This is a big deal for the team from a leadership perspective. Discipline, Toughness, Resilience is what we need on the field currently. We've been giving up too many easy first downs over the middle of the field and not getting off the field enough particularly early in games. Foye is a star at least on this defense. Tackling machine, nose for the ball. Dewey also brings a leadership quality.
It’s not a coincidence that when Tyson and Foye went out this defense really started to struggle. Getting both of them back is going to fix a lot of problems
yeah he definitely is a star dude plays super smart and organizes the defense! I like what we are seeing from Ventrell but he gets beat in pass coverage just as much as Loyd, he will get there eventually I think and may be better than Loyd
Lloyd used to be able to get some hands on some passes and that hasn't been happening lately. Our LB's have been getting exposed all year especially on third down.
This will likely get removed because NFL teams seemingly despise objective criticism, but here goes: The Below is my lengthy review of Trent Baalke's draft history and his impact on the roster construction, development and culture of the team. I spent a fair bit of time researching to compile this and I wanted to share my findings with like minded people who understand the frustrations of being a fan of this team. I know Drafting in particular can always fall into a "hindsight is 20/20" kind of discussion, but some of our picks and moves have just been so beyond questionable that we could not have made worse moves if we actively tried to. To highlight the sheer number of picks that have been wasted in areas of need that could have NOT been wasted if they had any other GM. Here's a quick list of some of the guys that he has passed on that he had the opportunity to draft that are now excelling in their situations:- Creed Humphrey, the cornerstone of the Chief's Oline and arguably the second most important piece of their success, went at the end of the 2021 draft. This was Baalke's first draft as Official GM of the team and he understandably took Trevor Lawrence at number 1. He then traded up back into the 1st round to draft Travis Etienne, after the 2020 Jaguars finished in the bottom 10 in the NFL for O line rankings, but understandably wanted to pair Lawrence with one of his college weapons. In the second round, he took Tyson Campbell at 32 overall, who is still their best cornerback currently. So instead of using either pick to put someone of Creed Humphrey's caliber in front of your number 1 overall pick QB, you use a 1st round pick on a running back behind a poor O line then use your 2nd round pick on a CB who, while good, has not been as important to his team's success as Creed has been for his. I'll highlight the absolute abomination of a 2022 draft that Baalke made, starting with Travon Walker, who in every context imaginable was an awful pick regardless of how he is playing right now. He was selected at 1st overall over: Aidan Hutchinson, Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams, Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, etc. Not a single GM other than Baalke would've selected Walker over Hutchinson. The Jags finished bottom 10 in run stop and pass rush in 2021, so D line made sense. You picked the worse prospect over the clear number 1 guy, but even then the secondary was still terrible and you could've justified taking Sauce, Trent Mcduffie or moving back up into the 1st round (WHICH HE DID TO TAKE A LINEBACKER IN DEVIN LLOYD) to take Kyle Hamilton to bolster your safety room with (who is a top 3 safety in the NFL now). Or, you could take the offensive approach and pair your number 1 pick QB with an elite weapon of Wilson, Olave or Williams, as well as possibly jump back or up to get Tyler Linderbaum who would've helped your bottom 10 O line and terrible interior especially following 2021. Instead, he picked a DEVELOPMENTAL edge prospect 1ST OVERALL who becomes an even worse pick when adding the context that, in 2021 of the 15 highest paid players in the NFL, 13 OF THEM WERE QUARTERBACKS, so maximizing the window of Trevor Lawrence's rookie contract was pivotal to roster building and competing. In 2023, his first round pick was used on Anton Harrison, who seemingly was a fine selection who they moved back and still acquired, the jury isn't out just yet but they also picked him only to swap him over to the otherside of the O line than his natural position of RT and has seemingly struggled. Instead, they could have drafted Brian Branch (at the time of this post, he is the HIGHEST GRADED SAFETY IN THE NFL) who, could have been justifiably been taken in the first round of the 2023 draft, and while Baalke had the clear opportunity to move up in the 2nd round (along with several other teams that did) but apparently didn't like the "cost of moving up" only to draft BRENTON STRANGE in the second round. Many people even believed (both fans and analysts) that Jacksonville was one of the favorites to draft Branch to begin with. Additionally, they could have drafted Joey Porter Jr who very surprisingly fell to the second round and the Steelers picked immediately at the start of it despite the secondary still being awful. Amid an off season where Evan Engram's future with the team was under discussion, they took a TE in the second round (which, they could've moved back again from 27 instead if they didn't want to take a TE in the first round) and they could've taken Sam Laporta, but no, BRENTON STRANGE WAS YOUR SELECTION. The jury is still out on the 2024 draft, but the seemingly sole highlight so far has been Brian Thomas Jr, after overpaying for Christian Kirk (I love Kirk, but it was a gross overpay at the time and has been a nightmare for the NFL which will inevitably come back to bite us down the line), giving up draft capital to pay for Calvin Ridley who hadn't played football for 2 years, permitting Press Taylor to stay as OC for the Jaguars when the fans, team and NFL analysts have all seemingly noted play calling as being one of the worst problems plaguing the team, refusing to make off season moves for either free agents or trading for pieces to help either side of the ball in a meaningful way (likely due to a delusion that his "best trait" as a GM is his DRAFTING ABILITY) he has been in no understatement, the largest reason for the team's collapse, and it's failure to enable Trevor Lawrence to consistently play at the level he has shown to be capable of playing at after giving him his contract a year EARLY (which just further makes the Travon Walker pick look even worse). There is a real possibility that his ineptitude as a GM could force the team to go into a total rebuild despite years of investment into becoming a competent and competitive team. Just to add an additional straw to the camel's already broken back, he was the one that HIRED URBAN MEYER TO COACH THE TEAM TREVOR'S ROOKIE YEAR. In conclusion, Trent Baalke is confidently one of the worst GMs in the NFL and has shown no real ability to do the job at a professional level to any capacity. I mean the man no ill will, and I have no comments on him as a person or as an individual, this is all STRICTLY from a professional performance stand point.
Walker Little was the highest graded Lineman on the team Sunday and graded out higher than Cam has all season. Little is a much better Run blocker considering Cam is one of the worst Run Blocking LT in the league.
This is a big deal for the team from a leadership perspective. Discipline, Toughness, Resilience is what we need on the field currently. We've been giving up too many easy first downs over the middle of the field and not getting off the field enough particularly early in games. Foye is a star at least on this defense. Tackling machine, nose for the ball. Dewey also brings a leadership quality.
Brian low-key DISrespecting Foye had me like 😒...
Foye is not a star? Yes, he is. When he comes back, there will be a great improvement on our defense. That’s what a star does.
SNEAKY GOOD!!!
It’s not a coincidence that when Tyson and Foye went out this defense really started to struggle. Getting both of them back is going to fix a lot of problems
So Oloukon isnt a star now? Led the league in solo tackles the last 2 years, combined tackles 2 of the last 3. I love Ventrell but lets be real now
Yea, that was different...
Yeah I caught he said that
Foye is one of the most underrated stars in the league. It’s about time he gets his honor.
yeah he definitely is a star dude plays super smart and organizes the defense! I like what we are seeing from Ventrell but he gets beat in pass coverage just as much as Loyd, he will get there eventually I think and may be better than Loyd
It was foolishness out of a foolish man’s mouth
Lloyd used to be able to get some hands on some passes and that hasn't been happening lately. Our LB's have been getting exposed all year especially on third down.
This will likely get removed because NFL teams seemingly despise objective criticism, but here goes:
The Below is my lengthy review of Trent Baalke's draft history and his impact on the roster construction, development and culture of the team. I spent a fair bit of time researching to compile this and I wanted to share my findings with like minded people who understand the frustrations of being a fan of this team. I know Drafting in particular can always fall into a "hindsight is 20/20" kind of discussion, but some of our picks and moves have just been so beyond questionable that we could not have made worse moves if we actively tried to.
To highlight the sheer number of picks that have been wasted in areas of need that could have NOT been wasted if they had any other GM. Here's a quick list of some of the guys that he has passed on that he had the opportunity to draft that are now excelling in their situations:-
Creed Humphrey, the cornerstone of the Chief's Oline and arguably the second most important piece of their success, went at the end of the 2021 draft. This was Baalke's first draft as Official GM of the team and he understandably took Trevor Lawrence at number 1. He then traded up back into the 1st round to draft Travis Etienne, after the 2020 Jaguars finished in the bottom 10 in the NFL for O line rankings, but understandably wanted to pair Lawrence with one of his college weapons. In the second round, he took Tyson Campbell at 32 overall, who is still their best cornerback currently. So instead of using either pick to put someone of Creed Humphrey's caliber in front of your number 1 overall pick QB, you use a 1st round pick on a running back behind a poor O line then use your 2nd round pick on a CB who, while good, has not been as important to his team's success as Creed has been for his.
I'll highlight the absolute abomination of a 2022 draft that Baalke made, starting with Travon Walker, who in every context imaginable was an awful pick regardless of how he is playing right now. He was selected at 1st overall over: Aidan Hutchinson, Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams, Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Linderbaum, etc. Not a single GM other than Baalke would've selected Walker over Hutchinson. The Jags finished bottom 10 in run stop and pass rush in 2021, so D line made sense. You picked the worse prospect over the clear number 1 guy, but even then the secondary was still terrible and you could've justified taking Sauce, Trent Mcduffie or moving back up into the 1st round (WHICH HE DID TO TAKE A LINEBACKER IN DEVIN LLOYD) to take Kyle Hamilton to bolster your safety room with (who is a top 3 safety in the NFL now). Or, you could take the offensive approach and pair your number 1 pick QB with an elite weapon of Wilson, Olave or Williams, as well as possibly jump back or up to get Tyler Linderbaum who would've helped your bottom 10 O line and terrible interior especially following 2021. Instead, he picked a DEVELOPMENTAL edge prospect 1ST OVERALL who becomes an even worse pick when adding the context that, in 2021 of the 15 highest paid players in the NFL, 13 OF THEM WERE QUARTERBACKS, so maximizing the window of Trevor Lawrence's rookie contract was pivotal to roster building and competing.
In 2023, his first round pick was used on Anton Harrison, who seemingly was a fine selection who they moved back and still acquired, the jury isn't out just yet but they also picked him only to swap him over to the otherside of the O line than his natural position of RT and has seemingly struggled. Instead, they could have drafted Brian Branch (at the time of this post, he is the HIGHEST GRADED SAFETY IN THE NFL) who, could have been justifiably been taken in the first round of the 2023 draft, and while Baalke had the clear opportunity to move up in the 2nd round (along with several other teams that did) but apparently didn't like the "cost of moving up" only to draft BRENTON STRANGE in the second round. Many people even believed (both fans and analysts) that Jacksonville was one of the favorites to draft Branch to begin with. Additionally, they could have drafted Joey Porter Jr who very surprisingly fell to the second round and the Steelers picked immediately at the start of it despite the secondary still being awful. Amid an off season where Evan Engram's future with the team was under discussion, they took a TE in the second round (which, they could've moved back again from 27 instead if they didn't want to take a TE in the first round) and they could've taken Sam Laporta, but no, BRENTON STRANGE WAS YOUR SELECTION.
The jury is still out on the 2024 draft, but the seemingly sole highlight so far has been Brian Thomas Jr, after overpaying for Christian Kirk (I love Kirk, but it was a gross overpay at the time and has been a nightmare for the NFL which will inevitably come back to bite us down the line), giving up draft capital to pay for Calvin Ridley who hadn't played football for 2 years, permitting Press Taylor to stay as OC for the Jaguars when the fans, team and NFL analysts have all seemingly noted play calling as being one of the worst problems plaguing the team, refusing to make off season moves for either free agents or trading for pieces to help either side of the ball in a meaningful way (likely due to a delusion that his "best trait" as a GM is his DRAFTING ABILITY) he has been in no understatement, the largest reason for the team's collapse, and it's failure to enable Trevor Lawrence to consistently play at the level he has shown to be capable of playing at after giving him his contract a year EARLY (which just further makes the Travon Walker pick look even worse).
There is a real possibility that his ineptitude as a GM could force the team to go into a total rebuild despite years of investment into becoming a competent and competitive team. Just to add an additional straw to the camel's already broken back, he was the one that HIRED URBAN MEYER TO COACH THE TEAM TREVOR'S ROOKIE YEAR.
In conclusion, Trent Baalke is confidently one of the worst GMs in the NFL and has shown no real ability to do the job at a professional level to any capacity. I mean the man no ill will, and I have no comments on him as a person or as an individual, this is all STRICTLY from a professional performance stand point.
Time to eat some cheese this week
Jaguars are losing.
Walker Little was the highest graded Lineman on the team Sunday and graded out higher than Cam has all season. Little is a much better Run blocker considering Cam is one of the worst Run Blocking LT in the league.