2011 Draft Special: Pick #16- Jacksonville Jaguars

We're now starting to get into the territory of good teams and within this territory comes picks solely designed around team needs and not taking the best player on the board.

However, I do not think we are at this point in the draft yet.

I think Jacksonville's biggest hurdle is its quarterback. Choosing David Garrard over Byron Leftwich a few years back was a great decisions; however, Garrard is not a franchise quarterback. Garrard's biggest asset is that he has the ability to not turnover the ball. The only problem of late is that he has been turnover prone AND he doesn't create points. Not a good combination.

I am not saying that David Garrard is talentless- he absolutely has talent. But Jacksonville is in a decently weak division and with Peyton Manning growing older and Jack Del Rio having a knack for pretty good defenses, this division is easily Jacksonville's for the taking. Heck, the Jaguars were in the driver's seat to win the AFC South for most of the year until they lost to Indianapolis late in the season. So if this team ever wants to make it over the hump and not have a 9-7 ceiling, they need to get a better quarterback than David Garrard.

But that's easily said than done.

The 'Bright' One is huge on Ryan Mallet being an awesome quarterback but I was never sold on him and think there's a good reason his draft stock is slipping. Realistically I think the Jaguars best bet is to make a trade but I'm not convinced many teams' back ups are that much of an improvement over Garrard and I don't think there's any "Matt Schaub's" out there.

But let's focus elsewhere. The Jaguars best strength is their running game led by the elite Maurice Jones-Drew and a very talented back up in Rashad Jennings. The Jaguars had the second best rushing offensive line (I believe led mainly by their talented backs) and 24th in pass blocking (I believe led mainly by their average-talented quarterback). In terms of individual blockers Jacksonville is above average and it's not a need for them but as I always preach: you can always improve your offensive line.

Jacksonville has a great tight end bordering on elite in Mercedes Lewis. Lewis has always been a great blocker and started to come on as a receiver in the 2010 season. In Game Of Inches' tight end rankings The 'Bright' One and Cubsfan ranked Lewis 7th overall and I ranked him 8th. The Jags' receivers are another story. I don't think anyone doubts that Mike Sims-Walker has talent but he's streakier than a naked fan running onto a soccer field. Mike Thomas stepped up his game big time last season, but his ceiling looks to be that of 2008 Kevin Walter. Needless to say this team needs a legitimate number one receiver.

Let's now turn to the defense. In Jack Del Rio's tenure and really throughout the entire existence of the Jaguars franchise, this team has had pretty good to great defenses. That being said, this defense was awful in 2010 ranking 5th to last in total yards given up, 5th to last in receiving yards given up per game, 11th to last in rushing yards given up per game, and 6th to last in total points given up. Part of that I think comes from the fact that I can only name one Jacksonville defensive player- cornerback Rashean Mathis. I won't be short sighted and give Jacksonville and Del Rio credit for the work he's done, but this team needs defense.

Therefore, with the 16th pick of the draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars select... J.J. Watt- defensive end for University of Wisconsin. I can see offensive tackle Tyron Smith (USC) and Gabe Carimi (Wisconsin) being great picks, but I think the problem/strength of the offensive line is the skill position players, not the line itself. Plus, most mock drafts have Watt going in the top ten so if Watt falls to Jacksonville- a team that needs defense- the Jags should and will swoop in and pick him up.

Game Of Inches Mock Draft (so far):
1) Carolina Panthers- DT Nick Fairley (Auburn)
2) Denver Broncos- DE Da'Quan Bowers (Clemson)
3) Buffalo Bills- CB Patrick Peterson (LSU)
4) Cincinnati Bengals- WR A.J. Green (Georgia)
5) Arizona Cardinals- QB Blaine Gabbert (Missouri)
6) Cleveland Browns- OLB Von Miller (Texas A&M)
7) San Fransisco 49ers- CB Prince Amukamara (Nebraska)
8) Tennessee Titans- QB Cam Newton (Auburn)
9) Dallas Cowboys- DT Marcell Dareus (Alabama)
10) Washington Redskins- DE Robert Quinn (North Carolina)
11) Houston Texans- CB Jimmy Smith (Colorado)
12) Minnesota Vikings- Nate Solder (Colorado)
13) Detriot Lions- OLB Akeem Ayers (UCLA)
14) St. Louis Rams- WR Julio Jones (Alabama)
15) Miami Dolphins- DE/OLB Aldon Smith (Missouri)

The Jaguars Should Move To L.A.

Arguably the greatest player in the short life of the franchise knows as the Jacksonville Jaguars, RB Fred Taylor said the team should move to L.A.. I have to agree with him. When Jacksonville was announced as the city to house a new NFL city in 1995, it was a pretty odd decision. Florida already had two franchises in its state: the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At this point, L.A. had just lost the Rams so the second biggest city and a huge sports market did not have a professional football team.

15 odd years later, the decision to create a football in Jacksonville, Florida is still a pretty dumb one. This year, the Jags are a good team are will probably earn a playoff birth. But, 7 of their 8 home games this season have been blacked out because of lack of attendance. The one time the Jags did sell out was last Thursday when the 13-0 Indianapolis Colts came to town. This is just ridiculous. I can understand why the Rams and Lions games have been blacked out, but there's no reason a good team with a winning record and is playoff bound should not sell out their home games.

Jacksonville has the third lowest attendance this year averaging 49,651 per game (Bears are 5th to last this year) ahead of Oakland and Detroit. Normally winning cures all woes, but when you have a season like the Jags are having with the attendance records like they are having, maybe it's time to rethink staying in your city. As an owner or a person in the front office, your main job is to bring in revenue and make money (the sad reality is that this is THE main goal of the higher ups). But a great way and one of the best ways to generate revenue is to put a product on the field that people want to see. The Jags have put a product on field that people should want to see, yet nobody is coming to see games and I'm sure the Jags front office isn't seeing mush profits- if at all. Fred Taylor said it perfectly:

Sometimes the truth hurts. ... It can be played either way in that the fans want the team to stay there, they have to show that they want the team to stay there.

Jacksonville has been a pretty good team throughout its short existance. Sure they've been inconsistent year to year, but they've never been Cleveland Browns bad (I mean after they've settled in as a franchise and drafted players) and they've always seem to bounce back after bad years. I would be proud to have a franchise like the Jaguars in my city. I'm not saying this just because of the wretched season the Bears are having, but I think Jacksonville is able to pick themselves up after wretched seasons, and the Bears can not.

Now I don't know how realistic it is just up and move an entire franchise (although I'm sure old school Baltimore football fans and Seattle basketball fans feel it's pretty damn easy), but I think it's something the NFL and Jaguars should really think hard and consider moving the team to L.A. I think L.A. fans would love to have a professional football team in their city and the Jaguars franchise would love to have people go see their games and make money. Plus, the franchise is guaranteed to get national attention just by being in a major city. It's clear from this year, that people in Jacksonville and Jaguar fans would not be upset if their team left.

(Although I meant for this to be a serious post, I'm fine detracting from the seriousness)

Maurice Jones-Drew kneel down at 1 Yard Line

On Sunday there was a controversial call by Bill Bellichick in the New England game. Because of that call which I agree with, I feel no one is talking about what Jack Del Rio had Maurice Jones-Drew in the Jacksonville Jaguars game on Sunday. Maurice Jones-Drew deliberately knelt down on the one yard line instead of easily scoring a touchdown. He stopped on the 1-yard line to waste time off the clock. Then the Jaguars kicked a field goal to win by two points. Now this move I don’t understand. I would have thought it would be better to score more points which you easily had a chance to do. Instead you barley win and what if the kicker misses the field goal for some reason? Do you waste that much more time off the clock than scoring a touchdown?

I also read that Maurice Jones-Drew apologized to his fantasy owners. He was sorry for not scoring the touchdown and the extra points that come with it. He said “Sorry to my fantasy owners, they told me to get as close as I can and take a knee." I have also never heard of a player apologizing for something fantasy related. Would you want a Bear player telling the public that he thinks about fantasy football and the people that have him in their leagues?

I don’t know football like I do baseball so maybe one of our other contributors can explain this to me? Was it a good move to take the knee?