JaguarsTalk: Hall of Fame Game

JaguarsTalk: Tony Boselli Day

Tomorrow, Thursday August 4th, is game time. Well, sort of. It’s the Hall of Fame game between your Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders. The game will be played in Canton, Ohio at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Last season the Raiders were 10-7 and the Jaguars were not. Like Jacksonville, Vegas seems to have gotten better during the offseason, most notably with the addition of Aaron Rodgers favorite WR, Davante Adams. How will Adams gel with new QB Derek Carr? We may not get the answer to that question tomorrow. We may not even see Davante Adams or Derek Carr. Coach Doug Pederson has already stated that Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne will be sidelined in Ohio so it’s not far fetched to assume that if we see any starters, Raiders or Jaguars, it won’t be for very long. As expected, this pre-pre-season game isn’t going to be very exciting to watch unless you have a vested interest in either team's newbies. Fortunately, Jacksonville has a plethora of new players, acquired and drafted, that will see some significant playing time…hopefully. So what, as Jacksonville fans, would we like to see during the Hall of Fame game?

Since Lawrence is riding pine, it will be good to see how third string QB Jake Luton out of Oregon State runs the JAX offense, especially since C.J. Beathard is still nursing an injury he incurred early in OTAs. We here at JaguarsTalk really have no interest in Luton beyond him being able to deliver good passes to the team members that we really want to see. Beathard is sure to back-up Lawrence during the regular season, so Luton is only on our radar as a tool to get the ball where it needs to go. What we would like to see is the Jacksonville receiving group. Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Marvin Jones Jr. and Evan Engram should all play at least a series or two. I would like to see if Engram’s hands have softened a bit since his days in New York. It will be good to get a handle on whether Kirk has the ability to lead a successful group of receivers.

I recently read an article on pff.com ranking all 2022 NFL receiving corps. The Bengals came in number one, followed by Tampa Bay, Miami, Philly, Vegas, and the 49ers. Those teams were categorized under the heading, “Tier 1: Elite.” Two 2022 regular season Jags opponents fall into this category, the Eagles and the Raiders. If you scroll all the way down to the “Tier 4: Likely a Weakness” category you will find Jacksonville sitting fifth from the bottom at number 28. The only statistic provided to back up this ranking was that Christian Kirk averaged 1.52 receiving yards per route run over the past two seasons. This stat is a bit misleading and certainly can not be used to determine how well Kirk will play as number one in the progression. If this ranking is to be believed then we can take away the positives that the Titans are ranked 26th, Houston is ranked 30th, and Indi is ranked 25th. So while pff.com believes that the Jags receivers are bad, they also believe that the entire AFC South is bad. So you’re saying there’s a chance? No matter the belief of this website, JaguarsTalk hopes to see the starting wide receivers and tight ends out on the field for at least a few series. Seeing as how RB Travis Etienne will be sidelined and James Robinson is out with an injury, there is no good reason not to pass the ball when the starting WRs are on the field. It’s not their blocking skills we want to evaluate.

We will eventually need to see some wide receiver blocking skills but only because we will want to see Snoop Conner's running ability. We want to see him hitting it hard north and south. Snoop isn’t the lateral speedster, that’s Etienne. Snoop is for specific, head banging, goal line, destruction. Conner is the Mike Alstott to Etienne’s Warrick Dunn, thus we want to see him light some people up and grind out the tough yardage. It is difficult for any running back to gain a single yard without a decent offensive line opening holes. It’ll be fun to watch how well Brandon Scherff dominates the right side and how Luke Fortner is at running the offensive line. It will also be very interesting to see whether or not Walker Little deserves the start over Jawaan Taylor and Tyler Shatley over Ben Bartch. JaguarsTalk would like to see some excellence in play on that O-line, the pilot of the Jacksonville offense. We need to see dominance and protection.

Special interest will be paid to wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. Was he worth the undrafted signing money? We think he will turn out to be an asset for the Jags. Extra special attention will be paid to Luke Fortner. We realize that he is a starter but will he truly anchor that O-line better than Shatley? In the end we want the best five lineman on the field. Time for us to take a look and see for ourselves. Focus will also be on Kirk. Jacksonville needs him to show why he was paid so well this offseason. Finally we want to watch tight end Dan Arnold. Pederson says he is sneaky athletic and his athleticism may need to become “un-sneaky” if Evan Engram doesn’t improve from his days with the Giants.

Before moving to the defensive side of the ball let’s touch on the special teams. Kicker seems to have come to the problem forefront for Jacksonville. The Jags cut Mevis and brought aboard Elliot Fry to challenge Ryan Santoso. It will be fun to see how that plays out. Fortunately, the kicker issue shouldn't be too difficult to fix. There have got to be plenty of unsigned kickers floating around out there, right?

Now for the segment we have all been waiting for, the defense. Please, please, please play them all for a few series. We all want to see the fruits of Trent Baalke’s labor. In reality this football season will either solidify Baalke as a good general manager or as a bust. Last season, Baalke’s 2021 draft selections didn’t really do much, minus Trevor Lawrence (though my dog could have made that pick, so Baalke gets no credit for T-Law). By taking Travon Walker with the overall number one pic this year Baalke has opened himself up to criticism once again. So, this season could be a job saver for the GM if his picks finally step up. JaguarsTalk believes that the future will prove that GM Baalke did a pretty damn good job over the past two drafts and that the slow start experienced by the 2021 draft class could be attributed to the poop show that was last season. All of that said, we want to see for ourselves if Tyson Campbell is in fact a shutdown corner. We want Travon Walker to make us all forget the name Aidan Hutchinson. We want to see a sack, a batted ball, or a fumble recovery by Walker. We want to see the freakish athleticism that we have read about for so many months. To be sure, what we really want to see tomorrow night in Canton Ohio is how the entirety of the Jacksonville front seven works together. Do the egos get in the way or do they all know their specific jobs and execute so well that the defense flows expertly like a NASCAR pit crew? We have seen it many times on NBA teams with too many stars, they just can’t operate correctly together. Because Jacksonville has added so much to their defense this offseason, it will be interesting and fun to see how well the pieces fit together and work harmoniously. 

Foye Oluokun will be running this star studded defense, so we want to see how he does with that role. Will the new defensive additions open up the sack lane for Josh Allen? How will Chad Muma thrive in his backup role? Will he be a frequent sub down the line or just an injury replacement? His play this pre-season will determine that answer. Finally, safety Andre Cisco and DB Tyson Campbell. If these two can play up to expectations, especially against receivers like Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow, then Jags fans can feel pretty confident going into this year's AFC South.

JaguarsTalk is excited that the season is finally here. We know tomorrow’s game isn’t going to tell us everything we want. It’s going to be a huge tease, but it’s football with full pads, and it signifies that I need to get my fantasy league rolling before it's too late. We would like to take this opportunity to officially congratulate the Jaguars first ever draft choice, Tony Boselli. Tony is the first Jacksonville Jaguar to be enshrined in Canton. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Tony.

Let us know in the comment section below what you want to see from tomorrow’s game.