SB Nation - Uche Nwaneri

Comcast Presents: The Jaguars Offensive Line

Jonathan Loesche — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:45:50 -0000

This post is brought to you by Comcast and the new NFL Red Zone channel. Catch every touchdown from every game, only on NFL Red Zone.

The good news was that the Jaguars managed to convert when they were in the red zone. Maurice Jones-Drew finally broke his touchdown slump to tie Fred Taylor's single season touchdown record. It is the first time in weeks the Jaguars got points from all of their red zone trips, even if they only had two of them.

In fact, this is the first time the Jaguars got points out of all of their red zone possessions since playing Kansas City on November 8th. It was bittersweet though, as the Jaguars failed to score the game tying touchdown when it was needed, and had to settle for a FG.

Where are the Jaguars problems in the red zone centered? Obviously ball security is a big part of it with the absurd amount of red zone turnovers the team has committed, but I think the deterioration of the offensive line is another major piece.

Once again we'll look at Pro Football Focus' numbers on the offensive line. Eben Britton has been playing like a man possessed in recent weeks. I know Terry blasted him for missing a critical block in the Miami game, but has been playing far better than he was in the beginning of the season. It will be a joy to have him on the right side for the next decade.

Eugene Monroe on the other hand has been going back to Inconsistent-ville after having a solid middle part of the season It is good to see Monroe has only had one truly bad game since Week 2 (San Francisco), and hopefully the lumps he's taking will serve him well next season. It will be an excellent measuring stick for him this week if Freeney does go for Indy on Thursday.

Uche Nwaneri is the Jags best offensive lineman according to PFF, but he has also struggled recently. Nwaneri has still been the pillar of the offensive line this season, a shock considering he was probably the name everyone forgot to mention in the preseason. This is jar on the shelf working to its finest.

Vince Manuwai played well last week, but that is an outlier in a series of consistently poor play. It is sad to see this from Manuwai, who I thought deserved to inherit Fred Taylor's old title of "Player who's been screwed out of the most Pro Bowls by playing for the Jags." He was the only lineman to have a good game against the Dolphins, so maybe he'll use it as a building block like Britton did a few weeks prior against Buffalo.

While former Mr.Consistent Brad Meester is the 33rd ranked Center, remember there's only 32 teams, according to PFF. I'm just in shock when I look at this graph. There is a reason why Brad Meester has made the second most starts in franchise history, and this isn't it. I expect we'll see a center taken early in April.

What do these numbers tell me? We have three young players who are growing into good players in Monroe, Britton, and Nwaneri. We also have two older players that are showing us why you can't afford to remember yesterday at the expense of tomorrow in Meester and Manuwai.

Red Zone running plays are designed to go up the middle and blow defensive players off the line of scrimmage, the exact thing the Jaguars can't do at the moment. Until that changes, the Jaguars will continue to struggle to run the ball in the red zone.

New York Jets Run Defense vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Run Offense

John B — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:14:47 -0000

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

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Jacksonville has one of the game's most explosive backs, Maurice Jones-Drew. He reminds me a lot of Tennessee's Chris Johnson (or Leon Washington if he was a full time back). Jones-Drew is small, but his blazing speed makes him a dangerous weapon. He's already got 737 yards on the ground, a 5.1 average, and 11 touchdowns. To combat him, we may see more of the big 4-3 with Ellis and Douglas at end, Pouha and Green at tackle, and Scott, Harris, and Pace at linebacker the Jets showed against Miami to slow down the run. The good news is this run defense won't necessarily take the teeth or aggression from the pass rush. The Jets did have 6 sacks while focusing on the run against Miami.

Jones-Drew's backup, Rashad Jennings, is a rookie from Liberty. For my money, he was one of the steals of the Draft. He has a very similar skill set to Shonn Greene, big and bruising between the tackles with a surprising second gear of speed. He's only averaging between 2 and 3 carries a game, but he can be dangerous.

Jacksonville's offensive line is much better run blocking than pass blocking. The rookie tackles, Eugene Monroe and Ebon Britton, who have struggled at times in pass protection, have been good opening holes for Jones-Drew. So have guards Uche Nwaneri and Vince Manuwai. Backup Maurice Williams has been arguably better than they have so we could see him in the lineup. Center Brad Meester has had problems, though. He'll have a tough time handling Pouha on his own, which means we'll likely see the Jaguars try and swing Jones-Drew outside plenty.

In Defense of Perfection

John Morgan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:11:31 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

Lofa Tatupu picked up Maurice Jones-Drew and covered him perfectly as he ran an angle route out of the backfield. David Garrard threw into tight cover and Jones-Drew received for the first.

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Lofa Tatupu conceives a defense that cannot be scored on. A perfect defense not made of perfect men but perfect execution. If you narrow in on him for a quarter, you see a fidgety perfectionist moving his men around mere inches so they are better positioned. You see a strategist that knows how to position himself to stop the run without getting sucked in by play action. You see a whirlwind that'd rather run 20 yards than allow a 20 yard gain become a 22 yard gain.

I dropped into Tatupu's world for the third quarter and the start of the fourth. Seattle was protecting a ridiculous lead, and so Tatupu was working mostly as a pass defender. Linebackers make reputations with their tackling. Tatupu did. He made his third Pro Bowl picking A.J. Feeley three times. That was a long time ago.

Tatupu is so stocky, seemingly thicker by the season, and his pre-draft profile cast him as an overachiever. It's tempting to ignore his athleticism and assign him powers of heart, guts and humors. That's a false step away from understanding. That's a misread you won't find in Tatupu's perfect defense.

Tatupu drops deep and fast. He slide steps with an eye on the quarterback. He sets into the deep middle and plays middle linebacker there. That's where he joined a gang of four that smacked around Torry Holt. Holt got the first, but barely, and took four solid shots to get it. Tatupu led off. He hit Holt in the ball and fell away attempting a strip. Then Josh Wilson dropped a shoulder and his force sort of righted Holt after he had spun away from Tatupu. Jordan Babineaux joined in with a head of steam and his hit was the finisher. Aaron Curry got the pin, Wilson and Babineaux split the tackle, and Tatupu was stuck with a broken tackle in some stickler's notebook.

Tatupu attacks the ball. He's fumble hungry and almost a year overdue. He drops some tackles because of it, but he relies on his teammates to clean up. If he's not the first man, he knows how to wrap and stop a ball carrier where they stand. Before an illegal formation penalty nullified it, Tatupu played middle linebacker from the end zone on Maurice Jones-Drew's near touchdown reception. Seahawks falling off him left and right, Drew was literally bent back and away from the goal line by a shattering Tatupu tackle. He doesn't always wrap perfectly, in part because of his build and in part because of a desire to strip, but he knows how to pop a guy when pop matters.

He's an option man on blitzes. It's a neat little wrinkle I've come to look for. He moves forward as if to blitz, but Tatupu is not committed. He can rush, but disengage to cover an outlet receiver. He can rush, decide it's a run and run blitz. Curry around the edge and Tatupu through the hole is a pincer opposing rushers will learn to fear. The two did it twice this quarter: First on the fourth play of the Jags first drive and then on the fifth play of the third drive. The rushes combined for -1 yards.

Whatever the call, he contributes. When he faces max protect and hasn't a receiver to cover or a blitz to run, Tatupu can be found popping an offensive lineman just in case it helps. On the first play of the second half, he smashed into right guard Uche Nwaneri just in case he was thinking of blocking down field. Garrard had passed to Holt on the left. Maybe it didn't matter that time, but it mattered. Lofa Tatupu conceives of a perfect defense. In it, every hit has a purpose and every defender a player to hit.

98, 92, 79, 3 and 6

John Morgan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:53:54 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Disbelief.

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All around Nick Reed were offensive linemen, smacking his shoulder pads, making him look small. Reed is small. Where you expect a second gear, you see his first gear petering out. But he's the Bruce Lee of defensive end. He picks the right pass-rush move and performs it excellently. On this play, he was in the right place at the right time. Some players seem to have a knack for that, whether that knack is real or imagined. Some players seem to turn the good into the great.

The good was Brandon Mebane. After going Zapruder Film on the replay, I am pretty sure Mebane stripped Garrard a split second before Lawrence Jackson. Jackson and Reed were single blocked on the outside and Cory Redding dropped into cover. Mebane navigated a triple team before twisting close enough to Garrard to drop a meat hook on the ball. Before he could slap it away, his indomitable bull rush freed Reed by briefly forcing a quadruple team. Reed disengaged from Tra Thomas and ran across the line. He shed the idle right guard, Uche Nwaneri, before breaking to scoop the ball and run 79 yards for the touchdown.

On second thought, maybe Reed had the good and Mebane the great.

Boilers in the NFL: Week two of the preseason

BoilerTMill — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:45:54 -0000

With most of week 2 in the books it is time to start looking at fantasy draft options. Most of the Purdue guys are still kicking around, but the first round of cuts are coming. It is only a matter of time before this list gets a little shorter, unfortunately.

Side note: Speaking of fantasy, we have so far had four people sign up for the Hammer & Rails league through CBS Sports' college football. We need at least 6 more as well. If someone would be willing to commissioner this league it would be awesome as well. As a warning, CBS Sports fantasy is about as user unfriendly as possible, so hopefully someone out there has figures it out. Now, on with the update.

Arizona Cardinals - Chike Okeafor (OLB) - Okeafor had one assist on a tackle as he fights to stay a Cardinal. I would say his chances of making the roster are pretty good. The Cardinals lost to San Diego 17-6 in the second preseason game. He has been battling a sore back, however.

Carolina Panthers - Anthony Heygood (LB) - An undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot, Heygood got some more game action, notching a tackle as he tries to land a roster spot. He is in the same boat as Landon Johnson (LB) - Landon at least signed as a free agent this summer. He had no stats in the second preseason game though, a 27-17 loss to the Dolphins

Cincinnati Bengals - Greg Orton (WR) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Greg had no stats in a 7-6 win over New England, so I would say his chances of making the roster at this point are pretty slim.

Dallas Cowboys - Anthony Spencer (LB) - Spencer had two tackles and one assist as the Cowboys opened their giant new stadium with a 30-10 win over Tennessee. The Cowboys lost rookie OLB Brandon Williams to a torn ACL, making Spencer that much more valuable.

Denver Broncos - Kyle Orton (QB) - Kyle had a much better second week of the preseason, completing 16 of 22 passes for 182 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Chris Simms is still breathing down his neck for the starting job, however. Kyle had an ugly left handed interception hat left Denver fans shaking their heads in dismay. Denver lost 27-13 at Seattle. Brandon Gorin (OL) - Gorin has a strong chance to be a starter along Denver's offensive line.

Detroit Lions - Cliff Avril (DE) - Cliff had no stats in the second preseason game, which is a shame because he had the chance to sack Brady Quinn, Medicine Woman. He struggled in limited action. Schweigert (S) - Stu had a tackle in the 27-10 loss at Cleveland in week 2. John Standeford (WR) - John had two catches for 16 yards after missing the first game with an injury. He has as good of a chance of anyone of making the final roster, as he performed very well in the second half of last season, all things considered for the Lions.

Houston Texans - Jacques Reeves (CB) - Jacques is battling a broken leg at the moment and may miss the entire season. Jeff Zgonina (DT) - Jeff still has a good shot of making a roster for his 17^th season in the league. He had two tackles and a sack in a 38-14 loss to New Orleans.

Indianapolis Colts - Curtis Painter (QB) - Painter saw quite a bit of action as Jim Sorgi was out again with a sore hamstring, but that will change in week 3 against Detroit. Sorgi is expected to return. Given his experience with the Colts, I have a hard time seeing Painter overtake him for the number two job. This is a season of learning for Curtis. Still, he completed 11 of 19 passes for 119 yards and an interception in a win over Philadelphia. He also ran once for a loss of six yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Uche Nwaneri (OL) - Uche is starting for now, but is likely headed to the bench once the season starts.

Kansas City Chiefs - Bernard Pollard (S) - Pollard sat out week 2 of the preseason. Had five tackles in preseason debut. Alex Magee (DT) - Magee played but did not have any stats against the Minnesota Favres last week. No one seemed to notice as it was all about Brett.

Miami Dolphins - Akin Ayodele (LB) - 8^th year in league. Akin is the likely starter again for the Dolphins. He had one tackle in limited action against Carolina. Ryan Baker (DT) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Baker had a tackle and an assist in the second preseason game.

Minnesota Vikings - Ray Edwards (DE) - Like Pollard and Magee above, no one noticed what Ray Edwards did as Favre played his first game as a Viking. Edwards had a tackle and an assist as he is a likely starter.

New England Patriots - Matt Light (LT) - 9^th year in league. Has won three Super Bowls and has started all but two games in his career. Light will be the starting left tackle once again. Rob Ninkovich (LB) - 3^rd year in league. Rob had a very positive second week of the preseason, leading the Patriots with six tackles and three assists. Apparently he has moved from Defensive End to Linebacker

New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees (QB) - It is still smooth sailing for Brees, as he was 9 of 14 for 87 yards and a touchdown in the win over Houston.

New York Jets - Dustin Keller (TE) - DK plays his second preseason game tonight at Baltimore. The game will be on ESPN at 8pm

Philadelphia Eagles - Eugene Bright (TE) - Bright did not have a catch against Indianapolis, but he is still in the running for a backup tight end spot.

San Diego Chargers - Shaun Phillips (LB) - Phillips had one tackle in week 2 as he continues to hold down a starting linebacker spot. Nick Hardwick (OL) - 6^th year in league. Likely starter with 68 career starts at center and a Pro Bowl nod in 2006. Charles Davis (TE) - Davis did not have any stats in the second week of the preseason, making it harder and harder for him to make the roster. There is the possibility, however, of Davis making the roster as a fullback/H-back

San Francisco 49ers - Kory Sheets (RB) - Kory continues to be the most likely candidate to go from undrafted free agent to roster member, as he ran for 51 yards on 12 carries and added a fourth quarter touchdown to give the 49ers a 21-20 win over Oakland. Kory has all but sealed the 3^rd string running back job now.

I had video of Kory's TD, but SBNation allows only YouTube embedding, so you'll have to follow the link.

Seattle Seahawks - Craig Terrill (DT) - Craig had two tackles in the win over Seattle. He has been a stalwart in the Seahawks' defensive line rotation for years now. Seattle fans do like his ability to disrupt things on the line.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Niko Koutouvides (LB) - Niko had no stats in week two, as he fights for a roster spot after signing as a free agent.

Tennessee Titans - Stanford Keglar (LB) - Keglar had two tackles in the preseason loss at Dallas. Mike Otto (OT) - Otto is fighting for a roster spot, but the blog Music City Miracles thinks both Otto and Keglar will make the final 53 man roster.

Jaguars vs Dolphins: Winners and Losers

silencecs — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:06:57 -0000

More photos » by Marta Lavandier - AP

Tony Pashos leads a group of players who continue to underperform. Pashos was penalized, and allowed 2 sacks, as the Jaguars offensive line was a major culprit in the teams awful play.

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The Jaguars were handily beaten by the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, and the game raised more questions than it answered. I'll examine the players who performed well, and those who faltered in Monday's season opener.

Losers:

Tony Pashos: The veteran gave up two clear sacks and was penalized on at least one occasion during the game. He is abover average in the run game, but was beaten badly time and time again. I'm not sure he would make a great guard either, and I think his salary is too much for an average guard. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but he sure isn't showing any improvement as a RT, especially in the passing game. Something needs to be done about the RT position, Tony is not an adequate pass blocker. Period.

Uche Nwaneri/ Brad Meester/ Mo Williams: The starting interior trio wasn't able to allow Garrard enough time to pass, and couldn't open up lanes for MJD or Greg Jones. There is less concern here, because once Vinny comes back to RG, Uche will be able to head back to the bench. Uche is a great back-up, but there is a significant drop-off between Vince Manuwai and Uche, however, Manuwai is a premier guard, so that is to be expected.

Greg Estandia: Greg didn't do a lot to help his case in a crowed TE position. He was called for a penalty, and got very little separation even against the 3rd and 4th stringers of the Miami defense.

Greg Jones: The vet didn't show much in the running or passing game. He dropped passes, and looked nothing like the Greg of old. The line wasn't much help, but he looked very pedestrian in his first outing of the season, as did much of the team.

Brian Williams: The crafty veteran looked bad. He was flagged for penalty after penalty, and was beaten badly on more than one occasion. There is no question the acquisition of Derek Cox is looking like a much better gamble after Monday's game. Hopefully Derek will beat out Brian at some point in the season, and Williams can move to the nickel spot, where he would be much better suited (He'd be closer to the line of scrimmage to help in run defense). His salary is too high to play a nickel corner, so this may be the last season we have B-Dub around. He must improve over Monday's game, though.

Special Teams: Russ' unit looked atrocious. The kickoff coverage now uses the bunch formation (which is where everyone bunches behind the kicker and breaks apart as the ball is about to be kicked). This is amateur hour stuff, folks. It is a tactic that is used to try to confuse the return team's blockers, however, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Scobee made all his FG's, but the punting was inconsistent. The kickoff coverage was the main culprit here, and with the new wedge-ban in effect, it should make it easier on kickoff units to stop returns from going the distance.

Winners:

Nate Hughes: The second-year burner at WR continued to make his case for a roster spot, and it is a strong one. Nate has had a great camp, and that carried over into the preseason opener. He showed good speed and route running, and caught the ball with his hands, literally snatching it out of the air on one occasion. At a weak position, he may be a valuable find.

Eugene Monroe: "The Future" was dominant on Monday, shutting down the defensive ends the entire time he was in the game. He looked solid against the run, but most importantly, he looked like he belonged on an NFL field. The best case scenario involves Eugene starting the season at LT and Tra starting it at RT... Eugene needs to be starting, and if he continues to perform like he did on Monday, the coaching staff is going to have hard time keeping him off the field.

Tra Thomas: The newly acquired Tra Thomas looked sharp on Monday, and shows that Gene Smith knows how to scout offensive linemen. Tra needs to be on the field, and his run-blocking looked consistently strong. He's got remarkably good feet for someone his age, and he needs to be playing at RT over Pashos.

Russell Allen: Wow... Talk about answering the call of duty. Russell was called in to play MLB for Justin Durant when he was sidelined with a hip problem. Allen responded with 4 tackles and one pass defended. He did a good job of getting the defense into position and calling the plays. We may be looking at one of our future LB's here...

Montavius Stanley/Atylliah Ellison: Both made their case for solving the DT problem by stopping the run. Ellison seems to be the better of the two on the line, however, the importance of Stanley's blocked extra point can't be overstated. Special teams can get you on the field.

[Edititorial Note: Thanks to Rufio for reminding me of Thomas Williams]

Thomas Williams: Last year's fifth-round pick looked great. He was making absolutely vicious tackles and continued to show why our LB corp is the team's strongest unit. Williams turned out an all around fantastic performance.

On The Fence:

Troy Williamson: When people are raving over a guy who fumbled the ball, and got lucky on one of his catches, you know things are bad at the WR position. Troy looked OK to me. I didn't like seeing that fumble, because it was before the rain even started, so there is no excuse. He needs to step it up consistently before I start congratulating the guy on an above average performance.

Tyron Brackenridge: The CB had one pass defense, and one tackle. Most importantly though, he didn't look overwhelmed. He seems to be a player the Jaguars are hot on, and I didn't see him make any major gaffes, so I would say he's one to watch.

Zach Miller: This QB turned TE can flat out move. The kid was flying around on offense, and special teams, making a shoestring tackle at the 2 yd like on punt coverage. His only problem may be adjusting to having to catch the ball, especially when David really puts the mustard on it. He had one drop against the dolphins that should've been caught. He's not natural looking at the position yet, and his blocking leaves something to be desired, but he's got major upside, and he showed it Monday.

-Collin Streetman

Poll

Biggest Concern Going Into 2009

Offensive Line

179 votes

Defensive Line

68 votes

Secondary

101 votes

Coaching

54 votes

402 votes | Poll has closed

Boilers in the pros: Preseason week 1

BoilerTMill — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:56:12 -0000

With the first week of the preseason in the books I wanted to take a quick look and see how all of our guys did in week 1. Obviously many guys are established on rosters already, but some are fighting for spots. This was a lot of fun, as I did most of the research on Sunday night, but waited until this morning to post it because there were a pair of preseason games last night. If I have time, I think I will make this a regular feature, as I have no weeded out hte teams that do not have former Purdue players on their rosters. Some guys, like Charles Davis, were happy finds because I didn't know they were still kicking around out there.

Here is how everyone did in week 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, your reigning NFL offensive player of the year.

Arizona Cardinals - Chike Okeafor (OLB) - 11^th year on team. Had a tackle against Pittsburgh in opener. Likely starter.

Atlanta Falcons - No players on roster

Baltimore Ravens - No players on roster

Buffalo Bills - No players on roster Side note: Who the hell is Gibran Hamdan? Apparently, he is a former IU quarterback that is on their roster, but I have never heard of him.

Carolina Panthers - Anthony Heygood (LB) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Had one tackle in preseason opener. Landon Johnson (LB) - 6^th year in league, fighting for roster spot. The Panthers played their first game Monday night and Landon had no stats.

Chicago Bears - No players on roster

Cincinnati Bengals - Greg Orton (WR) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Had no statistics in 17-7 loss at New Orleans

Cleveland Browns - No players on roster

Dallas Cowboys - Anthony Spencer (LB) - 3^rd year with team. Had one tackle in loss to open preseason. Likely starter.

Denver Broncos - Kyle Orton (QB) - Had brutal debut as starting quarterback with three interceptions. Completed 9 of 16 passes for 89 yards. Is still listed as the starter for now, but he obviously must improve. Brandon Gorin (OL) - Trying to return to NFL after starting 8 games at tackle for St. Louis in 2007. Six year veteran with 26 starts and former member of the Visa Five Layers of protection, thus making him the rare offensive lineman with an endorsement deal.

Detroit Lions - Cliff Avril (DE) - Second year player. Had two tackles as Lions won on late field goal. Stu Schweigert (S) - Found a home in Detroit last year after getting cut by Washington and Denver. Had four tackles in preseason opener and should be safely on the roster. He is also loving the fact he plays for his hometown team. John Standeford (WR) - After years on the Colts practice squad, finally made a regular season roster with the Lions. Emerged as #2 receiver late last season with four starts. No stats in opener

Green Bay Packers - No players on roster.

Houston Texans - Jacques Reeves (CB) - 6^th year in league. Will likely start at corner after breakout season in 2008. No statistics in opener. Jeff Zgonina (DT) - An astounding 17^th season for the last active player from the Colletto Era. Played in all 16 games last year with two starts. Is fighting for a roster spot apparently. No statistics in opener. UPDATE: It is no wonder Reeves had no stats in the opener, as he suffered a broken leg in camp and will be out for some time.

Indianapolis Colts - Curtis Painter (QB) - Rookie likely playing 3^rd string quarterback. Took the majority of snaps for the Colts in a 13-3 loss that was a boring as it sounds. Completed 10 of 17 passes for 77 yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Uche Nwaneri (OL) - 3^rd year in league. Likely starter at offensive guard after making 15 starts last year.

Kansas City Chiefs - Bernard Pollard (S) - 4^th year in league, probable starter. Most hated non-Yankee in New England after ending Tom Brady's season last year. Had five tackles in preseason debut. Alex Magee (DT) - Rookie on defensive line rotation. Had four tackles in preseason debut. The chiefs lost to the Texans 16-10.

Miami Dolphins - Akin Ayodele (LB) - 8^th year in league. Starter 13 games with 75 tackles last season. Likely starter again. Ryan Baker (DT) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Both Ayodele and Baker had one tackle Monday night in a 12-9 field goal kicking contest.

Minnesota Vikings - Ray Edwards (DE) - 4^th year in league. Likely starter after 15 starts and five sacks last season. Had tackle in preseason debut win over the Colts.

New England Patriots - Matt Light (LT) - 9^th year in league. Has won three Super Bowls and has started all but two games in his career. Will be protecting Tom Brady's blind side until both head to Canton most likely. Rob Ninkovich (DE) - 3^rd year in league. Has played in just 8 career games as he tries to return from serious knee injury. No stats in preseason debut.

New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees (QB) - 9^th year in league. Will be starter after making the Pro Bowl for third time and second time being named All-Pro. Reigning Offensive Player of the Year. Completed 6 of 9 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown in 17-7 win over Cincy.

New York Giants - No players on roster.

New York Jets - Dustin Keller (TE) - 3 catches for 52 yards in preseason debut. Likely starter after solid rookie season in 2008. Big things are expected from him this year.

Oakland Raiders - No players on roster.

Philadelphia Eagles - Eugene Bright (TE) - An interesting one, as Bright was a pretty average Defensive end at Purdue and never played tight end. Undrafted free agent trying to make roster. Had one catch for eight yards in preseason debut.

Pittsburgh Steelers - No players on roster.

San Diego Chargers - Shaun Phillips (LB) - 6^th year in league. Likely starter as one of San Diego's best linebackers. Had 2 tackles in first game. Nick Hardwick (OL) - 6^th year in league. Likely starter with 68 career starts at center and a Pro Bowl nod in 2006. Charles Davis (TE) - Has bounced around league (Giants, Panthers, Jaguars) trying to make a roster, but has yet to play in an official game. No stats in opener

San Francisco 49ers - Kory Sheets (RB) - Undrafted free agent trying to make a roster. Kory probably had the most beneficial weekend of anyone. Rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries and a long of 25 in win over Denver. Also saw main competition Thomas Clayton unfortunately tear his ACL and get released. Has solid chance to make roster as 3^rd down back/kick returner.

Seattle Seahawks - Craig Terrill (DT) - 6^th year in league. Is having a very Jeff Zgonina-like career so far. Will likely be in the rotation at defensive tackle and may start. Had no statistics in opener.

St. Louis Rams - No players on roster.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Niko Koutouvides (LB) - 6^th year in league. Fighting for roster spot after disappointing year in Denver last season. Had four tackles in preseason debut. Buc fans are excited to have him.

Tennessee Titans - Stanford Keglar (LB) - 2^nd year in league. Played in 13 games as a rookie last season. Leads the team in tackles with 11 through 2 games (The Titans played in the Hall of Fame game too). The Titans think he may be the steal of last year's draft, too. Mike Otto (OT) - 2^nd year in league officially. Has been on practice squad and has played in one official game.

Washington Redskins - No players on roster.

2008 Season Retrospective: Did injuries "Neg Out" the Jaguars?

River City Rage — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:22:22 -0000

What explains the late season meltdown of the Jacksonville Jaguars?

With training camp so close you can almost smell the sweat on the blocking sleds, It's time for a (hopefully) final look back at the 2008 season, and what it means for the 2009 team. Two articles popped on my radar recently, each offering a "scientific" examination of the Jacksonville Jaguars, but with differing conclusions. K.C. Joyner, writing for the New York Times, looks at the injuries to the Jaguars offensive line and how it offers little excuse for the late season meltdown that sent the team on a rocketship toward rebuilding. On the other side, Football Outsiders, the statistics guru's of the NFL, determined that no team missed more time for injuries than the Jaguars, and that they should be ripe for a comeback in 2009.

Going back to Joyner's article, he uses a system that tracks how many time an offensive lineman was the key player in a run play, and the success rate of said lineman to come up with a percentage.

LT - Khalif Barnes - 88 POA runs, 66 POA wins, 75.0% POA win rate

LG - Uche Nwaneri - 134 POA runs, 111 POA wins, 82.8% POA win rate

C - Brad Meester - 72 POA runs, 62 POA wins, 86.1% POA win rate

RG - Dennis Norman - 147 POA runs, 125 POA wins, 85.0% POA win rate

RT - Tony Pashos - 143 POA runs, 123 POA wins, 86.0% POA win rate

Per his metrics, having three blockers with a POA win rate of over 85% is good, especially considering the injuries on the line. He correctly calls out Barnes as the "weakest link", though he distinguishes that his performance was not injury related. I would argue that having the players on the inside replaced would probably have a detrimental effect on his numbers, but that's for another post.

What I find problematic about these numbers is that they simply do not match the product that we saw on the field. Sure, these measurements show that the Jaguars offensive line was effective, but when statistics are vastly different than the "gut impression", it draws into question the very validity of the numbers. Statistics driven analysis is fantastic and something that the NFL has lacked, but there are some elements that require some work. One is in tracking the offensive line. Without game film like the coaches see, it's very difficult to follow the offensive line play. The camera follows the ball and the quarterback, and often hides the nuances of offensive line play. The end zone camera position gives us the best view of holes and cut back lanes, but the general broadcast camera position is horrible at showing who did what in a particular play. Until the NFL decides that fans and the media can have regular access to the end zone camera, it's going to be hard to create an accurate measurement.

But I'm seriously digressing from my point. David Garrard went from one of the least sacked and least mistake prone quarterbacks in 2007, to one of the most sacked in 2008. The Jaguars running game went from being an iconic factor in games to an afterthought, as David was forced into 3rd and long over and over and over again. We watched the games, we saw the line play, we saw the holes close, we saw Fred and Jones-Drew struggle, and yet we are supposed to believe that the statistics say that the offensive line was good, and that the Jaguars had a case of the funk and fell off the grid?

That's exactly what Joyner argues:

A. Management and/or the coaches were feeding this line of thinking to the announcers to take the heat off a team that had badly underachieved, and
B. This mind-set eventually made its way through to the team itself

Thought A came to mind because Jack Del Rio strikes me as a media-savvy coach who is good at helping to steer story lines in a direction of his choosing. The sense my scouting eye got is that the announcers bought into the injury story, but, unfortunately for Del Rio, so did his players. They kept hearing the press say that their injuries were the reason for the downfall and they might have ended up believing it. Deep down, I think the team knew that injuries weren’t killing the offense, but when the players heard the excuse being used elsewhere, they were free to jump on that bandwagon.

What he argues, in my opinion, is absurd. If, and that's a strong word, but if it's true that the team attempted to score a PR "win" by blaming the season on the injuries and that Del Rio let that mindset change the team from a "next man up" to a "quit and lay down", than Del Rio should have joined James Harris and left the team. But I don't buy it. Did the Jaguars have a boat-load of problems in the locker room? Absolutely. Was it because the team bought into it's own negitive hype? I just don't think so.

Statistics, as we know, can tell the same story with different conclusions: Take Football Outsiders, for example:

Jacksonville had a 1.9% DVOA, and their expected win total was 8.9 -- shocking, perhaps, but a function of their underlying performance. A 1.9% DVOA is pretty good: 26 other teams since 1994 (the earliest year we've calculated DVOA for) have had a DVOA between 1% and 3%. Of those 26 teams, exactly one won as few as five games: The 2003 Jaguars, who promptly won nine games the next season. The average team in that range won 8.5 games.

Furthermore, the Jaguars had a lot of injuries last year. By our injury metric, Adjusted Games Lost (which takes into account historical injury rates for a given role/position on the injury report and the player's role as a starter or reserve on the team), the Jaguars were the tenth-most injured team in the league last year. Injuries tend to regress to league average, which is another positive indicator for the Jaguars; a team's AGL has a .26 correlation with the change in wins in subsequent seasons.

So, which is it? Injuries or being psyched out?

I'd like to see what ya'll think of this. Why do you think the Jaguars fell apart last season?

Quick Bytes: Chad Slaughter and Milford Brown become Jacksonville Jaguars

River City Rage — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:59:17 -0000

Quick Bytes: The daily digest of everything you need to know about the Jacksonville Jaguars (and other things).

So I just finished re-watching the Jaguars-Titans game and it honestly was not as bad as I had thought. Defense and Special Teams were outstanding and kept the game within reach. Vince Young continued to prove that he's not ready to be a team leader, and the Jaguars start the season much like last year, 0-1.

Of course, there's a teeny-weenie problem with our offensive line. Specifically the absence of any left and right guards. How important could that be to a team that likes to run the ball?

: The first issue the Jaguars had to address was figuring out who to bring in to fill out the Jaguars depth on the offensive line. The Jaguars signed OG Milford Brown and OT Chad Slaughter, players that are best described as journeymen, to say the least. Milford was most recently seeing game action with the St. Louis Rams when they suffered an offensive line massacre. Ryan of Turf Show Times, the SB Nation St. Louis Rams Blog, had this to say about Milford:

Ah, Milford Brown. His tenure in St. Louis was brief and unmemorable. The Rams never got much going up the middle last season and upgraded this year. Brown was let go and the Rams turned to two rookies from the 2008 draft to fill in the depth chart. He certainly didn't look like starter material with the Rams last season, but neither was anyone else around him on the line which could color my view.

So there's that.

: Chad Slaughter is a little more interesting. First off, he's big, 6-8, 340lbs, so he can certainly fill some space. Second, he's a tackle, not a guard, which helps back up Barnes, though still raises some questions about what happens in the middle of the line. Mo Williams and Vince Manuwai are beasts as run blockers, can Slaughter get into the rotation and be effective?

: Perspective time. Think ahead a few weeks, Brad Meester comes back, which means that Dennis Norman can play guard, which makes our line look like Barnes, Norman, Meester, Nwaneri, and Pashos, which is a pretty solid line, albeit one that has zero margin of error. The Jaguars have next to nothing on the shelf on the line and the injuries put into question the very key to what the Jaguars do.

That said, adversity brings good things out of teams. So have faith.

: The Jacksonville Police Department say that Richard Collier was "targeted". Jaguars players and Richard's family have inreased the reward for information from $1,000 to $10,000. Richard is considered to be in critical but stable condition.

:WTF is going on with Vince Young?

-Chris

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Who had a worse day on Sunday

Houston Texans

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30 votes

Jacksonville Jaguars

69 votes

New England Patriots

127 votes

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