Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 144 | Jaguars 2025 Draft Grades

Jacksonville, Jack Lars and like t Travis Hunter, roar receiver defensive.

Back in Colorados, the boldest of bold moves to kick off the draft and the James Gladstone era here in Jacksonville.

Welcome.

I'm Cannannie Stevens to Jagsam this morning. Brian Sexton, John Osier with me. As we have a lot to discuss. We were here all weekend for the draft and a lot of new faces coming to toat We'll start off with big things. Bold moves got as bold as you're going to get Brian off the b We knew they weren't going to be scared to do it, but trading up to get Travis Hunter the boldest move in franchise history.

I think fair to say.

Without a doubt. Look, I've done this for thirty one years, right, that was my thirty first NFL Draft. I've never seen a player be the best player at wide receiver, best player at corner, and the best overall player. It's the triple crown, except I've never even seen a triple before. I mean, I've seen the best quarterback and the best

Look, it's a tone setting move.

It's a risky move because you're giving up so much capital to go get it, but it's also a move where everybody's on board, and I think what it shows more than anything they've been talking since they got here, meaning Tony vassellly, Liam Cohen, and James Gladstone about being aligned and since the draft talking to different people. This really did take alignment, meaning you had to make sure strength, staff, assistant coaches, whatever, knows what.

The plan is going to be for this guy.

And everybody's on board, and everybody's willing to be that team that sort of puts itself out there to go do this. So New eraon douvall Right.

Well and listen, that's what everyone wanted, right. I Mean, I'm assuming that most people who are watching this are on board with this move. But if you were not, you wanted something different. The previous general manager probably doesn't make this move. He doesn't like to give up picks. You wanted something different, man, You got something different, and

Bit of a one to eighty, but a good one. Let's go to big thing number two, which is two for one. Obviously, Travis Hunter is going to play on both sides the football. But John versatility was something they focused on in this draft. A lot of these players play multiple positions or have played a position in college and they think can play a different position at the NFL level. That was clearly an important characteristic to GM James Gladstone.

Yeah, I was gonna say, with the exception of the running backs, but even the running back Tooton can return kicks.

The offensive lineman. It's getting to the point where if.

You're not a top five offensive lineman pick, you better be able to sort of play a lot of positions when you first coming in the league anyway, But yeah, it's about versatility. McLeod the linebacker can do multiple things. He's going to play that buck position, which is a versatile position.

That's what they wanted.

And again, if you're going to set a tone for a draft with versatility, run, it's Travis Hunter, who's versatile as any player has been in sixty five years.

And let me just touch on that off the top. He's a guy who people are wondering can he do both? And there's lots of conventional wisdom that says that in the NFL you can't, because the density of playing just wide receiver alone or just cornerback alone is so much greater at the NFL level. He was so much more gifted than most of the players that he lined up against in college football. He didn't have to spend the sort of energy intellectually and physically that he's going to

Going to be an evolving situation.

I'm excited to see how they utilize him and how that progresses as the season goes along. Our final big thing today is going to be take what's given. Now, we know a lot of the draft is about how the board falls and what they addressed. Jim James Gladstone addressed taking not necessarily the need of the team, but what's available.

The board always fallows certain ways, and you're not going to reach because of what might be a perceived need. So you're always going to take the players that you feel like are going to put the team in the best interest moving forward, and you don't want ever sort of lean heavily into just one idea of best player available and needed some version of balanced dynamic that comes with that.

Brian, They certainly addressed some needs on this team or perceived needs by this new iteration in the front office and coaching staff. But I know some people are like, why didn't you go defensive tackle route? Why wasn't that looked at it all? And James Wotson basically said, we didn't see what we wanted at those points, so we'll kind of address it at a different point.

Well, rather than the age old you know, best available player and who doesn't need a great player wherever you're at, and the fact that this team had a lot of holes. What we don't know kai is what they tried to do. We know the trades that they were able to execute moving back and forth. We don't know who they called to try to move up to be in a position to take a defensive tackle, who said no, or who

There may be no bigger disconnect between how most people view something in the NFL and how it really works in the draft. I was ecstatic after the draft to see that they didn't get an edge rusher.

And here's why now that they don't need one.

That's not a weakness, but it showed me that they really do stick true to the board.

There were edge rudgers.

That that they like, particularly one somewhere in like the second or third round. Is my understanding didn't get him didn't work out. We've been around gms who automatically at that point the next round would be saying, get me an edge rusher, and if you do that, that's the quickest way toward errors.

The fact that they didn't press.

That and then went out and got I'm gonna watch his name on Sunday because Emmanuel Oh by, thank you. The fact they went that route shows me that when they say they're going to be true to a board and true to their value strategy, that they're going to do that, that really bodes well for the franchise. Even if people may not grasp why you didn't fill a need.

Stay with us here on Jagsam. We got more on that first round draft pick. Travis Hunter exam brought to you by Fresh from Florida. It's always in season.

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Talk about an introduction.

If Travis Hunter wasn't ready to run through a wall after hearing all that and expectations for him, I think he's pretty excited to be in Jacksonville.

I wish James wasn't so meek.

You know, he really is just so soft spoken, doesn't say anything with his chest.

You know, look.

This, I've never really seen anything like this with James Gladstone's willingness to sort of say here's what we're thinking. The NFL that I've been around, Brian has always had that thing of secretive where they would say something in a draft room right out and say, well, we don't want to get burned by saying this about this player.

I like it. I'm getting used to it.

And the whole theme of the weekend is so obviously this wants to be a bold franchise, and they did that with the first pick. It's an unbelievable tone to set.

Roy.

Listen, if you ever wonder why they keep things so secretive and quiet. Now you know, we've been told that it was a seventeen day window that they had this thing done. And just a little side story. I'm in the media room at the convention center there in Green Bay and Dylan, who is our PR representative, up there, and here comes the whole team from Cleveland and they're pr and social people and one of the guys is carrying the football with a great, big number two in

I get it.

You know, they needed a quarterback in Nashville and they think that Mason Graham fits their personality. Man, I still can't believe the best player, the best corner, the best receiver, the best player was not good enough or didn't fit in Nashville or Cleveland.

Well, and even beyond sort of how he's with the media. Maybe when you were a kid and if you bought hystereo, you worried if your friends would.

Like it or not?

Right, I mean, that was the most important part of the person, to get your car. The kids at school have to, uh, like what I got. I get feeling that Gladstone would probably go and buy a car and not give a rats but what the other kids thought of it? Because he believed it's the right thing to do. And this pick took guts because if in two years it doesn't work, it's, oh, what an idiot. But he

So buckle up, buckle up.

I think it's interesting to point out we talk about we're kind of used to that secrecy angle. Obviously, they kept a secret for quite some time and close enough to the best that it didn't leak out, which in

So it's a new generation. I've said it before. I call them the hedge Fund group, right. I mean, they're young, they're data driven, they're aggressive. They're willing ki to take conventional wisdom and set it aside for a move that the data and their aggressive posture says works. You know for guys like us who've seen conventional been around conventional and you too hopes in conventional football thinking it's I want to say it's radical, but it's very different. It's

The deep end. Yeah. And something that I think.

Since we've met James Gladstone on this set and been around them a little bit. I'm not gonna say where hanging out at the beach, but we have gotten a fuel for him. I think if you watch him on TV. I got this text with somebody in the media send I wish he just didn't talk like a cult leader, right, you know, but but he has a unique way of speaking that I don't necessarily know translates into who he really is.

I had somebody yesterday tell me, well, this is a football guy.

Now, he played football and he's competitive, and so I don't know if that part necessarily gets through and you're watching him, but the football people in the BI I mean, this guy was born to be a GM and you could sort of tell he's living his life and he's been ready for this moment. The more you're around him, the more you realize this is a different cat leading the Jaguars and it's gonna be fun to watch. And I'd be stunned if this isn't successful.

I don't know about next.

Year, but under his leadership, that vision, in that organization.

This is a different thing going on.

And if it is, who cares what he says, it's what he does sure.

And I think we also have to remember at this point of the progression, they're still trying to set that tone. They're still trying to say exactly what the Jaguars are going to be going forward. So yes, we hear him a lot, and you know, repeated phrases, intangibly rich and some other things, But a lot of that is because they.

Want to be on the same page. If you're saying the same things.

That's how you know that that's truly where they're all at. Let's talk a little bit more about Travis Hunter, because I'm having some fun with this. So from what we've heard so far, he'll play or they're going to start him out on offense and then kind of work him into defense, which is a little bit different than a lot of people had predicted. Some of the scouts and analysis was that he would play mostly defense and then minor on offense.

But we're seeing opposite of that, which is kind of cool.

Well, maybe you heard Jeff loghim and say this. I rely on his instincts on this. He told me that he believed that Travis Hunter has hall of ability as a wide receiver. In fact, he told me and our audience I'd get a show with him that he thought that this was a guy who was maybe the best receiver he had ever watched on tape. He just makes it look easy. His thought was that the disparity between Travis Hunter and all the other receivers was wide at corner,

A key is going to be.

And this is what Bucky Brooks said on some shows on with him. He does need to get more polished. He's not coming out as a absolute at a top ten Henry Eller type route runner yet.

But.

Is so is so scary to defenses that he's gonna strain it.

He will need to work.

To polish as an NFL receiver. My understanding is it's going to be seventy five percent offense at first, meaning practicing and working with the offense multiple days a week and then learning maybe defensive packages to be on the field when the other team is in passing situations, something along the that's not exact.

That's the vibe that I get from listening to press conferences. They will figure out a way to make work.

The one thing I did here yesterday was, look, it's gonna be full time offense, working toward defense first year.

But this kid wants to be on.

The field every play. They're gonna have to hold him back from doing that. And there's no reason in the future if he shows he can do it.

They'll let him do it.

Can you imagine those strategically Again, probably not this year, but at some point in his career where you just pop him in and he starts right. You're playing the Minnesota Vikings and Henry Ellard and you're trying to get ready and you don't know that here comes Travis Hunter and he's going to start at corner. You game planned because you think you're going to see Monteric Brown and

And the one overwhelming thing they said is people who've played football and understand what it takes physically to do it, they're blown away by even watch them in Colorado be able to run a sixty five yard route on one play, come off, drink a sip of water, and go out and be playing at a high level on the next play. Now, will that be after the massaged a bit in the NFL with the physicality, maybe, but they've never seen anything like that in college. So what will look like in

You grew up in New England. I mean, how many times did you watch the Kenyon Runners during the Boston Marathon run these two hour marathons and come across the line, right, I mean you're like not even Yeah, it's sweating. There's just there's some people on earth that can do things physically that other people can't, and maybe he's that guy.

And very exciting on offense.

At Colorado, his main role was on defense and then he was kind of going in on offense and playing with what was given to him. So if he takes all of his time and focuses, you know, seventy five percent of his time and is focusing on offense and learning routes and becoming better, he was already the best wide receiver in college last year without that, so it's very exciting to kind of predict.

What that might look like on the next level.

Well, that's a lot of exciting things and we are very excited to see Travis Hunter take the field. But before that, we're going to talk about some of the other picks in this draft. Coming about the break move, the freight Move the freight Magellan Transport voted the coolest office space in Jacksonville. You can apply online at Magellan Logistics dot com.

I honestly haven't even thought that far, you know, Like I honestly it's really got to be a completely one day at a time approach. Like a yeah, you're always feeling like you're adding levels of competition and depth to the to the roster. Is exactly what we did. We do feel like we got, we got better and improved. We will not have a clue until we do this thing more than a week here, you know, in terms of being on the grass, because we haven't even been

So the focus is.

So tight right now that probably haven't even thought that far ahead.

It's a good point.

We've had a lot of changes, a lot of additions, but they still been taking.

The football field and playing football. Yet there's still.

Running around and the big question is for him is the quarterback?

Right?

I mean, we're all excited about Travis Hunter and what he brings, and it comes back to can Liam and his staff unlock Travis or part of me, Trevor Lawrence's ability. Can they get him to a position where all the things right footwork and technique, but comfort level and understanding and just let him go and play and be the quarterback that we all know, or at least some of us believe is still in there and let him be his best.

Yeah, we're gonna see no matter what happens next year is a more disciplined team with more speed on the outside.

And I think no matter what.

Happens with Trevor, they're gonna be able to run better because if nothing else, they're more committed to it. When you say something as a theme, you're gonna see that and they believe they're gonna be able to run better. So I think you're gonna get to that six seven win. You know there are four last year, so I think

That's the storyline here.

He's gonna have all of the options now, at least on offense. Got a new additions to the running game, and obviously a ton of additions on the offensive line. I think this offensive line might look completely different than what we've been used to see.

Yeah, and frankly, no idea how it's gonna look. I mean, all the projections for offensive line on this team.

If you think you know who's starting, you probably don't.

Know who starts. Well, probably know who the center is though, right, most likely yeah, yeah, and Z from Tampa.

There are five one would thinks on the line that look logical. But my understanding is Mylain was brought in for a reason. Fred Johnson was brought in for reason. Training camp. Usually when people say, hey is open competition and training camp in the NFL, you go yeah, right, and you're right down the starters.

It's worth watching this year.

Take a look at some of the picks that they actually made, because as a class, there's about nine of them. They addressed some specific positions. Obviously two running backs. They took a couple of linemen Wymeland we already mentioned early on, and then some of the defensive players. Caleb Bransop played, you know, nickel corner. They kind of project him as being a safety for this team. And also Jack Kaiser

In the Senior Bowl.

He's playing safety out there, just to help out Phil Spots.

You know, when when I saw some of these things come in Kai the two linebackers back to back, right, and I know McLeod's more of an edge rusher, but you've got Devin Lloyd and Chad Mooma, who were first in third round picks that are in the expiring years of their contract, right, So you see the future there. They're moving into the future. You see Hunter and Ransaw and Lane and you think, well, you know, they're moving into the future. They're not thinking about just this year.

Yeah, I think on the other side that buck position we talked about. It is a little bit of a hybrid. It's what Devin Lloyd has sort of. Coaches have been trying to get him in a position to play, which is sort of that, you know, base on the early downs and then with a little bit of pass rush ability.

That's what they think McLoud can do.

Those two guys will be at that spot, and I think the guy at watching their in training camp is going to be ransaw because if there was a need position going into the draft on this team of a safety, third round safeties can start and I think that they would like a lot of these rookies to win jobs, but they're going to have to win jobs.

Well.

It's notable that at the post draft news conference, Gladstone and Cohene were both asked have you decided on the fifth year option for Devin Lloyd? And they had not, which I thought was telling that they were moving into this new spot.

I'm gonna have to earn it all, right, Brian. If you're gonna give a letter grade for this draft class as a whole, where would you go with it? And who's someone you're watching specifically? Non Travis Hunter. We're all watching Dravis Hunter.

Right, No, listen to me, this is an a because they were willing to be bold and go get the best player in the draft, and then you know, you watch them work through some scenarios. John mentioned earlier they were interested in a pass rusher. It was the kid from Louisville who went early in the third round. And then you saw them back up from where they were at seventy to eighty eight and one hundred and two and then up. They were clearly working the board and

Yeah, I thought it was a great draft too. I'm giving it a B plus because I mean.

That's basically an A from John Well.

I want Besselia to come down and say, where'd you give it a B plus? You know, and so I can fight with him on it. But yeah, I didn't want to give it an A because there is a little bit of acknowledged risk with Travis Hunter. So I guess I didn't give it an A because I kind of wanted a discussion point on it.

But I love the draft. I love the whole attitude in it.

I'm not good enough at knowing players to know if if the fifth pick was a great pick or.

Not, neither of mine.

I do know Tuton is a really player, and that's what I'm going to talk about. He's really fast, and I think the key that you heard in the post draft press conference was when Liam talked about UH being a explosive change. You know that they now were a more explosive team. Their quick strikeability is what I'm looking for that he used UH.

He gives he changes.

That dynamic form, Dammy Brown changes that dynamic form.

Travis Hunter.

Those to me are the three guys that change that dynamic. When Liam talked so much about that in the press or, I said, Okay, this is a guy. Uh, he's gonna matter next year. And I want the seventh round center to be good because I want to be able to say Monheim steamroller.

The phrase that I heard from from Liam was score from long distance.

Right.

He must have said that three times in his post draft news conference. And that's who the kid is here is right, Well, that's what he and Travis Hunter are both at. And Diammy Brown appears to be that guy too, and we saw that Brian Thomas is certainly that guy. Now you put this kind of a threat in the backfield guy, all of a sudden, the safeties can't be too deep, right, they can't be looking to be over the top on Brian all the time. So this really does unlock a lot of things.

And before you lose side of it, you know, I think this. I think Touton changed the offensive is going to change the offensive backfield dynamic. I don't know who starts out of what I think they're going to play three. I think they would love for Travis etn to be the receiver runner combination that he's shown, but I think overall the important thing about the backs if you think if you close your eiz.

Anything about the big plays.

In the last couple of years, Travis has had a bunch tank has shown he can go the distance. I don't know that they have touton level speed right, but they have three guys who in the right situation can pop it. So I think that it's going to be interesting to see how this team uses backs well.

I think that etn too years ago he was an eleven touchdown guy. If they can figure out a way, can we use the term unlock to find a spot for him in the offense where it unlocks that speed and that I don't think you can hand off to him and expect him to run between the tackles, but find a way to get him in motion and get him the ball when he's running. I think you could have something well.

And in the modern NFL.

Twenty years ago, that role for a back might be seen as oh, well, we're putting him over in this role. Well, now, in the NFL, guys who can run and catch with equal which I think Travis has in him, he does can go make a lot of money. Yeah, because that's a weapon I don't think.

It's necessarily indictment on Travis either. He's entering the final year of his contract. We know how running backs kind of go in the league. And also pushing him a little bit because, as we've seen, having that competition in any room is going to increase your chances of being better. He's kind of playing for a contract at this point, whether he or elsewhere, So having that ability and pushing him a little bit, I think for me it was exciting to see this draft. We hear intangibly rich, What

That ability.

When you talk to Milum and he's just saying, you know, I haven't allowed a sack as a starter.

I don't plan on doing that at the next level. I'm going to protect Trevor.

That is my goal.

I joke with JP all the time. He sits next to me, you know, let's talk ball, Like, let's stop all this other stuff. But these guys actually love ball and that's all they want to talk about.

And you're talking.

Even when I talk to Tuton as well, he's talking about pass pro is something he likes to focus on as well. So having those players that want to get down and dirty and kind of do the little things and they want to play football at whatever cost that is, So that changes the.

Character of your tea when you're talking about changing the culture.

Yeah, and we've talked about Gladstone a lot, but this is the moment that you talk about the GM Kay you joked earlier about you know, always saying the phrases, always saying intangibly rich. I know fans that's sort of become a meme than it's a meme, a meme guy Brian, but not so. But I do know there what Kay said earlier is important. There's a method of that madness of he always.

Talks about intangibly rich.

He always talks about having those traits in the bucket and leaning into that during the pick. If you're gonna have something be a franchise wide theme, which clearly this kind of player is. You want the scouts, you want the coaches, always talking about that in the forefront of your mind. It's easy to talk about wanting a certain kind of guy, But if you're not always thinking about it, then it's easy when decisions get made to forget about

And I think that's been why you heard that so much.

And I think it's important to go back to the top with Travis real quick on this one. He is intangibly rich, not because he can play two positions, but

What do you work on?

He goes, I want to be a better husband. Okay, now we're talking about the quality of the individual and what his fiance means to him. Really, I think off the charts intangibles for Travis Hunter. We talk about off the charts in terms of physical but off the field. Hunter displayed that in a couple with answers and a couple of comments that he made to me and green Bay.

And the best part about it is he can really play right right, All, all right, coming up, we'll tell you what's coming up the rest of the month, and when we can see these guys on the field too.

Hey, how's life all good man? Anything else popping? How'd you do? Sleeping on things? Oh?

I'm same, just continuing to nothing has changed for me.

It's it's it's the right motion. Let's go. Yeah, That's what I'm talking about, Jake. That's how Tony woke.

Up, we're gonna to draft the Hall of Famer? Would your first do a girl pick? Hey, it works out pretty well for the Jags and the expansion draft.

Like like your think, time will tell.

Wet a preview of the hunt.

We know they had that deal in place, probably well before that, but kind of going over the specifics thirty four hours before.

Making that move, no hesitancy there. They were definitely sold on it from the get go.

Yeah.

I think what Sead said over the weekend too, made a lot of sense. They've had situations where they've stockpiled picks right and it hadn't worked out. If they if they're in love with this and this is a Hall of Fame type thing, nobody blinks at giving up the picks to go get it.

If it's not, then it's not. We think they were behold.

When would they be arranged to do this again with a player as unique as this. They're at five, they only have to go to two. It's not like they're sitting at twenty five and trying to get up there. It just made sense. The player was there, the opportunity was there, the picks they had let it go, and this will be the first time that the Jaguars will enter the next season without a first round pick in their history, but as Gladstone said, he is uniquely qualified to be able to navigate that.

Yeah, I've heard that before, all right, John, When are we actually going to see these rookies take the field in a couple.

A week from Friday, I believe, I.

Think May eighth, as they come in and.

Then, yeah, is when the first mini camp starts, and that's when you get eyes on them and those are as most fans know more about running, but Travis can run.

So we'll watch that.

Absolutely lots to talk about.

We'll have some more time to talk about it next week as well, but until then, enjoy your week.

Thanks for watching.