Count Brian Baldinger as a believer in what the Jacksonville Jaguars and Urban Meyer are building.
The NFL Network analyst and former offensive lineman travels to training camps throughout August and weighs in on the upcoming season. And while it is tough for any team to not impress in some respect in the early stages of camp, Baldinger saw enough from the Jaguars on his trip to Jacksonville to make a definite prediction.
"I was around Urban Meyer all day Saturday. They're going to turn things around," Baldinger told Ric Serritella of The NFL Draft Bible on the weekly 'The State of Football' show.
"They're not ready to compete with Indianapolis just yet. But there's just -- just watching him coach wide receivers, keeping his eye on the offensive line. I mean working with the special teams, there's not a part of a football team that Urban Meyer doesn't have his fingerprints on."
Baldinger's assessment of Meyer's active participation in practice is accurate. Even as pads have come on in the last few days, the first-year NFL coach has been right in the thick of things in drills, actively going from unit to unit to put a set of eyes on his team, culminating in him determining himself the winners and losers of drills between the offensive and defensive position groups.
The most notable example of the rookie coach's involvement has been when Meyer, a former wide receivers coach, has worked before practices with fourth-year receiver DJ Chark one-on-one. As a whole, he has been more involved than past Jaguars' coaches.
Of course, that alone doesn't result in wins or losses. More importantly than how much Meyer focuses in on every aspect of what the Jaguars put on the field is exactly who the Jaguars put on the field. That includes No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, who Baldinger thinks will serve as the catalyst to Jacksonville's rebuild.
"And then you add in the quarterback and what I think is going to be a pretty good offensive line and a pretty talented receiving corps," Baldinger said on 'The State of Football'.
"Watch for Laviska Shenault this year to just explode. I mean, I don't think it's going to take long for Jacksonville. ... I just don't think it's gonna take long."
There will certainly be times of adjustment, however. Meyer has already had to navigate his first-ever free agency, NFL Draft and offseason programs at the NFL level. He is now experiencing his first training camp and what it entails to prepare an NFL team for Week 1.
Unlike at the college level, Meyer will have a few preseason games to sort out his roster. And unlike at the college level, Meyer is going to have to cut down his roster by a significant margin, eventually going from 90 players to 53 on the active roster.
"I am not ashamed to say I am learning a lot of this from my veteran coaches about how to handle the first scrimmage because we have three preseason games. I guess there used to be four and so I am learning along the way," Meyer said after practice on Wednesday.
But ultimately, Meyer will still be the voice of the Jaguars and the one who sets their path moving into the future. The key pieces are on the roster, but it will be Meyer who is pushing the buttons and setting forth the marching orders for the foreseeable future.
"Either you buy into what that guy is selling, or you'll just be gone. I mean, there's, it doesn't matter where you came from, what round you're drafted. He's going to get his guys inside that building," Baldinger said.
"He's got a vision, like he has back from Bowling Green all the way through. He's got a vision how to build a football team. I got -- if they were, you know, if they were a stock, I'd be betting heavily on the Jacksonville Jaguars over the next couple of years."
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