Ollie Matson

There aren't any rules for blogs but as this is a Jaguars blog, I try to connect my thoughts, no matter how random, to the Jags in some fashion. Well, this article (obit? post?) from the NY Times on Ollie Matson isn't Jaguars related and outside of really stretching it, I can't think of any reason why it would be. That said, I find football history really interesting and Matson's story compelling. In any case, check it out, if you have a moment.

That's a big strong man. He should act as a reminder to everyone that you have to be a big strong man to play running back in the NFL.

On message boards and what not, occasionally some blow hard will go off about how old players wouldn't be able to cut it in today's NFL. Generally, I think this is a dumb thing to say. Yeah, generally, if you magically transported the best athletes from prior decades to today, they wouldn't hold up well, but that says nothing about the former players, and is really just a very obvious statement about the nature of technology. A player like Matson in today's game, given the same technological advances, would absolutely dominate.

-Q

Bob Sanders

So Bob Sanders stopped by for a visit and a physical over the weekend before heading up to Buffalo.

This is one of those trust in Gene moments so there's really not much for me to add here without sounding stupid. If he's healthy, they almost can't overpay him. If he's not healthy, well hopefully he was cheap.

Also, I don't know if there are different rules right now because of the expiring CBA but generally the likelihood of a player signing with a team drops significantly once he leaves the building. So as Bob heads to Buffalo, whatever happens, credit to Gene Smith for doing his due diligence.

Hopefully, a longer article tomorrow. I have some thoughts I want to spell out in something approaching an essay or argument. We shall see.

-Q

A roundup on Bob Sanders...

PFT's take

Big Cat Country's

Paul Kuharsky's

The general summary is everyone thinks someone should jump on him cause he'll be cheap but I doubt that's the case. If he were cheap, the Colts would've kept him. Yeah, maybe the Titans, Jags, or Texans can grab him by paying a little bit more than the Colts but I bet someone pays him a lot more. The market isn't going to be set by Sanders average value, it's going to be set by the one team that offers him a chunk of guaranteed money. If I had to bet, someone will do it (Aren't big name players with huge question marks the Redskins specialty? Well, that and petty law suits).

-Q

Special thanks to Dr. JC Benjamin for the image

NFL labor, The O-zone is alive and well...

First, quick update on the NFL labor front. According to PFT, the two sides have agreed to meet for seven straight days. That's about as much good news as we can hope for.

Over on jaguars.com, the O-Zone (the new Ask Vic) is alive and well. It wrapped up its first week and despite a few moments that seemed forced, it's probably safe to say that we're in good hands with Mr. Oehser. So we got that going for us, which is nice.

Hopefully more to come today...

Colts cut Bob Sanders

Despite a report earlier today that the Colts were working on getting a new deal done with Bob Sanders, it appears that's not going to be happening. PFT is reporting that the Colts have cut Bob Sanders.

I'm pretty blown away. Bob Sanders is insanely talented and you don't need to look any further than the turn around the Colts run defense experienced in 2007 on their Super Bowl run. That turn around perfectly coincided with his return from injury. I'm sure there were other factors but when a player can have that kind of impact (the Jags rushed for 375 yards right before he returned), then you learn to fear him. I fear Bob Sanders. My only thought is his injury must be of such a severe nature that they don't think he'll recover. I suppose it could be that negotiations weren't going well but why cut him now? Why not keep negotiating and cut him in a few weeks?

In any case, I hope Bob Sanders gets healthy and blossoms again on a team far, far away from the Jaguars (or on the Jaguars. That's a fun possibility). He's an extremely exciting player to watch who plays too big for his body. Thanks for the memories, Bob, and make sure to grab Peyton's Super Bowl ring on your way out. You earned it for him after all.

-Q

NFL and Union agree to federal mediation

Not much Jaguars news going on. John Oehser decided to refer to Peyton Manning and the Colts by their names instead of some other moniker (like That Guy or the Team from Indiana, or something to that affect). Jaguar fans promptly said "Uh, yeah, we're not that dumb."

In NFL news, what can only be a good thing, the League and the Union have agreed to federal mediation. This can only be a good thing. Here's a curious coincidence (or not if you're into conspiracy theories): The CBA is set to expire on March 4th which is the same day the government would shut down if Congress doesn't pass a budget or continuing resolution. That would be all kinds of crazy. I don't know how long mediation lasts (Do they try it for a week? Is this something they do until they get a deal done or one of them walks away?) but it would really suck if the return of the NFL was hindered because of politics. Congress always has insanely low approval ratings but if they end up on the hook for shutting down the NFL they could achieve an all time low.

In other things a lockout would disrupt, Aaron Kampman is rehabbing at Everbank right now but would move to another facility in Jacksonville post-lockout.

I'm hoping the Jags can lock up Marcedes Lewis in the next few days but if not, fingers crossed he understands why the team would franchise him.

-Q

John Oehser arrives at Jaguars.com, Mike Tice to Titans denied

Just wanted to take this moment to welcome John Oehser as the new Senior Editor to Jaguars.com. Here's his introduction. I thought it was great. Strong voice, very reassuring and addressed a number of things that at least some fans were worried about, mainly would he still do a daily mailbag, and how would his time with the Colts affect his writing now. I assume we won't be getting any more Peyton Manning is a choker jokes (personal relationships tend to mellow criticisms). I'm ok with that. Even if the senior editor isn't poking fun, Peyton will always be the NFL's greatest choke artist.

Onward. I think the Bears denying the Titans a chance to interview Mike Tice for their offensive coordinator position is good news for the Jaguars. Losing Tice was a blow to the quality of the Jaguars coaching staff, not crippling, Andy Heck is as good a coach as there is, but Tice provided a lot to the whole offense. I'm always a fan of having former head coaches as assistants, even guys who had really rough runs as a head coach like Tice did. They tend to have a good sense of the big picture and understand the value of organization, staying to the head coaches message, long term development, etc. The downside is they tend to be well connected and always looking for better opportunities. It can make them difficult to hold onto when the situation becomes less than ideal. I don't particularly care where Tice ends up but since I do think he's an above average coach, coupled with a fairly intimate understanding of the Jaguars organization, I'd prefer if he stayed out of the AFC South. That doubles for the Titans who I'd be prefer were run by Dan Snyder (I contemplated going with monkeys or children or some other dumb jokesy group but since I'm pretty sure at this point Snyder is testing how poorly an organization can operate while still sucking the life blood of its fans, I think there's probably no worse curse on a franchise. Don't sue me, danny boy)

-Q