Category: Joe Schobert

Joe Schobert says he hopes to turn Jags into one of the AFC’s best franchises

After enduring some hard times in Cleveland Joe Schobert is now hoping to change a Jags culture that wasn’t much better.

The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t do a lot of winning before they added Joe Schobert this March and it’s something he says he want to try his best and fix.

“I want to be able to change the culture into a traditional winning culture,” Schobert said in a recent conference call with the media. [I want us] to be able to go to the playoffs year after year and become one of the more successful franchises in the AFC, competing for titles every year.”

While those words should get Jags fans pumped, they shouldn’t surprise anyone as it was clear the Jags not only wanted him because of his skills on the field, but also because of the example he’d be in the locker room.

Roughly three weeks ago on an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Schobert explained that he joined the Jags because of the message the front office stressed to him about leading in the locker room. He also said playing next to Myles Jack was very enticing as the young linebacker is one of the best athletes the league has to offer at the position.

“It came down to a couple of teams,” Schobert said. “Coach [Doug] Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell wanted me to join the team. They preached a message to me about bringing in good football guys, good character guys, to set a right way in the locker room — leading and speaking. [Also] for me especially to get to play with a guy like Myles Jack another linebacker. Be the MIKE linebacker, take over the defense, do the things I do well, setting the defense, diagnosing plays, calling things for other people to get set and letting Myles go play football and be the animal he is.”

Schobert also mentioned that the Cleveland Browns went 1-31 during his first two years there, so if it’s anyone who knows how hard wins are to come by and the work that has to be put in, it’s him.

Alongside Schobert, the Jags were able to land Rodney Gunter in free agency, who should bolster the defensive line. Afterward, they added more pieces to the unit by selecting seven (of 12) players on defense. Three of those picks were drafted in the top-3 rounds in cornerback C.J. Henderson, edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, and defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton. Those are a lot of additions made around the veteran, and if he can mold the group together, the Jags could be well on their way to compete for an AFC South title.

Joe Schobert explains why he signed with Jags

Money aside, Joe Schobert says he very intrigued by joining the Jags as he saw how talented Myles Jack could be if moved back to OLB.

The Jacksonville Jaguars went into free agency with many holes but one they won’t have to worry about heading into the draft is at MIKE linebacker after signing Joe Schobert. The position was one the team tried to place on the shoulders of Myles Jack, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t something that was natural to him like playing on the outside.

Like many fans and the coaching staff realized, Schobert understood what the Jags could have if Jack was paired with another stud like himself, which he says drew him in on “The Pat McAfee Show.” He also liked the aspect of being a guy who could change their locker room culture by being himself, something he learned during his time in Cleveland from players like Joe Thomas and Christian Kirksey.

“It came down to a couple of teams,” Schobert said. “Coach [Doug] Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell wanted me to join the team. They preached a message to me about bringing in good football guys, good character guys, to set a right way in the locker room — leading and speaking. [Also] for me especially to get to play with a guy like Myles Jack another linebacker. Be the MIKE linebacker, take over the defense, do the things I do well, setting the defense, diagnosing plays, calling things for other people to get set and letting Myles go play football and be the animal he is.”

This is a lot of what many had suspected. In a nutshell, the Jags’ front office needed a Paul Posluszny-like figure on the field and in the locker room, something the Jags have long missed.

After Posluszny retired (in early 2018), several reports surfaced of personalities clashing in the locker room and a rift between Tom Coughlin had with certain players. On the field, they lacked a field general defensively and the responsibility fell on Jack’s shoulders, who is still a very young player learning the ropes.

Schobert is a player that has seen a lot of things (49 career starts) and played against a lot of playoff-caliber teams in the AFC North like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. Sure, the Jags may not be as talented around him as many would hope but acquiring him is a good start to the offseason because he could prove to be the gel that holds everything together.

6 winners from Jags’ early free agency moves

Dave Caldwell, despite not making a lot of splash additions in free agency, is definitely doing some good things for the Jags this offseason.

We’ve almost reached the one-week mark of the tampering period and the Jacksonville Jaguars have made several key moves in terms of rebuilding their franchise. Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done and more moves will follow, but before we get to that point, we figured we’d reflect on who came out as winners from this week’s moves:

Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

GM Dave Caldwell

There was a lot of damage done to the Jags’ organization with the addition of Tom Coughlin (and before his arrival, too), and though general manager Dave Caldwell hasn’t fixed the team by any means, the future is one fans can somewhat be excited about.

In the beginning, it may not have been clear to fans exactly what Caldwell was doing or why he was breaking up what remained from 2017, but it is now and it’s the right move. It has long felt like the Jags’ organization was living in the past trying to hold on to what happened in 2017, but the fact of the matter was they overachieved that year and lost way too many key parts from that unit to begin with. The Jags were without notables Paul Posluszny, Telvin Smith, Tashaun Gipson, Barry Church and Malik Jackson in 2019 to name a few, and they needed to face reality then.

They’ve now finally realized that a rebuild is right, and though strong cases can be made that it should be without Caldwell, he’s almost knocked the early 2020 process out of the park. He moved on from pricey players like Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye and got fifth and fourth-round selections, respectively, for them. While they both were talented, the Jags likely weren’t going to be good by the time their contracts ended. That said, to get draft picks out of both is great.

However, Caldwell’s best move came this past week when he managed to trade quarterback Nick Foles and somewhat get away from his bad contract. To make things even better, he was even able to get something in return (a 2020 fourth-round pick) when maybe it should’ve been the other way around. That gave the Jags 12 draft picks and now they are in a situation where their starting quarterback, Gardner Minshew II, is on a sixth-round pick salary for two years.

If Minshew is good in 2020, that’s awesome. If he isn’t, he’ll lead them into a top selection to land his successor. That’s a win-win situation and one in which Jags fans should give props to Caldwell for — whether they like him or not.

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Joe Schobert talks about the mentality he’ll bring to Jags’ defense

Joe Schobert won’t be a rah-rah player but he definitely will be a player who has the Jags prepared week after week.

When watching veteran linebacker Joe Schobert on film, it’s easy to see the preparation he puts into studying the opponent. In pass coverage he clearly has a sense of where the ball is going and that’s going to be huge for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ young defense.

The veteran discussed his mindset when preparing for game days via Jaguars.com and the joy of how it translates on the field when the offense is unable to have success.

“When you’re able to call out plays, or when you’re able to diagnose things really fast because you understand what the other team’s trying to do attack you […] I think that’s just a huge mental part of the game that people overlook. I find it really enjoyable and I like to get that work in during the week, get into film study and put it to work during games.”

Schobert’s comments should comfort fans because they give off vibes of Paul Posluszny, who was the Jags’ field general for many years. When it came to being prepared, the veteran was probably as aware as anyone on the team although the talent wasn’t always around him.

Like Posluszny, Schobert also won’t be one of the loudest guys in the locker room because that’s simply how he’s always been. However, he said he will hold himself and his teammates accountable while also getting everyone on the same page.

“I’ll come in calm, and do my job,” he said. “I’ll be accountable. You can always count on me to do my job and make the plays that are there to be made and get everybody on defense on the same page to the best of my ability and make sure we’re all working together in one unit.

“That’s just kind of how I play the game. I don’t get too hyped up. I don’t get too low. I just try to be a calm, steady force out there and make sure people are doing the right thing so they can be held accountable – and make all the plays that come my way.”

With the Jags’ locker room and defense being so young, that’s exactly what the team will need out of him in 2020. Clearly, the Jags saw these same qualities along with his play on the field and felt he’d be the perfect player to build around just as they did with years ago Posluszny.

Doug Marrone confirms Jags will move Myles Jack back to OLB after acquisition of Joe Schobert

Myles Jack will be making a position change thanks to the addition of Joe Schobert and he’s excited about it.

When the Jacksonville Jaguars came to terms with linebacker Joe Schobert Tuesday they didn’t just address one need at middle linebacker but they also addressed the weakside linebacker position. With Schobert being a true answer in the interior, Jags coach Doug Marrone confirmed that the team will be moving Myles Jack to weakside linebacker, making the unit an overall better one.

″[The addition of Schobert] gives us the ability to move Myles to outside linebacker, which I feel is a more natural position for him,″ Marrone said vis Jaguars.com. ″Myles and I spoke about the change and he’s excited.″

Most expected the Jags to address linebacker this offseason because it was arguably their worst unit. To get a player of Schobert’s caliber and add him with an elite athlete like Jack should now significantly improve the unit and maybe even get them back to where they were at the position before the departures of Telvin Smith and Paul Posluszny.

Marrone also mentioned that Schobert would help the team stop the run, something they struggled with last. The team was ranked 28th in the category last year as they were decimated with injuries but it’s hard to believe Schobert won’t help the Jags there as he’s had at least 103 tackles in his last three seasons. He also was named to the Pro Bowl in 2017.

“Well, going back in the background I think the first thing was to make sure we did everything we could to stop the run,” Marrone said. “I know it’s something we’ve talked about it publicly, we’ve talked about it to reporters, we’ve talked about it internally. We were looking to do that and looking into how we could upgrade our football team when looking at the players we had.”

While he’s not Bobby Wagner or Cory Littleton in the category, Schobert also gives the Jags better coverage abilities in the interior, too. On film, his ability to diagnose pass plays is evident and he clearly does a lot less thinking there than Jack.

Ultimately time will tell if Schobert was worth the pricey five-year, $53.75 million deal he signed that includes $22.5 million in guarantees. However, with the Jags’ future cap situation looking extremely bright, it’s a chance fans should understand them taking.

Joe Schobert’s contract details: Jags to take a cap hit of only $5.4 million in 2020

In 2020 Joe Schobert’s deal is a cap friendly one for the Jags, who will look to spend wisely in free agency.

With the Jacksonville Jaguars making their first splash signing of the tampering period when they agreed to terms with inside linebacker Joe Schobert, many fans were concerned about the deal’s structure. That’s mostly because of two players who may not be on the roster this regular season in Nick Foles and Yannick Ngakoue, who are set to be cap hits of $22.1 million and  $17.7 million (non-exclusive franchise tag), respectively.

However, as we expected, Schobert’s contract won’t hurt the Jags much at all as his cap hit for the upcoming season will be $5.4 million, according to Spotrac. The database also has him down for a base salary of $2.5 million, a $2.4 million signing bonus, a $300K roster bonus, a $200K workout bonus, and a $5.4 million cap hit. After 2020, he’ll also be down for cap hits of $9.9 million and $11.6 million in the years of 2021 and 2022 with a potential out coming in between.

When looking at the Jags’ cap hits for 2020, Schobert’s contract is ranked 10th, which isn’t bad at all for a free agent of his status. Additionally, it appears the Jags are being wise with the money recouped from trading veteran Calais Campbell ($15 million), which helped make Schobert’s addition possible.

With the Jags’ other new addition from Tuesday, Darqueze Dennard, not having his numbers confirmed yet, Schobert’s cap hit subtraction put the Jags at $19.1 million in available cap space. The team’s rookie pool (projected to cost $13.2 million) will have to be deducted from that total after April but the team will cross that bridge later and will probably dive into the money for the time being. However, if you took that total away from the Jags today, they would be at $5.9 million, but again, they likely are going to continue as if they have $19.1 million.

Of course, trading Foles and Ngakoue would add over $20 million, but it’s unclear when/if those moves will happen. The Jags could also release veteran receiver Marqise Lee and possibly defensive tackle Abry Jones, which would free up amounts of $5.2 million and four million, respectively.

The bottom line is that the Jags will be under the cap by the time the new league year starts Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, which is required by all teams. However, the key to getting more wiggle room will be unloading Ngakoue.