There has been a bit of news since I lasted updated. The Jags have added a bevy of new players. They've been anointed saviors, torn down, and re-anointed in that time. Paul "The Poz" Posluszny, has gone from good solid football player to man who can't cover Fred Jackson. Dawan Landry has gone from major upgrade, hugely underrated safety to out of position. Oddly, the Jaguars spent $100 million on linebackers and yet, Bill Simmons (who I think is on a mission to make me quit listening to him even casually when he talks about football), made the comment offhand that the Jags don't spend money. The Jaguars ability to do things without being noticed, much less analyzed, always surprises me. It's been awhile and it was a quick offseason so a quick rehash of things we've learned about the Jags in this lockout-induced abbreviated training camp/offseason would seem to be in order:
- Blaine Gabbert is a rookie. He has nice hair. He's been with the team a little over a month. He throws the best ball of any Jaguars QB ever. I feel confident saying ever 1) Cause I've seen them all and 2) Mark Brunell is the only other candidate. I can eliminate him cause I was really quite a perceptive scout as a 6th grader. Mark Brunell was a legitimate MVP candidate. He was this crazy combination of strength and mobility. I remember being told Brunell could bench press 500 pounds and totally believing it, repeating it for years, and then realizing one day early in college it might not be true. Someone might have been exaggerating for effect or joking. I didn't know you could joke about super heroes. In any case, his skill set was different. Gabbert throws a truly beautiful ball, one even a 6th grader would appreciate. Unfortunately, Gabbert isn't close to ready. He's the third QB now. Gene Smith said he wouldn't be ready immediately after the draft. Fans, myself included, ignored/willfully forgot that.
- David Garrard is still David Garrard. Which means he is maddeningly frustrating. This is the only reasonable explanation why some are calling for Luke McCown.
- The Jaguars were set up reasonably well to handle the lockout. They had a fair amount of continuity, same head coach and QB from a team that was pretty competitive, and yet, the lockout definitely hurt. I'm not sure if it hurt worse than for other teams but it costs them Vince Manuwai. Terrence Knighton came in overweight (although just judging by reactions it was less overweight than last year. Little Victories). Ticket sales have been abysmal. They had to keep Del Rio (not unrelated to ticket sales issue). I don't hate Del Rio but there's no doubt fans wanted him gone.
- Quick hits on the rookies:
- Blaine Gabbert - See above but I feel better post camp than I did in April.
- Will Rackley - Barring injury he'll start for the better part of a decade.
- Cecil Shorts - This is essentially Alualu 2.0, with a significantly smaller spot light. A pick ripped by fans and pundits alike who knew literally nothing about him. Barring injury, he'll establish himself as the best Jags wide receiver by the end of the year. That said, Jags WR reconstruction project (now in year 6!), is only 2/3rds complete. Shorts is the number 2 guy. Mike Thomas is made for the slot. That only leaves an Andre Johnson to find. No problem for GM Gene I'm sure.
- Chris Prosinski - Solid depth, was in the mix for free safety pre-injury. I have some hope for this guy and think he'lll be around for a while but...Hamstring. Ugh.
- Rod Issac - Easily most disappointing pick and probably the most initially disappointing pick of the Gene Smith era (which says something, although Larry Hart has thrown down the gauntlet for most disappointing Gene Smith pick ever). Issac is the first guy I remember hearing was overmatched from day one. He's still around though so we'll see.
- Tyson Alualu is dominant. Last years dominant camp player was Marcedes Lewis, which turned out pretty well. As long as Alualu is on the field, the Jaguars defense will be much improved (I'd say can't get worse but last year was already an improvement from the year before. Worse is out there). Alualu, along with Rashean Mathis coming back to life, should give Jaguars fans legitimate hope (mostly, they've been more interested in Tim Tebow's availability though. I do feel sorry for T squared now.)
It's really nice to have football back.
-Q
No comments:
Post a Comment