Let’s round up a few items out of Jacksonville:
- The expectation remains that Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft, will be at full strength when training camp opens in a couple of months, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network observes (Twitter link). In fact, head coach Urban Meyer said Lawrence should be “pretty close to full go” before the end of mandatory minicamp on June 17 (via John Oesher of the team’s official website). Lawrence was on a 30-40 throw “pitch count” during this weekend’s rookie minicamp, and both he and Meyer believe everything is trending in the right direction. Lawrence underwent surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder in February.
- Lawrence was obviously the headliner of the 2021 draft, but there is also plenty of excitement about the Jaguars’ second first-round choice, RB Travis Etienne (Lawrence’s teammate at Clemson). Etienne is a threat to break off a big play whenever he touches the ball, and his receiving abilities are just as enticing as his rushing prowess. In an effort to continue honing Etienne’s skills as a dynamic dual-threat talent, Meyer said that Etienne took most of his rookie minicamp reps at wide receiver, as Rapoport tweets. The Jags do have 2020 UDFA James Robinson on the roster, and Robinson turned in a terrific rookie campaign both as a runner and as a receiver. Despite Robinson’s presence, it doesn’t sound as if Etienne will be transitioned to a full-time WR. Meyer said he knows what Etienne can do as a rusher and just wants to see if he can also excel when split out wide (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com).
- The Jags are planning to sign Tim Tebow as a tight end, but according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington (via Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report), not everyone in the building is thrilled with the proposition. The detractors think that the signing does not send the right message to the rest of the team, and that it will not provide the locker room with the “cultural jolt” that Meyer is anticipating. But this is unquestionably Meyer’s club now, and there is an obvious void at TE. Whether Tebow is a legitimate candidate to fill that void remains to be seen.
The Tebow signing is an absolute joke.
Why…?! He had stayed in shape with playing baseball, always Has amazing work ethic that multiple players/people vouch for, not to mention talent evaluators said he would excel at tight end, he’s 33 not 43 ….. it’s a minimum pact why not take a flier…
Because he’s never played tight end, hasn’t played professional football in a decade, and hasn’t blocked anyone in 33 years.
Him playing minor league baseball was an embarrassment and took away an opportunity from someone deserving, and this is no different. He could’ve tried switching to tight end when it was clear he couldn’t throw well enough to be an nfl quarterback, but he decided to try baseball and hit .200.
The Jaguars can sign whoever they want but to expect actually professional football players to be okay with this sideshow is moronic.
Dude it’s no different than the Miami Heat and Udonis Haslem…. dude has played like 5-10 games over 3 years, but they keep him on the roster despite him being in his 40’s….. why….?! Because they value his leadership, his work ethic than rubs off on other players, that veteran to help these young kids…. and if you don’t know who UD is do some research great dude, could that $2.5mill and roster spot go to some kne else with more playing time… yes it could… but like Urban and Tebow, Miami heat value that leadership of a veteran despite not being able to add much. It’s no different, these veterans can help shape these younger guys careers. It’s more than just football. and players themselves said they wish more teams had OG’s and good veteran leaders in there team.
It’s different though, UD has put in alot of work for THAT franchise, Tebow has done nothing for the Jags
didn’t nfl clubs give rugby players a chance to play nfl and some are still on nfl dispite never playing football. o and the nfl likes to sign basketball players who didn’t play any college football to nfl deals to give them a chance . in fact Miami has one on their roster. the move to sign Tebow is a good one u get leadership at leaguein . and give him a shot to play the where ur thin
That is true, your are correct. But Tebow and Urban Meyer have history multiple years of history from his time at Florida. It is no different, Urban is bringing him in not so for talent if he can prove that, but for his mentor ship and leadership abilities. Everyone who has played with Tebow has never said a bad thing about him. And just FYI, I’m an Ohio State fan and Pittsburgh Steelers fan , so it’s not normally in my interest to stick up for someone from Florida, and also the same someone who some how knocked my Steelers from the playoffs last time he was playing.
But he did for Meyer and it’s Meyer’s team now. As for Tebow being in the Mets’ organization, I’m sure his jersey sales made it worth it. Besides he was hitting well enough to make the AA All-Star Game a couple years ago before he broke his hamate bone in his hand. As for taking a spot, he was not on the Mets’ 40-man roster so he really wasn’t blocking anyone.
It’s completely different lol… Haslem was a good nba player for nearly a decade, and as was mentioned, he did a lot for the heat. But even so, the heat wasting a roster spot on haslem is silly too. The Heat aren’t good, they had one fluke run inside the bubble. Wasting a roster spot on haslem is foolish but still makes wayyyy more sense then signing someone who was never a good nfl player, has never played tight end at any level, and is a million times more polarizing/media hungry than haslem.
Literally the only thing the two situations have in common is average fans citing their “leadership” and the organizations top decision maker (Riley/Meyer) wasting a roster spot on a player they liked a decade ago.
When was the last time there was any kind of article written about haslem? Other than him finally getting to play at the end of the year and almost immediately getting ejected, he doesn’t garner hours upon hours of media attention the way Tebow will. Signing Tebow will hurt the locker room, not help it. But Meyer keeps making terrible decisions so what’s one more?
I really hope the Jaguars opt to do Hard Knocks cuz there would be so many good storylines for this team
acting like signing Tebow is a problem is also not sending the right message. like who cares if you’re another player.
Looks like a click bait article, as there’s nothing new on the Tebow front. All that is said above is over a week old at this point.
Jags should trade for David Njoku.
Browns don’t exactly need him and heading into a contract year it would give David a chance at a better deal in FA
everyone trying to be a te now. ya got kelvin benjamin trying. joe thomas has shaped up in retirement, let’s see if he can get a shot somewhere.
Any chance they give Pepe Pearson a look?
Instead of running AEW like WWE. apparently Kahn is doing it with the Jags
Firstly I’d like to point out that Tebow was actually a tight end in High school before switching to qb so it isn’t as if this is a guy who has absolutely no idea what he’s doing just not on this level. That being said I honestly don’t see the harm in him getting a shot based on the options that they have and the connection that they have. If urban Meyer is trying bring a college offense into the nfl having Tebow a player who atleast knows that offense may not hurt. Plus have you seen their right end depth chart? It doesn’t really scream confidence. I honestly thought they should have put a package together to try and secure Zach Ertz. But anyway this all gets way too much hype as at the end of the day if Tebow goes out there and can play he will earn the respect of the team if he can’t he will be cut. Personally I think he’ll fail but I’m atleast will long to see what happens. This is a guy who didn’t play baseball for 10 years and made it Triple A ball. Was he a stud? absolutely not but don’t forget he did still do better than some guys who trained their whole lives for baseball. He is an incredible athlete I honestly hope he can go out there and find some sort of success just to prove all he haters wrong
Tebow made it to AAA because fans like him not because he earned it in anyway. He was 7 years old than the average player when he was in the minors and hit .227/.309/.348 in nearly 700 at bats. That is AWFUL. Any other player with those numbers gets released, he gets promoted.
If he wants to be a good leader and help Urban build the culture, he should be a coach. Randy Moss retired when he was Tebows age lol but somehow he’s going to learn to play tight end and become useful at 34. People are clueless.
I just found out that Trevor Lawrence doesn’t have a Twitter account. Guy just went up several rungs in my book.
Ehhh the Tebow thing might be bad or good, but Urban Meyer is ultimately going to be the one who will wreck or elevate the team. A 33 year old rookie TE is not going to be what does him in. The move might be wasteful, but the Jags don’t exactly have a plethora of options that they’re giving up on, so if Tebow can actually contribute then this could be positive.
My criticism of the move is not necessarily about the fact that Tebow is getting another shot, it would be more directed towards the destination. Meyer is not going to set up the franchise for success by running it like a college team, where he can just “what the hell, why not” his way through a season because his players are simply better and more talented than his opponents’. Creativity is the name of the game in the NFL but the pros are much less forgiving of loose and unplanned play than college is. Moving players around before they have established roles or success in those roles (like Etienne) can hurt, especially on a team that already lacks a cultural identity and veteran leadership to fall back on. At some point on such a young and unsuccessful team, you’re going to look around and go “alright, who knows what they’re doing?” and you need to have people able to raise their hands.
Lawrence seems like the right guy to lead a franchise but Urban Meyer does not seem to understand what exactly he’s getting into.