(04-28-2021, 01:20 AM)JagFanatic24 Wrote: [ -> ]You guys are killing me with this left tackle stuff. I just ain’t seeing it. Better hope we can hold Derrick Henry to under 200 twice a year. And if Wilson is chasing a WR4 because he bit again, then I might just throw up. Who knows what we have in the secondary. Josh Allen in this 34 could be his last year in a Jaguar uniform unless he replicates his rookie year.
If we don’t get a LT then we don’t. Bring a TE down and chip. Have a RB chip. Run screens. Run RPO. Cam is gonna have to buck up.
But for all of you guys that want QB LT TE, I hope we draft Lawrence, then trade up to number 5 and get Pitts, and then trade the rest of the draft capital away and draft the best LT available. And I hope we sign Forrest Lamp. Can’t forget about that guy.
Oh and then sign Alex Smith on as a coach so he can mentor all the QBs and pat them on the back when they throw an interception.
Who cares if we givin’ up 40 per. Long as we get QB LT TE Lamp and Smith.
I am in favor of primarily an offensive draft. But being in favor of an offensive heavy draft does not mean I do not see the importance of defensive players.
First off, I was one of the few on here urging the team to keep Ngakoue and Ramsey, while just about everyone else kept pushing to get rid of them. You don't get rid of guys like that and it not have a deleterious impact on the defense. You don't advocate keeping guys like that if you are ambivalent about defense.
Secondly, I have long argued that switching to a 3-4 would require significant personnel investment to do it successfully Even with all of the defenvie linement we signed, we could still use a couple of more, maybe 2-3 more LBs, and certainly upgrades at S.
That said, I think upgrading the offense generally and T and TE positions specifically are of paramount importance this offseason for several reasons.
1. This is an offensive heavy draft, especially at the top. A look at most projections shows the first defensive player may not be taken until about 9th or 10th overall. Furthermore, by most accounts, the top edge rushers may not go until the bottom half of the first round, and the same for DT. Conversely this is a talented and deep T class, with tackles likely to be taken at each part of the first round (Sewell possible top 5 pick, Slater perhaps top ten, Darrisaw Mid first round, Jenkins mid to late first round, with Cosmi having a late 1/early 2 grade. If you simply draft according to the available talent, chances are the best player will be on the offensive side of the ball.
2. The biggest needs on the team are offensive needs. We haven't had anything close to a franchise QB since Brunell back in the 1990s. The QBs we've had since then have been varying degrees of suckiness. So right off the bat, we need a QB. We gave up 44 sacks last year. While many of those sacks can be attributed to the QB holding onto the ball for a long time, many of them can be attributed to poor OL play. Conversely, you can argue that even though the defense was not very good last year, there are more pieces there. We have a strong pass rusher in Allen, and potentially Chaisson now that he's in a 304. We have a potentially good cover CB duo in Henderson and Griffin. We have an athletic ILB in Jack and a decent one along side him in Schobert.
3. We have three high profile recent examples of teams not giving adequate support to their highly drafted QBs. The results of that neglect were not pretty for those teams. The Colts drafted Andrew Luck first overall in 2012. Despite their efforts to provide adequate protection, Luck took a lot of punishment early in his career, and he wound up retiring prematurely in 2019. Since then, the Colts have gone after two stop gap measures to fortify the positions (Brissett and Rivers) and are currently on their third in reclamation project Carson Wentz. Deft drafting has kept them from bottoming out, but their playoff run is prearous because of uncertain QB play. The Jets were not so fortunate. In 2018, the jets spent a 1 and 3 2nd round picks to move up 3 spots to be able to draft QB Sam Darnold. But in an even more egregious example of neglect than Indy provided, the Jets put nothing around him. The offensive line was in shambles, they had little to no receiving help, and little in the way of RB support. Just three years after spending four high picks on him, the Jets traded Darnold away to Carolina for a fraction of what they paid to get him, they finished with the second worst record in the league, and they are starting over again at the position. Finally, the Bengals drafted Joe Burrow first overall last year. While they had some pieces around him in terms of RB and receiver, the OL was in shambles. He was often running for his life last year, before he blew out his knee. Will he be back in time for training camp? Will he be the same guy he was pre injury? Who knows? But those are questions the Benagls wouldn't have to answer if they had more help for him. If the Jagaurs are to avoid their fates, they must give Trevor Lawrence more help.
4. To continue on 2, we've seen what it's like to emphasize defense in the draft. Between 2004-2007, the Jaguars had their first defensive heavy teams. While it was refreshing to see them absolutely shut teams down, and it was good to see them reach the playoffs in 2005 and 2007, the team plateaued short of the Super Bowl because we didn't have enough offense. This repeated in 2017, where we had a dominant defense but also an offense that wasn't up to par, and once again we couldn't reach the Super Bowl. Worse yet, we couldn't sustain the winning beyond 2017. The fact is, we've invested 5 out of the last 6 first rounders on defense with almost nothing to show for it. While I do not suggest a causal relationship, perhaps changing the franchise dynamic by emphasizing offense might benefit the team.
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