top ten, much less elite. When he threw those six touchdown passes against the Baltimore Ravens, that kind of opened some eyes and changed the narrative and he went from there. Obviously, the question with him now is durability. Dude, you can't be elite you can't be good, you can't be great certainly if you are not on the field.
And so that is the question for Tua.
I want to check in with you, Armando. I know there's been some controversy with too It lately. Ryan Clark calling him out, said he looked like he hasn't been training, but he's put on some weight. What does he look like in person? I assume he needed to put on a little bit of muscle and a little bit of weight to try to stay on the field.
Right, So he's two hundred and seventeen pounds dripping wet before the off season began, he's about two twenty two to twenty four now.
The idea that he didn't work out this offseason.
Two has always been thick from the hips down, from the waist down, really, and he continues to be that. He's built up the upper body a little bit so that he can maintain and not necessarily hit his head every single time he goes down.
He also took jiu jitsu season.
The whole point is avoid the concussion. Because he had two last year. Some people would say he had three, and everyone knows if you have another one this year, you know three concussions in a year. That's a that's a bad situation to be in. And we wouldn't be talking about missing a game or two. We would be talking about missing you know, way more significant time. I almost said a month or two, but it could be even more than that.
It's a good thing to keep an eye on. Certainly, obviously his health he's taking paramount. What do you see in terms of us We talk about how people perceive Trevor Lawrence all over the place, and he's getting a little bit of hype. But what do you guys know of him? And how do you see him as being a threat to the league now?
I watched the playoffs and I was at camp talking with Doug Peterson last year before the you know, the production.
And he hasn't had a uh, you know.
A eyebrow raising blowout season. But he hasn't had Calvin Ridley before, and he hasn't had a playoff team under him before. Uh, the Jags are coming. Everybody knows it in that division. Everybody knows it. And obviously the quarterback is about fifty percent of that.
That's a that's a good team, that's a good roster. And I love Dub Peterson as a coach.
I covered him as a player low those many years ago in Miami.
I mean, we talked about expectations for this team, but you've been around it a long time. You've seen various levels of good teams and struggling Dolphins teams. How do you think this team will do? The Dolphins?
Dolphins look they are, they have an outstanding roster.
Anything less than the playoffs is a disappointment.
They are to the point where people expect actual playoff run.
That hasn't happened in South Florida.
They haven't won a playoff game since January of two thousand. So the millennium, the new millennium hasn't been kind to them and the drought has been very long. And folks expect to drink playoff victories this year.
Notice I said victories.
That tell ye that that playoff winning Junior two thousand. Would that have been the win over Seattle at the old Kingdome before they came here?
No?
Actually it was against the Colts where I forgot the guy's.
Name, but Lamar something, Lamar something he played off for like you know, he carried the ball close to forty times and he rushed for two hundred and twelve yards.
But I remember the stats. I just don't, Lamar Smith, But have they remember trying to?
Are you saying that they haven't won a playoff game though? Since with sixty two to seven loss here, they haven't won one since? Then the next year, the next year. Sorry, I thought you meant it. Okay, gotcha? Hey, The question I have for you real quick is the impact that you've seen from Vic Fangio on the defensive side, and will they see Jalen Ramsey this year and if they do, how does that impact them completely on defense?
Yeah, the Jalen Ramsey expects to be back on the field by November, and the Dolphins expect them to be back on the field by December, and everyone is hopeful. We'll see how that works out, because it's not just getting back on the field, as you guys know, it's also getting back on the field and being Jalen Ramsey. Without Jalen Ramsey, all of a sudden, that corner back tandem with Xavian Howard on the other side becomes much less so of a threat to opposing quarterbacks. Vic Fango
is a stud. He was you know, he was the best defensive mind available in the offseason, and the Dolphins are paying him like he was because he deserves it. He's proven it over the years. Was he a great head coach?
No, but because he didn't get the results.
But his defenses were great and before that his defenses were great. And the expectations are in Miami, his defense will be great.
I know who the cult defensive coordinator was in the last Dolphins playoff win was Vic Fangia.
We love a throwback, Armanda. Thank you so much for joining us. We're looking forward to this tune up on Saturday before the regular season begins, and we always appreciate hearing from our opponents and what we're gonna be going up against. All right, coming up, we will go on and talk a little bit about what this team is doing this week and we'll give you a preview of Saturday's game. Welcome back to Jags Am presented by Field's Autogroup, Jacksonville.
Step up to Luxury Fieldsauto dot Com. I'm Cannanni Stevens, Brian Sexton, John Oser. We started off with our guest getting a little preview of Saturday's game against the Dolphins. So now we're gonna bring you the big things. Big thing Number one is gonna be the star of the show. We've been talking about backup quarterbacks QB three maybe, but let's be honest, this whole thing is about Trevor Lawrence and what we're gonna see from him this year. So
how excited do you? John will start with you to see Trevor actually out there what this offense will be capable of, because we're gonna see him at least a half and maybe a preview what we'll see the season.
I'm very interested to see what they do. You would like to keep it in perspective season certainly, but if they get four series, I think they would certainly like to get a couple of touchdowns. You'd like to keep the three and outs to you know, one or none, and you would like to see them drive the ball. You'd like to see them get convert situations even beyond touchdowns, which are important. You would like to see them get
into a rhythm in the middle of the field. And you kind of feel what I'm talking about more than I can really explain it, Brian, But you know, maybe a couple of quick tempo plays where you're throwing to Kirk over the middle, and then you've got Ridley on a fifteen yard path where they sort of show what they're about and that they're in rhythm all off season.
These guys.
I to Christian Kirk the other day, and even after the interview, he said, Trevor's just playing fast. You'd like to see that playing fast, and that means reading it easy, making quick throws, looking the part, looking confident. If they don't score, I mean, you want to touch downs, but I want to see that more than I want to see anything else.
Brian.
I watched press yesterday, Press Taylor the offensive coordinator in this news conference, and he was getting questions about the third quarterback and the fifth wide receiver, and I could just see his eyes gloss over. That's roster building. That is the area of the coach and the general manager. He's focused on the quarterback, right. He wants to make sure that Trevor Lawrence because as Trevor Lawrence goes, this
entire franchise goes. So while we get all caught up in Nathan Rourke or Jacob harris Man, he's not thinking about that at all. His entire focus is on making sure that sixteen is where he needs to be And the word that both sixteen and Press used yesterday was clean. What you're talking about is a clean performance, meaning you go out, you don't have to make it complicated. We do what we do right, the lands, the patterns, whatever it is, the running game, the defense, and we just
go out and we do it well. Doesn't matter what the score is, None of that matters. Are we in a position where we can launch into a regular season mode when it's time to get ready for the Colts. But the entire storyline of camp ends with the quarterback. Is the quarterback ready to take the next step? Because John, as you've said, if he takes that next step, this team is in contention.
Oh no doubt.
And the thing to remember whatever happens on Saturday. We've all been around the NFL enough to note, yes it applies, yes you want it, but once that thing kicks off on Sunday.
In two weeks.
I've been around teams it looks off on the preseason and come out and just roll in the first quarter of that first game.
I've been around that does the opposite.
It's nice, it'll make them feel better for two weeks, but once the lights really go on, it's it's a different thing that.
You just don't see Saturday.
You just don't want to finish camp in the preseason going oh that was ugly, to walk off the field go okay, all right, good, don't have to be perfect, but you just want to go into the tunnel and say, okay, good, let's go.
And that's our big thing number two. You mentioned it already, Brian, but we want to keep it clean, right, and that goes for everybody. We want to see the defense also going out there not making mistakes. We don't want to see dumb penalties. I think a lot of this is, you know, mentally being prepared for the season as well. We've talked as much about that as Doug's not going to put up with dumb mistakes like that. He'll give you a chance, but you need to be mentally prepared
for the season. How much of this coming out in that final preseason game is just showing that you're ready to go do your job.
Know what the job is, do the job. It's that simple for guys. And there are a number of guys, kay, who have had to learn different positions, who've had to be multi dimensional because of injuries here and there, but show that you know that you belong by doing your job. We said it yesterday. Coaches want to trust that when they put you on the field that you can handle the situation that they're putting you into, that you can handle the job. Go prove that you can do it.
The other thing on clean is healthy. You just can't have many more nicks, bumps and bruises amongst the big guys because on both sides right now you're banged up.
Yeah. I think as much as penalties, which does indicate non cleanliness or dirty as it or, I think when coaches look at this, they also look at being clean on and off the field when you're trying to get substitutions guys in and out.
I think the.
Penalties that we'd bother the coaches the most is if all of a sudden you look up and you've got ten men on the field or twelve, which means guys aren't really dialed in on that front. On the other side of that is you're working with a lot of different combinations in preseasons. You're gonna have mistakes. But I think they'd like to be clean there. It shows that
the guys are on top of it. If they have some interference penalties, some action type penalty, they're not gonna worry about it, but it's the penalties of preparation showing that they're dialed in and mentally ready for this thing to get started.
Clean area or one worry. They need to be clean coverage. Right, We've seen some returns, sizable returns in both Dallas and Detroit against this team. They got to get that stuff cleaned up now. Part of that, and Heath Farwell's going to talk a little later today, is just the number of guys that you're rotating in and out, trying to make sure that you have a good evaluation as to whether they belong here or not.
Yeah.
Thing Doug said about that, Brian, not to interrupt, no, which I did. They purposely kicked short in the preseason to get a look at those guys, so I didn't get the impression they were overly worried about it now, but you do want to see it clean when they have returned. Right.
Our final big thing is going to be that to a test. As we mentioned, we're not sure how much we'll see or if we will see the Miami starters, but if we do, it'll be the first starting quarterback we've seen the preseason, and as the defense is always a question mark on this team because we love the offense. Quote love the offense so much because it's going to be so great, but we questioned the defense a lot.
And to be fair, it would be nice to see them up against a starting quarterback to see what they actually have out there, because they looked good against you know, second third string. But what will Tua bring if he's on the field.
Well, I would assume that if they're going to play Tua, and we don't know that for sure that they're gonna play waddle in hill, I mean, you're not.
That's a whole other challenge, right.
So what he brings is that starting offense, which he was the highest rated passer in the regular season, missing four starts last year one oh five point six. I think at Patrick.
Mahomes was one oh five point two.
So clearly he brings a very efficient passing offense. So we're gonna test the pressure and the ability to get after a mobile quarterback, and immediately we're gonna test the coverage on the guy who led the NFL and receive it. Well, sorry, he was second in receiving led the AFC in receiving yards last year in Tyreek Hill.
Yeah, I'm gonna say something the fans won't love.
Uh Oh.
If the Dolphins are in this regular season game and they're in their fourth week and they're operating at a high level.
They're gonna score on the Jags.
Just like if the Jags are playing with this offense, this fan base would expect them to score against any defense in the league.
The Dolphins.
And my point with that is there's a handful of teams that you look at that are good enough offensively with enough weapons that you're going to need to get up in the stratosphere on offense to be able to hang with it. I'd put the Chiefs there, the Bills, the Bengals. My point with this is the Dolphins of that sort of team. There's other contending teams forty nine ers, maybe the Ravens at times that I think are really really good but maybe don't have to go win shootouts.
The Dolphins can go score with you no matter how well you're playing defensively, which in the Jaguars play well defensively. Make it feel really good, but I wouldn't necessarily Oh my God, the Dolphins scored a touchdown.
They're gonna score a lot of touchdowns this year.
So play well and be able to break some serves. But this is a good offensive team. Get a lead, yeah right, give the defense a chance to tee off.
Wouldn't we love that? Fingers crossed, fingers crossed for it? All right, stay with us. We're gonna do. He will, he won't, he might coming up for Saturday's game. We'll see after the break. Welcome back to Jags Am. We're talking Saturday's final preseason game versus the Miami Dolphins. That's brought to you by Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of
the Jaguars and the NFL. Not a bad game to check out because I'm sure preseason prices are a little bit more reasonable, and we're gonna see the starters for the Jags at least the first half, so unlike other preseason games where you maybe you don't see anybody, this should be good, good football to watch. So we're gonna do. He will, he won't, He might because it's our final preseason game of the year against the Dolphins.
Brianni, you want to kick it off, I'll take Tyler.
Lacy Okay, the young defensive lineman from Oklahoma State who played well last week and had a good practice session with the Lions and has carried it on this week from what I'm told, So he'll have to play. You know, the injury with Devon Hamilton and with Fully font Ticasi means they are thin. He is a big prospect. I mean big meaning he is big. He is wide shoulders and long arms, and he's about six four two sixty five and just looks like a guy who can plug
some holes. So he's gonna have to play early on. They might not need him in every situation, but he's gonna be some depth. He's not gonna remind you of a first round pick. He's not going to be a guy that you say wow about, because they're not gonna ask him to be. They're gonna ask him to go in and just do his job, play that five technique, you know, fill two gaps and try not to get blown off the ball. But he should be getting better as we go through this because he's got a lot
of potential. I think when I look at him, I think he could be the next Duan Smoot. Smoot came in as a third round pick so around ahead of where he was drafted in twenty seventeen. But when was the first time you heard of Smoot?
Right?
A little bit, But there were good players in front of him, and the Jaguars were patient with Smoot and he became a guy who could give his six sacks seven sacks. In the last three or four years, he really has emerged. I look at Tyler Lacy and I think that's Dwan Smoot. He just needs time to develop. He's got some pass rush, he's got some inside and some outside. I think he was a very wise draft pick where he was because no one's going to expect
him to come in and be a star. But they have time to develop them.
And it's nice for this team to have the depth where they have the time to do that and develop it without pushing anybody before they're ready to play. John, who are you looking at?
I went with Blake Camp, who will definitely play, and it's an important night for him. He can play anywhere along the offensive line. He's a veteran guy. He's one of those guys we talked about earlier in the week that the Jaguars pro scouts have done a nice job of bringing in guys who've been in the NFL, who reasonably priced to bring him in, and they can play. He won't be bored because I think he'll play center. I think he'll play different spots along the offensive line.
And the reason I chose Blake is it's such an important game for that group because they're trying to figure out guys who not only they want on the roster, but then they're also trying to figure out who they want long term. Do you keep a guy like Cooper Hodges on the fifty three because you'd like to have him later on in the season.
Can you do that? Can you do that with Wells?
Versatility is key in that because I think they would like to keep the numbers that.
They keep relatively minimum. A versa little guy could save a roster spot.
I don't have a very good take on Blake because I'm not sure anybody knows out of this group of Blake Hants, L b Yeah, Chandler Brewer, Darryl Williams, it feels like a lot of moving parts that you don't know. But Blake Hanson might be on the team because he can snap, he can play center, and if you're a versatile guy, and you can be trusted at center. He's gonna be in the NFL, and I think he might be here.
They're looking for that guy to replace Josh Wells, and that seems ridiculous. Josh Welts is brought into be depth right, but for the first four games with Cam out, you have no depth to tackle. All of a sudden, Hans is the guy who can save them while Wells is gone because he can step in and be the fourth tackle right and be the guy that they can count
on in case there's an injury. Remember, you're dealing with the right tackle who's wearing a harness on his shoulder, and it's going to be something that the coach has said he will have to manage all season long. So Hans is a really important player if Wells is out of the equation and appears he is.
Yeah, I'm sorry, it's such an It feels like, I don't say abyss, but sort of just all these guys who because they've been in depth, because we haven't talked about him a whole lot, you don't know.
What they're gonna draw from.
Could they go on the waiver wire if they feel like we need a pure tackle who's a little bit of an upgrade. I don't think they're in trouble on the offensive line because they've got good starters who are healthy, and they've got good depth. I just feel like it's very uncertain and there's gonna be a lot of discussions on that front on Monday and Tuesday.
Guy the first to tell no, it's okay. Versatility is something that we've talked about on the offensive line, and you have to play multiple positions. There's very few of those players in the O line group right now that don't play multiple positions, and as we've seen with the injuries, it's going to become very important. He will, he want, he might is going to be Tank Bigsby because the home fans are going to get to see him for the first time in game action. I think he will
score on Saturday. He will not disappoint the fans because of what we've seen so far. It's been impressive just in the preseason, and he very well might lead with Carri's I think in this game, depending how much he plays going into the second half as well. And I'm excited for the home fans to get to see him because you know, we talk about him a lot, but not everybody's gotten to see what he's capable of doing.
And I'm also excited if there are starters playing for Miami, to see what he will do against a first line defense.
Yeah, I usually Brian's worked with me for longer than he would care to admit, a long time. I usually don't gush over rookies, and I usually don't. I'm not a big prediction guys. I want to see him play it out, I said on because it was huddle up yesterday. I think Tank Bigsby is a thousand yard rusher, twelve hundred yard rusher who probably won't get the opportunity to do that this year. If this was a different era, if he was on a different team, I look at him.
I think he's got a chance to be a star. But in this offense, where there are four receivers who are big time at least, there's also Travis Etn. The way Doug calls games, you know, I don't think Doug Peterson has any desire. No do Jaguars fans to see them turn around and hand the ball to Tank Bigsby twenty five times because Travis Ytn is too good and
so it's a passing offense. If he was needed to do that though, he could, and I think that's a It's gonna be very interesting to see how they use this kid this season, because I think he's got a chance to be special.
You've heard the old saying quote. He throws around compliments like manhole covers. That was a manhole cover. Sank right, he had a manhole cover. And he said it the second or third day of camp, and so you know, credit to you you pointed it out early.
I will take some credit.
Yeah, well, do or not?
Get You've seen a couple of good running backs in your career, so I do trust your judgment.
Yeah, I mean I covered Edgriend James and Fred Taylor who were the elite, and Maurice Jones Drew, who you know right there with him. You can't compare him to those guys because Fred and Edgern and Maurice had special stuff during sort of a different era for running backs too. They they proved it during a time where teams game plan for running backs. But I'm not saying this to
ignore Travis Etn who is deservedly the starter. It's fascinating to have him both maybe a little like Fred Maurice back in the day Special again not that category.
Listen, Doug Peterson said he thinks he's a sixteen hundred yard back. That is Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones, Drew Edgerrin James Territory.
Yeah.
I don't think Travis can get to sixteen hundred the way they play offense. But if you're saying, is he a sixteen yard back talent.
I want to see it.
If that's true, I want to see it.
But I guess we're talking about Tanks so much because we all saw Travis last year.
We saw what he can do.
Tank's feet and his ability accelet out of the hole and then back that up with power. It's very interesting. Can Tank be a sixteen hundred yard player? Well, you said twelve? Could he get to sixteen?
Yeah? Sixteen in this day and age, I don't know.
I don't know that the jag Wars, the way they play offense, I'll have to see them run that much to have a sixteen hundred yard back. I remember Tony Dungee when I covered the Colts, saying they didn't necessarily want to be leading the league in rushing because if they were leading the league in rushing. Then they were
wasting Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. So do you want to run that much to be a sixteen hundred yard back, especially when you've got Travis atn But I think they can.
Both be really really important.
Maybe not get numbers that you would get in the eighties, but certainly make this a special offense.
An offensive embarrassment of riches. If you will all right to stay with us, will be right back. We'll preview the rest of the week and of course Saturday's matchup. Welcome back to Jags am Jags fans. If you want customized Jaguars furniture for your home, check out zipchair dot com to browse all customizable options. Zipchair is furniture for fans. We've got our final preseason game of the year on
Saturday against the Dolphins. It's a little bit of a tune up if we do see the starters, John Hoo, do you think can outscore or who's going to score the most out of these two offenses? Oh, I think it might be closer than we think. I know, we talk about ourselves all the time. Obviously we're self involved, but Miami's offense is pretty talented wide receiver core as well.
I'll go with the Jags, but I think it's gonna be close.
I think if these two teams played healthy during the regular season, I think he'd be a shootout. I think this is one of the teams Kansas City buff full of Cincinnati, Miami, Jacksonville, probably even out a couple of us, you know, San Diego or the Chargers. They're one of a handful of teams that they're playing each other. It's not inconceivable that it's thirty five to thirty.
Two or whoever has the ball les.
Yeah, I think it's one of those games. It's always the Jacks.
It's always the Jacks. All right, let's leave you on that. We'll have our broadcast for you this on the TV badcast. I'll be on the radio broadcast, and of course Johnn'll have full coverage for you as well. So check out preseason Game three. We'll see you on Monday when we get to talk regular season and cut down Day as well.