Getting the keys to the Jags
With the NFL’s offseason in full swing and the draft in the rearview mirror, it’s time to assess how each team shapes up not just for next season, but for the foreseeable future.
With the draft at the forefront of the discussion, perhaps no team has received more ridicule than the Jacksonville Jaguars. As an organization, they seem to be going about constructing a winner in an interesting fashion – using back-to-back picks on a single position, all while ignoring other holes on the roster.
In free agency the team brought in veteran Aaron Kampman, yet released John Henderson and Torry Holt. But in spite of Jacksonville’s questionable football decisions of late, Jags fans need to stay the course, and remember that it’s all part of a plan.
When the Jaguars turned in their card with the tenth pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, many people expected it to contain a name such as Rolando McClain, C.J Spiller, Joe Haden, Earl Thomas, Jason Pierre-Paul or Derrick Morgan. In TheGoodPoint’s 2010 NFL Mock Draft, the Jaguars were the hardest team to predict in the first round, but never was it expected for them to make the selection they dropped on the football world.
Commissioner Roger Goodell read out the name Tyson Alualu, and many instantly became speechless. Discussing the pick the next day, I called it the worst top ten pick I’d seen in the last ten years (and yes, that means worse than Darius Heyward-Bey), seeing as Alualu was considered a fringe first-rounder at best.
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If selecting a defensive tackle in round one wasn’t enough, Jacksonville proceeded to grab another in Louisiana Tech’s D’Anthony Smith in round three. Next up, in round five, the team nabbed a pair of defensive ends, Larry Hart and Austen Lane. How does a team that finished 7-9 use its top four picks on defensive linemen? Look no further than last year’s draft to find the answer.
In the first round of the 2009 draft, Jacksonville selected OT Eugene Monroe, then came right back and took Eben Britton, another tackle, in the second round. It’s clear what GM Gene Smith is trying to accomplish with this team – he’s assembling a roster of his guys, and attempting to weed out any problems left over from before his reign. He sees a position of weakness, and addresses it immediately and thoroughly.
The drafting of Alualu and Smith this year, combined with last year’s third rounder Terrance Knighton, gives the Jags three young defensive tackles, and allowed them to release the declining and expensive Henderson.
Last season, Jacksonville received solid contributions from Monroe, Britton, Knighton and third-round corner Derek Cox. It’s not unrealistic to expect the GM to have drafted more players who will fit into what he’s trying to create.
The decision to release both Holt and Henderson was clearly a money saving move, seeing as both players are on the downswing in their careers. Once again, Smith trimmed the fat off of his roster in order to bring in ‘his guys’. He essentially swapped disappointing 2008 second round pick Quentin Groves for former-Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison, who should step in immediately and replace the recently-jettisoned Clint Ingram.
Although he resigned with the New Orleans Saints, Darren Sharper visited with Jacksonville and had an offer on the table to come in and replace the substandard Reggie Nelson. With the way things are moving in Jacksonville, don’t be surprised if quarterback David Garrard is in a different uniform next year.
Despite my initial disgust with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offseason, I’m starting to see what Gene Smith and head coach Jack del Rio are trying to put together. They’re getting rid of all their old and under-performing players, and replacing them with people that will fit into their specific style.
There will undoubtedly be growing pains ahead for this new group of Jags, but they’ll definitely be given a test drive this season.
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