- 20 minutes ago
Ryan O’Halloran from the Florida Times-Union joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to unpack the trade rumors surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., diagnose why the former first-round pick has fallen out of favor under Liam Coen, assess Jacksonville's internal trade threshold ahead of the November 10 deadline, and examine whether the Commanders should consider pursuing either Thomas or the newly reinstated Brandon Aiyuk.
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00:00A week from today, all the trades will be done. They'll be in the book. One of those names that
00:06keeps getting mentioned over and over again for the second consecutive year. And we've had a lot
00:11of conversations about here in D.C. is Brian Thomas Jr., the receiver who plays in Jacksonville.
00:19Joining me right now is an old friend. Ryan O'Halloran used to cover our team for the Washington
00:25Times. He's been around since and he's been in Jacksonville for several years now as a columnist
00:31for the Florida Times Union. You can follow Ryan on X at Ryan O'Halloran. So actually, I do want
00:39to
00:39talk to you about the team that you are covering, Jacksonville, because I actually believe they're
00:43one of the best three, four, maybe, you know, worst case top five teams in the league. They're right
00:48there. And they play at Baltimore tomorrow night. And I know you're getting ready to jump onto a
00:54plane to head up here. But I can't figure out, Ryan, why a guy who, as a first-round pick,
01:03had 87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns in his rookie season, and seemingly ever since,
01:12Jacksonville has been reportedly trying to move him. Why?
01:19Well, Kevin, good morning. Good to join you. Brian Thomas, right now, I would term his rookie
01:25season in an NBA phrase as a great stats, bad team season. That team was terrible. Trevor Lawrence was
01:32not on the field for most of those big games that Thomas had. That was Mack Jones. And now you
01:37move
01:38it to last year. I don't think, you know, that Parker Washington emerged. Brian Thomas had some
01:44drops. Then they go get Jacoby Myers. He emerges. Brian Thomas gets hurt. So it was a stop and start
01:52and not play well and make it play, then have a drop. It was that kind of lost season for
01:56him.
01:57You know, I don't think they shopped him the offseason. I kind of believe them there, but they
02:02were taking calls and they obviously didn't like the offers they were getting. And, you know, one thing
02:06they were banking on is, you know, a full offseason with Trevor Lawrence, which he didn't have in 2025
02:12because Trevor was coming back from shoulder surgery. But it hasn't happened again this year.
02:18He's got 10 catches and 193 snaps. He's fifth on the team in catches. He had two big drops against
02:23the Texans. He was benched in the second half. To me, I would see what his value is, which can't
02:30be a
02:30lot. And just say, hey, they tried everything. If you can get a fourth that can become a third,
02:36I would explore that. So what you're basically saying is he's just not that good. That's why
02:44they are interested in moving him. Yeah. And I do. I do think a fresh start would probably do him
02:52good. I mean, you know, this is a media cauldron down here, Kevin. Let me tell you, that's what the
02:57Jaguars say. They say we're negative. Do they really believe that?
03:02Oh, they have rabbit ears for a 5-2 team. I mean, you heard the PR director say JC after
03:10one of the
03:10questions on the Zoom the other day. I did not. I don't know what you're referring to. Tell me what
03:17you're referring to. Okay. Well, this was Monday Zoom with Liam Cohen, and it was a question about
03:23Brian Thomas. Hey, he bounced back. He, you know, refocused, caught a touchdown. You know,
03:29would you make of his game? And as soon as the questioning I'd done, it definitely was the PR
03:34director muttered off camera, Jesus Christ. So, I mean, Liam Cohen. That Jacksonville media market,
03:43man, it is a tough one. Yeah. And I, I tell these players I've covered Washington, Denver and Buffalo.
03:49You guys don't know how well you have it here. Yeah. Okay. Look, even here, here isn't New York or
03:55Philly, you know, or, or, um, you know, a, a, a, a true tough market for the football team. It's
04:02tough,
04:02but it's not a tough media market in general, but you, but back to Brian Thomas jr. So you've
04:08actually shared something with us that is informative and I'm not sure a lot of our fans,
04:14and we've got a lot of fans that say, Hey, if you can get Brian Thomas jr. You know, he's
04:19one of
04:20Jaden's boys from LSU. He's, you know, was a first rounder and I've been suggesting, wait a minute
04:27here. This guy was a first round pick. He had a really good rookie season and essentially they are
04:36willing to move on from that when they've got them under control or did have them under control for
04:41five seasons. They must think that either he's not very good or there's something else going on.
04:49There's, there's some, there's an issue with him. Um, and what you're saying is the issue is
04:55he's just, he probably wasn't worth the first round pick. Yeah. Yeah. I definitely, yeah. I think
05:01so on that. And here's what I can say about Brian Thomas is if he was a guy who was
05:06late, if he was
05:07a guy who didn't work hard, if he was a guy who didn't fit the locker room, he would have
05:11already
05:11been gone. You don't hear anything about that with him. So, okay. You're not, you're not, you wouldn't
05:17be acquiring a problem. Um, but here's the other thing. And ultimately the Jaguars will have to get
05:24a really good offer for this is Parker Washington is a free agent after this season. Hot track talks
05:29with him on an extension have gone nowhere. Jacoby Myers is, is, is 30 plus. He's probably this year
05:36and next year. Then they can get out of that deal. Travis Hunter, he can't be a full-time receiver
05:40because he's a full-time corner right now. So Brian Thomas right now, they aren't, I mean,
05:45they aren't ready to give up on a first round pick, even though it wasn't drafted by this
05:49administration. Cause maybe, Hey, maybe just maybe you keep working with them and the light
05:54will come on and then it, then it flickers out and then, then you keep working again.
05:58So I do think there's hesitancy on the Jaguars part and rightly so unless somebody calls and says,
06:04Hey, we'll give you what Marvin Harrison got from air for Arizona from Houston, a second round
06:08pick. Then you'd be stupid not to do it because you just draft another receiver.
06:13Yeah. Uh, what, what does he do well? And what doesn't he do? Well, you've, you've been there
06:20for the whole thing. You've watched him, you know, uh, you know, I remember he had a couple of big
06:26plays in the playoff game against Buffalo, which by the way, I thought was start to finish the best
06:32of the, the best game of the playoffs last year. Uh, two excellent football teams that day,
06:37but he actually played okay that day. If I recall, what, what does he do? Well,
06:42what doesn't he do? Well, he's got good size, but other than that, tell me,
06:47I mean, he can run and you know, what they want him to do is can you work the perimeter
06:52of the
06:52field? He's not going to be a guy who runs a lot of stuff in the middle. They're trying to
06:56get him
06:57to do that. They're trying to say, you know, this is a contact sport. Um, you know, you don't see
07:03him. He hasn't got, he hasn't got the chance to kiss a lot of contested passes, but you know,
07:07if you're looking for a speed element on the outside to loosen things up underneath, loosen
07:11things up in the middle of the field, you know, maybe, maybe he can be that guy, but right now
07:16he,
07:16there, there are just too many other players who are playing well on offense for this Jaguar team.
07:21I mean, they're fifth in the league at 28 points a game and he's doing nothing. So, um, you know,
07:27so if, if let's say Washington gets them, maybe he'll get a benefit from a fresh start and say, Hey,
07:33uh, I can get some targets while McLaurin's out. And, uh, but it's, I wouldn't spend a lot for him.
07:41Interesting. We're talking to Ryan O'Halloran, uh, Florida times union covers the Jags. Um,
07:47when that comment that you made that, you know, they have to remind him that it's a contact sport,
07:52I'm assuming that he's not a guy that feels comfortable going over the middle. And that may
07:57be part of the drop problem that he's had on occasion, right? Yeah. Uh, let's look at the two
08:04drops he had against Houston and London. Uh, the first one was an out route first drive, excuse me.
08:09Yeah. It was an outbreaking route. First drive of the game dropped it. The next drop was on the
08:13sideline, two minute drill dropped. It didn't play the rest of the game.
08:17Um, so only he can answer to, to, to his, if he has a resistance of running those middle routes,
08:24but, you know, Myers and Washington thrive on those plays, but, um, but yeah, it, uh, it's,
08:31you know, and, uh, it's dominated the conversation, uh, nationally because people think, Hey, first
08:37round pick, he's still, he still has a lot there. I just don't know what he has there right now.
08:42All right. So give me a prediction. Will they move them before Tuesday's deadline? And if so,
08:47to whom and for what?
08:50Um, two part answer. My, my lean would be, no, they don't. Um, and if they do, it would be
08:58to an
08:58NFC team like, uh, Washington, um, or in a rebuilding AFC team like Miami. Uh, that's not,
09:07but not to the chiefs, uh, not that, I mean, they'd be stupid to do that and I wouldn't trade
09:11them to San Francisco either. Um, so, uh, yeah. So, and it would be, I would say they wouldn't do
09:19it for anything less than a third rounder. Okay. And it sounds like it, no one's willing to give
09:25Jacksonville a third rounder at this point for Brian Thomas jr, which is probably why you think
09:29he ends up staying. Yeah. And because you look at it, he's in his third year, they'd be stupid to
09:36pick up the fifth year option. So basically if you're the acquiring team, you pretty much have
09:41a half season to evaluate whether to pick up that option. Right. All right. Um, I do want to talk
09:47to
09:47you briefly about Jacksonville's team. Uh, they'll play the Ravens tomorrow night in Baltimore as a 10
09:53point favorite. Uh, these are the games that I talk about when the schedule comes out. It's not who
09:58you play. It's when you play them. Uh, you're catching Baltimore with their third string quarterback
10:03and their season basically, uh, about to go South in a hurry, which is good timing rather,
10:09rather play them now than in the opener or in week two. But I've been saying all year, Ryan,
10:14I think Jacksonville's really good on both sides of the ball and the match between Liam Cohen and
10:22Trevor Lawrence seems to be a really good one because they are explosive, uh, offensively.
10:29Do you think you're covering a team that could win the whole thing?
10:35Um, yeah, uh, definitely. Yes. I think they can definitely make a run. You know, the schedule sets
10:42up for them to get that number one seed and everything and anything's on the table. Uh,
10:48you know, they, they, they have to win tomorrow night. This is a game. This is a must win game
10:52because of the circumstances you relayed. And I think, uh, messing around with Philadelphia a
10:57couple of weeks ago in London where the Eagles were down guys, um, and needed a miracle kick
11:01return and a miracle field goal. I think that has scared these guys straight. I think they're
11:05going to come up, come up there focused, uh, later today. Um, Trevor Lawrence and Liam Cohn,
11:11they are the Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams of the AFC. I mean, it's what a, when a coach and
11:16quarterback are in sync, they can revive a franchise relatively quickly. Lawrence leads the league
11:21in the passer rating. Um, he is, uh, 17 touchdowns, four interceptions. I mean, he is locked in and
11:27I tell you what, I mean, maybe I'm just in the tank, but Liam Cohen, I mean, you have guys
11:32running
11:33wide open and that's obviously talent, but that's a lot of scheme as well. Yeah. It's a good football
11:40team. And defensively they have some studs, right? I mean, and real quickly, do you think
11:45they would have made a move for Deron Payne? Because Jacksonville was one of those teams
11:49mentioned as potentially interested in Payne because they do need some interior help defensively.
11:56Yeah, totally. And, and that, and that, that, um, that desire to pursue that would have greatly
12:02increased Sunday night after they learned Devon Hamilton was out for the year with a torn quad.
12:07I mean, last week they poked around at Jeffrey Simmons in the division. I mean, obviously that
12:12didn't, you know, the Titans would have been stupid to do that, but you lose Hamilton, you lose your
12:18safety, Eric Murray. So they do have, they do have some things they need to address before next
12:23Tuesday. That would be defensive tackle. That would maybe be a safety. They've been, uh, and Buda Baker,
12:28that's a hot rumor. Um, and then maybe a pass rusher like a Khalil Mack and I on an expiring
12:35contract.
12:35So defensively, you know, they have guys who are playing well, but they're giving up a lot of
12:41explosive plays in the backend and they're, they are only giving up 14 or 15.9 points a game, but
12:47they do. I do think they need to add a body or two, uh, of reinforcements slash, uh, impact players.
12:55Lastly, in the division, you talked about the schedule it sets up. I thought Houston off of
13:01that win over the, over Jacksonville in London. I thought that was going to be the game that turned
13:06their season around because they got to within two games at that point. Plus they owned the win
13:11head to head and they've got another one. Uh, and that will be in Houston, uh, towards the end of
13:16the season. Do you think the Texans are dead or not in that division? Um, I think, I think it
13:23would
13:23be tough for them to win the division. Uh, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't put last rights on them,
13:27uh, to make a run, to get a wild card at nine and eight. Um, you know, they would need
13:33a lot of
13:34help from the Jaguars, uh, to, to get back in the AFC South race, but go back to what you
13:39said,
13:40uh, after that game at Wembley stadium, a couple of things I talked to the players about on the
13:44Jaguars was you gave the Texans a life preserver. I mean, you could have put them out of the division
13:50race for sure, but then the Texans have an inexcusable loss to the giant. So, um, yeah. So if Houston,
13:57you know, if they get hot, I mean, it's a, it's a big hill to climb, but I wouldn't count
14:01them out
14:02of a wild card, uh, run. Thanks for doing this. Have a safe flight up. Appreciate it. Good to catch
14:07up. Thanks Kevin. Hope you're well. Yep. Rhino Halloran, everybody, uh, from Jacksonville,
14:12uh, giving you, you know, basically the Brian Thomas jr. Story. The bottom line is, you know,
14:20he's not a guy that is a first round pick like he came out as in 2024. He hasn't played
14:27at that level.
14:28And it's been one of the reasons they've been willing to move on from him. It's not anything
14:33other than performance and capability, I guess. Um, I certainly felt like it had to be something.
14:43If this guy is all of that talent wise, why are they trying to move him? Well, he's Ryan says
14:51they're trying to move him because he's just okay. Uh, maybe a fresh start would make some sense,
14:57but you know, we're, we just assume when it comes to Brian Thomas jr. And Brandon Iuke and anybody
15:05that played with Jaden Daniels, that Jaden's in there endorsing those moves. We have no clue as to
15:11what he really thinks. He's not going to publicly submarine these guys when asked, by the way,
15:18can anybody think of any time in which Jaden has said anything about Brian Thomas jr. Somebody
15:24mentioned that to me, uh, early this morning, they said, you know, the talk about Brian Thomas
15:29jr. Is silly because he's the one guy Jaden's played with that Jaden never even mentions. Is that
15:35true? I don't remember him mentioning Brian Thomas jr., but it's possible too. He's never been asked.
15:41About Brian Thomas jr. Um, obviously he's been asked about Brandon Iuke. Uh, and we've heard that
15:49basically for a year plus, we don't know that Jaden would be an endorser of Brian Thomas jr.
15:56We just don't know how he really feels. We know this. He's not, you know, the kind of guy that's
16:02going to publicly be critical of any of these people. He's going to say positive things. It
16:08doesn't mean that behind closed doors, he's saying to Adam Peters and company, Hey man,
16:13this guy is a great dude. He can fly. They've not utilized him the right way. Our offense is a
16:20better fit. We should go get him. We don't know what he's saying about Brian Thomas jr. But from
16:26Jacksonville, we know now that it's not an off the field. It's not a coach ability. It's not a
16:32reliability or an accountability thing. It's just that he's just okay. He's not, you know,
16:39a guy that was worth a first round pick and he drops balls and apparently doesn't like to go over
16:45the middle and get hit. Uh, Parker Washington, man, he is something else in terms of that speed.
16:51They've got a good team, really good team.