I was reading some of the BCC posts from this week and I noticed all the praise that the new young players have recieved. Dont get me wrong I think that they all deserve their kudos for how they have played this season but I was wondering if this means that they are the answer for the position they play. For example, if Alualu and Knighton continue to play at the level they have then can we check the box and say, "yes we have our defensive tackles now lets move on our next problem." After this crazy thought came to mind I decided to break down the starting roster and see what players are fixture in their spots and then what positions are left. I'll start my check list with the offense and if you guys like it then I'll do the defense. Also keep in mind that this is throwing away the BAP rule, this is for disscussion only. Here we go.

OFFENSE:

QB: Garrard is not the answer, his replacement will be here next year we just have to wait. In the mean time we will have to watch the Me, Myself and Irene guy who has been starting for the Jags since 07. This position is open.

RB: MJD is a stud who runs hard every play. He brings so many different skill sets to the position that it still amazes me. Also he is still really young and there is a good nucleus of even younger guys behind him.

FB: Greg Jones is not a running threat anymore but as long as the Jags inssist on having a FB in the backfield then there is no better guy to have than Jones. 

WR: MSW and M80. We have one #1 reciever and one slot guy. I think that these two are both really good in the rolls they play. M80 has produced at a rate that I think we all expected from him. MSW has diisappeared in some games this year but the arguement can be made that he does not get too many plays called his way because of the conservative play calling. I am very high on him and I think both guys are the answer for their position.

TE: Mercedes Lewis equals 5 TDs in 5 games. He blocks, he runs routes, he catches the ball. Need I say more? Oh and who doesnt like the guys that back him up?

LT: Did the Colts get to Garrard last time they played? Isnt this what Vic said the Jags drafted him for. Stop Freeney and all the other bad boys who used to pound Garrard so badly. This is Monroes second season and he is over performing. This guy is a lock here. 

RT: Not many of us were too happy with Britton last year and I know I for one was wondering if Gene may have made a mistake on him. But this season the guy is hitting his assignments and he is straight blocking like an elite tackle should. He is in the same boat as Monroe, block Mathis and anyone else coming at you or Garrard. He is doing it.

Center: We all love Brad Meester but age has caught up with him. All I can say is thank God he is playing better than he did last year. But the truth is that he is old and old guys dont last in the NFL. This position is wide open and it is a must that they find the future center of the Jaguars next off season.

Gaurd: I like Uche and I love that he is still a young guy. They payed him for the long run so for better or worse he is here to stay. My question though is who is the other gaurd? I dont like Smiley, all I see from him is more false starts and poor blocking. Also is Vince Manuawi healthy yet? He was great in the past and he got serious time last week against the Bills were he played well but will it last? Id like to see a young guy that is actually drafted placed here.

Well there it is. I am pretty much sold on the offense with the exception of the QB and the interior line. This was actually easier than I thought it would be. The offense needs that new young QB more than anything and they need more depth for a lot of the positions but what team doesnt want that?. The Offense is coming along better than the defense is but there can still be some improvements. What did I miss and what improvements need to be made? What positions are left to be filled?

Okay, so at first I was pretty peeved when Fred Taylor was not named as an All Pro for this last decade. I kept wondering why Fred wasn't named and Jamal Lewis was. I can understand why Tomlinson, James, and Alexander were choosen, they were better, but Lewis? I love looking at and comparing stats, when I compared the two players I saw that Jamal Lewis' stat line for the last 10 years looks like this,

Rushing Yards: 10607

4.2 yard, avg 58 TDs

Receiving Yards: 1879

8.5 yard, avg 4 TDs

He did all that in 131 games with 126 starts. Now check out Fred's line.

Rushing Yards: 9585

4.6 yard avg, 46 TDs

Receiving Yards: 1874 8.0 yard avg, 5 TDs

During this span Fred played in 121 games with 115 starts. Keep in mind that 5 of those games he did not start in were with the Patriots.

Even though the stats are in favor of Jamal, I am a Jag Homer and call me crazy but Fred Taylor was a better player than Jamal was. If it was not for the injuries Fred would have been ahead. I think he should have gotten the All Pro stamp but oh well, there's always the Hall of Fame.

Earlier in the week Zoltan wrote an article at Black and Teal on how the Jaguars cannot afford to miss on their next draft pick. It was a great article and I hope everyone got a chance to read it. Anyway, for fun I decided to compare all 15 1st round picks throughout the teams history. I'll start with our first ever pick in 1995 and end it with Eugene. Hope you in enjoy. To be honest, I am not too impressed overall with the choices we have made.

1995 the Jaguars select OT Tony Boselli from USC.

Everyone loved this guy. He is without a doubt the best to ever play the position for the Jaguars and maybe the entire NFL. He was a beast at 6-7 and 322 pounds. He gave us 8 great years and if it wasn't for injuries and the ship off to the Texans it is conceivable that he could still be in the league right now. We love him so much that he is forever enshrined on our Ring of Honor. This was a good pick.

1996 the Jaguars select  LB Kevin Hardy from Illinois.

I liked Kevin. I thought that he was a great player for our team and I still remember his monster 99 season where he was a sack monster with 10.5. In total we got 28 sacks in 6 years out of him. Not too shabby. On a side note he was the guy I liked to control when I played Madden 99. I always wished that we could have gotten more years from him but still he was a good pick. Tony Brackens was the 2nd pick this year and we all liked him too.

1997 the Jaguars select DE Renaldo Wynn from Notre Dame

Renaldo played 5 seasons for the Jags and had decent stats but nothing spectacular. If you look at his yearly sack totals for his first 2 years you will see a resemblance to Derrick Harvey.  I Don't think his production was worth the pick so I rate him as a bad pick for the 1st RD but not a bad player overall.

1998 the Jaguars select RB Fred Taylor from Florida.

Our home town hero. Without a doubt the very best draft pick this team has made so far. MJD can make an argument but for now the honor goes to Fred. You all know the stats and what he has meant on and off the field to the organization and the city. He is the one player in Jaguars history who has a Hall of Fame resume. Tomorrow he turns 34 and he is still at it. Fred Taylor is still the face of the Jags and they get an A+ for taking him. By the way we took Donavan Darius with our 2nd pick here.

1999 the Jaguars select CB Fernando Bryant from Alabama.

He gave the Jags 5 interceptions in 5 years. I am not going to get into to deep with him. How he managed to stay in the league for 10 seasons is a mystery to me. This one goes down as a bad pick in my book. This whole draft was bad.

2000 the Jaguars select WR R Jay Soward from USC.

Yikes! Next please. We did get Brad Meester with the next pick though.

2001 the Jaguars select DT Marcus Stroud from Georgia.

Part 1 of the best defensive tackle tandem I have ever seen. This guy was a massive mammoth who swallowed up runners and opened up sack lanes for teammates. He was everything you could want from your #1 pick. If it wasn't for injuries he would still be with the team and we would not have used the picks we got for him to make future bad picks. We also got Mo Williams in this draft. Marcuse Stroud was a good pick.

2002 the Jaguars select DT John Henderson from Tennessee.

Part 2 of the defensive wall. Alongside Marcus Stroud, John Henderson plowed his way through offensive lines. Henderson just might be the best defensive player the Jaguars have drafted to date. There are other guys on the team who have an argument but my money is on Big John. He is still doing it today for us. Just not as well. He was a great pick without a doubt. David Garrard was also taken in this draft.

2003 the Jaguars select QB Byron Leftwich from Marshall.

Mark Brunells' heir apparent. He was drafted to be the long term fixture at QB but he could not stay on the field long enough to ever earn that spot. He was doomed from the start. A Shack Harris failure. No one liked his mechanics, he was too slow, and what was up with that crazy wind up he had. He seemed like a nice guy but because of him we passed on Roethleburger the next year. Sorry Byron, you were a bad pick. This was a good draft though because we also took Mathis and Manuwai with the 2nd and 3rd picks.

2004 the Jaguars select WR Reggie Williams from Washington.

Shack Harris figured that he had Brunells replacement so he might as well get Jimmy Smiths replacement while he was at it. Let's see what did Reggie contribute to this team? No 1000 yard seasons. In fact he couldn't even break 700 yards. He somehow managed to catch 10 TD's in 07 but that was just a mirage. Who else was Garrard going to throw to? He was a problem guy off the field and I did not like his effort at all. The only thing Reggie gave this team was a bunch of ridiculous gyrating dances after he caught 3 yard passes. Reggie was a bad pick. This was an overall good draft though. We got Daryl Smith, Greg Jones, Earnest Wilford, and Scooby Doo.

2005 the Jaguars select WR Matt Jones from Arkansas.

I hated this pick. Typical Shack Harris. He loved the tall receivers didn't he? I mean come on, why would you waste such a high pick on a guy who was making such a dramatic position change. People raved over his athleticism. Jones was said to have freakish speed on the field but it turns out he was just a freak on the field. He looked very disinterested when he played and if it was not for the fact that he was playing for his professional life in 08 he never would have produced like he did that year. He may have eventually panned out but the cocaine and Gene smith took care of that. Matt was a waste of a pick but a slightly better upgrade over Reggie Williams.

2006 the Jaguars select TE Mercedes Lewis from UCLA.

Shack was looking for weapons for Bryon here. Lewis was supposed to be a pass catching machine coming out of college. The word was that he couldn't block either. I wasn't too big on this pick at first but Lewis has slowly changed my view of him. The guy is tough and he can block afterall. Not to mention that he had some great catches this season. The arrow is pointing up for Lewis and I do not think that we have seen his best yet. I like this pick now. Oh by the way, our new franchise player was taken with our 2nd pick in this draft. You know him, you love him! MJD!

2007 the Jaguars select FS Reggie Nelson from Florida.

After a strong rookie season the Eraser has seriously dropped off. He looks confused out there doesn't he? He plays out of position and his tackling is at a  pop warner level. No one will doubt that he has the physical tools to play at this level but now we question whether or not he has the mental tools to go along with it. Nelson is running out of time in Jacksonville. So far not a good pick. Other notable picks in this draft include Durant, Sims-Walker, Uche, and everyone's favorite 4th round pick Adam Podlesh.

2008 the Jaguars trade the world to select DE Derrick Harvey from Florida.

This is a perfect example of a need pick. Shack Harris and I guess all of us were sold on the idea that a pass rush was the last missing piece to a Super Bowl. We were wrong. The jury is still out on Derrick but he does show promise. He has got to up his sack total or he will be labeled bust. For now he is not a bad pick but we gave up too much to get him. Oh we also got Quentin Groves in this draft but at this point no one cares.

2009 the Jaguars select OT Eugene Monroe from Virginia.

This is just the opposite. This is a great example of best available player. Not only was he the BAP but he is going to fill the left tackle position for the next decade. His rookie season is over and he improved throughout the year. I think he was a good pick, in fact this whole draft was the best this team has had to date. A few more like this one and the Jaguars will be the team to beat for the next 5-10 years.

In my opinion that makes 8 good picks and 7 bad picks. That means that we have hit on 53% of our 1st picks. That is not so great. This team has to strike gold in the future for them to be successful and start selling more tickets to all those fans out there who only buy when the team is winning.

Take it easy everyone.

- Jon

I am not a writer so bear with me everyone. I was doing some thinking about the topics that Mr. Weaver spoke on and I keep coming back to what he said about being an elite team and his comments about David Garrard. Its really late and I am really bored so I decided to go stat hunting to compare how our infamous QB holds up to some of the Greats from the past and present. If anyone finds a misprint then keep it to yourself because I am mainly trying to make a point and mistakes with the stats are irrelevant. The formula I used was no exact science. I basically took the amount of years a guy played and divided that into the amount of Yards, TD's, and INT's they had over that time.

The Greats

Joe Montana averages per season: 2703.4 pass yds, 18.2 td, 9.6 int  

Most yards ever in a season:  3944 yds.

John Elway averages per season: 3217.1 pass yds, 18.75 tds, 14.1 int

Most yards ever in a season: 4030 yds.

Steve Young averages per season from 1991-1998: 3347.8 pass yds, 24.3 tds, 9.5 int

Most ever in a season: 4170 yds.

Dan Marino averages per season: 3609.4 pass yds, 24.7 tds, 14.8 int

Most yards ever in a season: 5084 yds (still amazing considering it was in 1984)

Best QB'S right now

Peyton Manning averages per season: 4177.3 pass yds, 30.5 tds, 15 int

Most yards ever in a season: 4557 yds.

Tom Brady averages per season not counting 2000 and 2008: 3845 pass yds, 28.1 tds, 12.3 int.

Most yards ever in a season: 4806 yards (16-0 season)

Ben Roethlisberger averages per season: 3217 pass yds, 21.6 tds, 13.5 int

Most yards ever in a season: 4328 yards.

Drew Brees averages per season from 2002-present: 3803.1 pass yds, 25.1 tds, 13.7 int

Most yards ever in a season: 5069 yards.

And Now for David

David Garrard averages per season as full time starter over the last 4 seasons: 2862 pass yards, 14.5 tds, 8.7 int.

Most yards ever in a season: 3620 yards.

I tried to only use the years when they were significant contributors to their teams but I think you will get my point. David Garrard is not elite, he will never be elite, and Mr. Weaver should not expect him to ever be elite. He is just good and that will have to be good enough for now. Hope you enjoyed.

I’ve been sitting here in good ol Iraq thinking about our beloved Jags and I was seriously depressed about the 2 losses we have had to endure so far. I know that not too many people out there in the media world are picking us to win. That too had me feeling depressed. Why is this happening? Why are we getting manhandled so badly by everyone else? Are we just unlucky when it comes to picking players? Players that we were sure were going to be the answer to turning this team around. Players that would draw a large crowd on Sunday. I asked myself, are they really that bad? From the first two games I was trying desperately to find some positives and I couldn’t do it without blowing smoke up my own ass. Well it has seemed that way up to this point didn’t it? But then I got to thinking about it.

 I know now that I have been too hard on them. How can we really expect much from this roster at this point. There are so many new players on this team with little to no experience playing in the NFL. And yet here I am expecting them to hold their own against seasoned veterans who know the pro game. I had to tell myself that Monroe and Britton have never once in their lives lined up against players as good as what they have faced so far. Cox played for a very small school against most players who were barely better than a high school kid. But he did fairly well against Wayne and against the Cards. Our rookies are facing guys who run routes with precision and speed like nothing they have ever seen. Big fast defensive ends with every move in the book at their disposal. Linebackers who blaze through a line with such explosion that the rooks don’t know what to do. My point is that Vic is dead on with this one. They need time to learn, to adjust, and to soak in the pro game. This whole youth movement is probably going to lead to a lot of losses this year. But now I know that it isn’t because we have bad players and everyone else has good players. It is because we have young players who need time and our patience. I am going to give it to them. They will get better. Gene Smith is not a fool. I expect big things out of next years draft as well (and I don’t mean Tebow). For now here is what I am going to do, I will find enjoyment this season in watching the growth of young professional athletes and the future of a soon to be power house squad. I can wait for the future. Now, Go Jags! Kill them Texans!

Check out number six on this list from ESPN. I haven't really spent too much time examining the teams that our coming to Jax this season. But since reading this is doesn't look to promising for us. I wonder what its going to take for the people of Jacksonville to finally wake up and realize what they got? http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/0-10-212/Interconference-matchups--AFC-South-NFC-West.html