Jacksonville Jaguars

HISTORY
Founded as an NFL expansion franchise in 1995 and has never relocated.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
League Championships: None

Conference Championships: None

Division Championships: 2 – 1998 (AFC Central), 1999 (AFC Central)

Playoff Appearances: 5 – 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007

2005 Finish: 12-4, 2nd Place AFC South, Wild Card

Recent Records:

2004: 9-7 2005: 12-4 2006: 8-8 2007: 11-5 2008: 5-11 2009: 7-9 2010: 8-8

2011 Draft Grade

Jacksonville Jaguars (F)
10: Blaine Gabbert (5, 9 = 7) +3
76: William Rackley (55, 68 = 62) +14
114: Cecil Shorts (129, 191 = 160) -46
121: Chris Prosinski (255, 243 = 249) -118
147: Rod Issac (255, 255 = 255) -108

Jacksonville made some pretty solid picks, in my cocky opinion – as I liked all three of their first selections. Gabbert is a kid with all the tools and no real downside at QB. I think he’s not only the safest pick, but the safest pick with no holes and plenty of upside. I think he could have easily gone #1 overall, so great value pick at 10 for Jacksonville. William Rackley was a small college force at offensive tackle. He might have some learning to do, but the kid has very good athleticism and plenty of size for a team that always seems to need help on the line. Cecil Shorts comes up as a negative value player in this system, but I thought the pick was very solid. He’s got good size, good ball skills, and very good production (again, at a small college). Still, both he and Rackley have big time potential. The next two guys were typical Jacksonville reaches. -100 reaches end up giving the Jags a big F for this draft, one of the worst grades on the board. No surprise, I guess. But if they hit on one of the small college guys and Gabbert, their offense will be a force in the next few years.

Draft Pick Total: 468 – Player Rankings Total: 733—- TOTAL RANKING: -265

2011 Mock Draft

Jacksonville Jaguars 8-8 – Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa: Clayborn had an amazing junior season, collecting highs in tackles and sacks and showing as a big time problem for opposing offenses to scheme against. He struggled to repeat that performance his senior season, tallying 13 fewer tackles for loss and 8 fewer sacks – but everybody else on his defensive line had an improvement in their numbers. He may not be the freak of nature that many people love to draft at that rush end spot, the kind of burst and numbers that got Vernon Gholston drafted so high – but he’s a very good football player, a solid pass rusher, and an anchor against the run. He does everything well, and a decline in numbers might just come from the great attention paid to him in game planning, double teams, rolling away from his side, etc. I know the Jaguars could use him.

2008 NFL DRAFT GRADES

Jacksonville Jaguars: B

I don’t hate what the Jaguars did, actually. Many said they really reached for Harvey – I say they barely reached for the freakish athlete from Florida. They gave away a lot of picks to get a kid that wasn’t dominant all the time in college, but they did end up getting a defensive end with as much upside as any player at his position in the entire draft – for a team that has a lot of good players, they grabbed two players that will instantly put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, seemingly their weakness last season. They may have traded away a lot, but they got the kid they wanted, that’s more than a lot of teams can say.

Harvey was a Top 15 pick, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise without giving them a good ear-box-slap to the side of the head. Derrick has great speed, great size, and he’s still just a 20-year-old. In 18 starts, Harvey trounced the quarterback 20.5 times. He’s also good against the run despite being 50lbs short of 300.

Groves has unbelievable upside as a pass rusher as well. In fact, he’s probably a better pass rusher than Harvey right now. Groves might translate to an outside backer, but his ’06-‘07 production and game film make him one of the biggest steals of this draft. He had painful injury problems in ’07-’08, and that had a lot to do with his dip in production. Right now, I’ll bet Groves sacks the quarterback 6-10 times as a part time pass rusher in 2008.

With two 5th round picks, the Jags grabbed a couple Williams kids – Thomas Williams (OLB from Cal) and Trae Williams (CB from South Florida). Thomas is a special teams guy right off the bat the Jacksonville might find a use for at another position. He played a few positions during his career at USC but couldn’t stick at any one place. Trae was overshadowd by Mike Jenkins, but he’s one heck of a player. Seeing as though most opponents tried to stay away from Jenkins, Trae had plenty of chances to prove his worth and he did exactly that – it was Trae making the big plays to help SF get off to their undefeated start, and while he struggled a bit more late, I think this was a good value pick. I like Trae a lot.

Chauncey Washington is a talented kid athletically. His football IQ isn’t where it needs to be, and that’s why he didn’t meet expectations at USC. He’ll have a long and arduous path to get any carries on this team, but he could become a nice special teams addition.


2007 Jacksonville Jaguars

After struggling with Byron Leftwich’s long arm motion, and his content threat of injury because he doesn’t get out of traffic very easily, the Jaguars handed the starting gig to career backup David Garrard. Garrard had the Jaguars thinking that they had found their man, until struggles during the last 4 games had Jacksonville out of the playoffs and looking back to Byron for leadership. The other Hefty Lefty (not Phil Mickelson) has been slated as the starter since early in the off season, by head coach, Jack Del Rio. Del Rio’s job has to be on the hot-seat, as certainly the Jaguars are talented enough to return to their 12-4 form of 2005. The Jaguars looked good some of the time, and underperformed others, but overall they had a decent ’06 campaign. There 1st round pick in ’06, Marcedes Lewis, didn’t do much worth talking about, but 3rd round choice, Maurice Drew was quite possibly the most explosive rookie runner, rushing for a record 13 touchdowns in his first season, and he shared carries with Fred Taylor, whom also had a nice season. He collected just under 1,400 yards rushing and receiving. Reggie Williams started off the season hot, but slowed way down toward the end, struggling to connect with quarterbacks not named Byron. Matt Jones was hurt much of the year, but showed his skills late in the year, catching 3 touchdowns and receiving for 320 yards in his last 5 contests. Look for the Jags to improve offensively in 2007, but they will undoubtedly need a strong draft to make up for lost playmakers on defense.


2007 Off-Season Plans:

The Jaguars have had two big free agent signings thus far, well, one big – Tony Pashos, and one small – Dennis Northcutt. Pashos, the big tackle from the Ravens, will undoubtedly help with the Jaguar offensive attack, while Northcutt is the type of receiver the Jaguars need, as they are chalked full of big tall pass catchers. But did the Jags overpay for both? Maybe not in today’s NFL.Northcutt will show the quickness and deep speed the Jags need to open up the field for players like Reggie Williams, Earnest Wilford, Matt Jones, and Lewis. Running back is definitely not a need for this team, as they are full of talent at the spot. As if the two headed rushing attack of Maurice Drew and Fred Taylor (200+ yards last season) wasn’t enough, Greg Jones comes back from a knee injury that had him out all of last season. Byron Leftwich, who I happen to like a lot, will be back at the helm, and this should be the season he steps up and plays up to his potential. Defensively, the Jaguars need some help in the secondary, and the draft has just what they are looking for. Players like Reggie Nelson, LaRon Landry, and Michael Griffin are all young safeties that could help in the Jag secondary. There are also a few defensive linemen that could help the Jags, not to mention a plethora of linebackers throughout the first day. On the safe side, look for the Jags to pick up an elite defensive prospect like Reggie Nelson with their first selection. However, if a young speedster like Ted Ginn Jr. is still on the board when Jacksonville picks, I would be surprised if Jack Del Rio lets him go. Ginn would spread the field like Northcutt could only dream about doing, opening up everything in the middle for the Jaguars.

Leave a Reply