I was listening to ESPN radio the other night and McShay and Kiper were bickering like an old married couple and when the dust settled, they got to talking about Ekwonu and Neal and McShay made a comment something to the effect of, “It will be interesting to see which one the Jags take”, Kiper agreed.
I think the Jags would be just fine with making the Super Bowl.
I also think this is all wishcasting. We want Hutch to fall to us so we force reasons the Jags will go OL. They might, still, but the odds heavily favor them taking Hutch.
I think there’s a high probability they still take an OT.
Hutch has nothing to do with it.
They have a ton of questions along that OL and clearly they can’t seem to lock down their starting LT to a long term contract. At this point he’s just a place holder.
Not to mention Doug Pederson built a strong OL in Philly. He understands what a great OL can do for you. During his 5 years as the Eagles HC he drafted 7 OL. However only one in round one.
Personally I think they need an OT more and they value an OT more.
They certainly could, but high probability? The people who make the big bucks to forecast those sorts of decisions in Vegas disagree a lot. Vegas isn’t always right of course, but it’s a good way to get a feel for the probability of something happening.
They have 3 tackles: Robinson, Juwan Taylor and Walker Little. Robinson actually played great over the last half of last season, the Jags fans were surprisingly fine with the decision to tag him. Taylor has been below average and probably has no future there beyond this year, but he’s also been better than Robinson over his first 3 years so it’s not impossible he improves. Little would have been a top 10 pick if it weren’t for his injury history and he looked really good in his starts/relief appearances.
I also don’t put what Philly did on Peterson. That roster was Howie Roseman’s baby, Peterson was just an onlooker.
Could they upgrade? For sure. That’s not an elite group of tackles, no doubt. Should they take an inferior prospect at the very top of the draft to do it? That’s where I have my doubts. They’d be better off in FA/trade (they’re already rumored to be one of Terron Armstead’s major suitors).
Originally, I thought that the Jags would go DE because of their lack of pass-rush and their O-line stats were not that bad. Lately, I’ve been seeing the reasoning for them taking an OT, possibly it is because I don’t want them to take Hutch but it does make sense as well.
I’m like 60/40 that they take the O-lineman. Kiper and McShay both seemed pretty convinced that they’d take an OT, I’m not sure if they are more credible than the Vegas odds-makers or not but it’s something.
I could see Icky due to the position flexibility. They hired Mike Caldwell to be the DC with Bob Sutton as an adviser. It wouldn’t shock me if the plan is to try and manufacture pressure. Icky allows them to hedge on Little and if Walker is great at RT then they slide Icky inside and have the foundations of a good OL. Remember that when Peterson was working with a young Wentz his OL was elite. Lastly it allows them to love on from Cam next year rather than pay a decent tackle top dollar for too many years I think Hutch is the more likely pick but Icky still makes some sense to me.
Didn’t McShay just mock Hamilton to the Lions? Does he have the Lions passing on Hutch to take Hamilton? I didn’t see who he had the Jags taking in that mock.
Also, I see some freaking out going on in the Lions universe after the Jags tagged Robinson assuming that they are taking Hutch as if it’s the end of the world. I like Hutch and all especially from a culture standpoint but it’s quite possible that he’s not the best player in this draft when all is said and done, or even the best pass rusher for that matter. It’s not the end of the world if the Jags take him.
I wouldn’t put too much stock into mocks by guys who work for big networks like McShay. He has to keep moving players around and providing click bait to keep his bosses happy. The mock right before the draft tends to be how they really feel.
Yep, I forgot that someone was saying this same thing about Pederson in Philly and his O-line there. I think he’ll want to recreate the same thing in Jax.
Chaisson is probably a bust. He’s still only 22 though and you have Allen on the other side and there are going to be damn good pass rushers available at 33 so I can see if going either way.