With progress being made by the NFL and *NFLPA on a potential new CBA, I think it's a good time to re-hash how the lockout has affected the Jacksonville Jaguars. With this projection, we're going to assume two things. First, and most likely, we're assuming the Jaguars will be starting QB, David Garrard for the duration of the season, and secondly, we're assuming the lockout ends on or before Jim Irsay's deadline of July 4th.
Agent Bob Lattinville, of Premier Stinson Sports represents over 100 pro and collegiate coaches, came up with a list of top up and coming assistant coaches for ESPN's Paul Kuharsky and two Jaguars assistants made the top 10. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was ranked No. 1 and Matt Griffin, an offensive assistant, ranked No. 10.
If you were up last night, you may have seen a link in the "Daily Links" directing you to this article. Maurice Jones-Drew recently appeared on the NFL Network and questioned why the Jaguars moved up to draft QB, Blaine Gabbert. For those of you that missed it, this is the paragraph I'm talking about:
"In a Monday night appearance on NFL Network’s Total Access, Jones-Drew said that the Jaguars should have gone in another direction in round one. “I just feel like what we needed as an offense wasn’t a new quarterback, we just needed another year amongst each other because we had a lot of new players come in,” Jones-Drew said. “You see a team like the Patriots or the Steelers or the Colts, those guys [have] been in the same system for the 10, 12 years together, and so that’s what we’re trying to grow right now.”"
Maurice Jones-Drew has been rated by his peers as the 30th best player in the NFL. While my brother and I sat and watched Jones-Drew's segment on the NFL Network, my brother (a Steelers fan) said, "Apparently players are just as susceptible to the hype machine as the media is." That's a striking statement. Then I thought about it. Players know how well other players in their division play, but outside of that, they would rely heavily on media outlets such as ESPN. Sure, they probably know the abilities of each other than most fans, but having players rank the top 100 players is nothing but a massive, subjective list. We could make that list here at The Jaggernaut… but let's not.
The importance of offense and defense has been debated since the beginning of time. There are a few different philosophies that are often said. "You can't lose if you don't give up any points." "You can't lose if you score on every possession." "Defense wins championships." All those are great, but as usual, the truth probably lies somewhere in between it all, and the Jaguars will have to find that balance to make a run deep into the playoffs.
As many of you may know, Jaguars DE Austen Lane has a blog at http://prointerviews.org/blog/austenlane. It's a great source of inside information such as this tidbit he dropped today.
"Some fans have asked me about D’Anthony Smith and how his injury has healed. I am happy to report that D. Smith is 100% and I quote “excited to get back on the field.""
As most of you will remember, Smith missed the entire 2010 season with an achilles injury. It's hard to tell how a player will respond coming off of such a major injury, but the fact that he's "100%" is good because it gives him plenty of time to build confidence in that tendon before the season starts.
As most of you know by now, Adam Stites is headed back to Big Cat Country, and he asked me if I would be interested in taking over the site after he left. Quite frankly, I'm honored to have been offered the position here at The Jaggernaut. Adam built a great site from the very earliest days. In his short run, he established this site as one of my daily stops for Jaguars news and opinions.
Most of you probably are already familiar with me, but if you're not, here you go. I write for Big Cat Country and AFC South Daily. I'll be leaving BCC at the end of the month to focus on this site, but I'll continue writing about the division over at AFCSD.
I realize that some of you probably won't stick around with Adam moving on, and that's okay. I understand, but I would like you to give us a chance here too. It's a work-in progress, and there will be some small changes on the site in the coming weeks.
Now, here's the ways you can keep up with The Jaggernaut. We have a Facebook page. It's the same one that the site has always had and you can like it here. You can follow me on Twitter. I'll post links to all my new articles on Facebook and Twitter, so it's a great way to keep up with The Jaggernaut.
Finally, I want to throw out an offer to anyone to email me questions. The contact form has been updated, as well as all the follow buttons on the right. Send me any questions you have about me, the site, or the team. If I get enough, it'll turn into a mailbag post, but I'll respond in some way to every question I get. My email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (or just click contact and fill out the form).
I'm excited to be here, and I can only hope to fill a portion of the very large shoes I'm supposed to be filling. I hope The Jaggernaut remains one of your daily stops for Jaguars news.
