Okay so Ive always thought it would be pretty cool to be running a draft for an NFL team... preferably the jaguars. so every year, i watch the draft from beginning to end and pick for the jags as if i were the GM. not exactly sure which year i started but not like it matters cuz ive lost my early drafts. i had it all on a website that is now gone and ive also lost the papers i had it all written down on. but i still have the last few years thankfully and this post will be dedicated to those... and future drafts.
now like many of these know it all nfl draft geeks out there, i like to think im not half bad at this. even though im at a disadvantage by not paying scouts to work for me and not having hours of game tape on each player, i usually do a pretty good job. during the college season, i try to watch the seniors who will be entering the draft(and those thinking of leaving early) and do my best to see many of them play at least once to get a feel for their ability. now with the combine, senior bowl practices, and all star bowl games all being televised, its getting easier to learn about all the players. couple that with reading numerous scouting magazines and websites(which is basically my version of having scouts), and i usually get a fair understanding of each player.
now one of the reasons I started doing this was because i thought Tom Coughlin, the first Jaguars coach, wasnt a very good drafter and i thought i could do better. coughling almost always picked based on need. as one could guess, that didnt hurt him too often early in drafts because the quality of each draft is high in the first couple rounds. so reaching for a player doesnt hurt because that player is usually rated high anyways. but the later the draft went, the worse his drafting became. and i thought i could do better. unfortunately ive lost most of my drafts where he was still coach/gm/lord of all thing jaguars that showed I may have been a little better. now that he is gone and replaced with James Harris and Jack Del Rio, the jaguars drafting has become better. better than me so far.
Each team, front office, GM has their own philosophy on the best method of drafting. Some draft for needs. others draft strictly on best available player. most probably a combination. I follow two rules when I draft. the first is if you are going to draft for need, you should do it in the first round or two. generally the quality of players are pretty even so if you reach for a need, you arent reaching very far and you are still drafting a high quality player. the farther the draft moves along, the more sense drafting best available player becomes. Its not a surprise to see a player with a potential late first/early second round grade slip to the third and fourth rounds because of whatever reason whether it be an injury scare or a disappointing workout. Thats when I would gladly pass on a guy who i think is a fourth rounder but fills a need in order to take the player with the late first/early second round grade. Good players fall to the second day of the draft and they shouldnt be overlooked because of a need. Besides, you cannot expect a second day pick to adequately fill a need so you may as well take the best player still available. now the second rule i follow is that when in doubt, take the player from the southeast and more specifically florida. there is a reason why the UF, FSU, and Miami are in the top 5 or 6 of colleges with most NFL players. if im torn between two players and one kid grew up playing high school ball in south florida and then played college in the SEC or ACC and the other kid played high school ball in the state of washington and played in the Pac10, im gonna pick the first kid cuz the football is just flat out better down here. maybe thats a stupid philosophy but the numbers speak for themselves.
so anyways this is who the jags would have picked if i were GM for the last few years...
| # | My Jags Draft | # | Actual Jags Draft |
| 28 | D'Qwell Jackson - LB - Maryland | 28 | Marcedes Lewis - TE - UCLA |
| 60 | Eric Winston - OT - Miami | 60 | Maurice Drew - RB - UCLA |
| 80 | Max Jean-Gilles - OG - Georgia | 80 | Clint Ingram - LB - Oklahoma |
| 160 | Dee Webb - CB - Florida | 160 | Brent Hawkins - DE - Illinois St |
| 213 | David Anderson - WR - Colorado St | 213 | James Wyche - DE - Syracuse |
| 237 | Gerald Riggs - RB - Tennessee | 237 | Dee Webb - CB - Florida |
2006
I really like my first three picks(all first day picks). I think each will become at worst solid starters in the league. Was disappointed the Jags didnt use any picks on the offensive line. I thought that position was one of if not the weakest spot on the team at the end of last year. They didnt address it in free agency other than some prayers on a couple first round busts. We'll see how that turns out. Didnt agree with their decision to give up a 4th round pick in order to move up a handful of spots in the 3rd. thought they gave up too much. Dee Webb in the 5th is one of my least favorite picks of all time. Even if he does well it was a bad value.
| # | My Jags Draft | # | Actual Jags Draft |
| 21 | Mark Clayton - WR - Oklahoma | 21 | Matt Jones - ATH - Arkansas |
| 52 | Channing Crowder - LB - Florida | 52 | Khalif Barnes - OT - Washington |
| 87 | Ciatrick Fason - RB - Florida | 87 | Scott Starks - CB - Wisconsin |
| 127 | Fred Gibson - WR - Georgia | 127 | Alvin Pearman - RB - Virginia |
| 157 | Gerald Sensabaugh - S - North Carolina | 157 | Gerald Sensabaugh - S - North Carolina |
| 185 | Jovan Haye - DE - Vanderbilt | 185 | Chad Owens - WR - Hawaii |
| 194 | Rob Petitti - OT - Pittsburgh | 194 | Pat Thomas - LB - NCST |
| 237 | Adam Bergen - TE - Lehigh | 237 | Chris Roberson - CB - Eastern Michigan |
2005
Jags shocked a lot of people by taking Matt Jones with the 21st pick. Many including myself thought Mark Clayton was a safer pick. Funny how it worked out though. A lot of prognosticators thought the Jaguars would take Barnes in the first and ended up taking him in the second. If the first two picks had been reversed, Barnes in the first and Jones in the second, a lot of the experts would have given the Jaguars draft a much higher grade. But as it turned out, Matt Jones was too risky for many and the jags were given a low grade as a result. Im disappointed in their draft because I dont think many could potentially become starters while I think my first five picks all have the talent to do so. One of the crazy twists that keeps appearing is that I once again picked the same player the Jags did in the same round. I had only done it before with first day picks where I think its more likely to happen but this was a first having done it on the second day. I think we both got a steal with Sensabaugh.
| # | My Jags Draft | # | Actual Jags Draft |
| 9 | Kenechi Udeze - DE - USC | 9 | Reggie Williams - WR - Washington |
| 39 | Sean Jones - S - Georgia | 39 | Daryl Smith - LB - Georgia Tech |
| 55 | Darnell Dockett - DT - FSU | 55 | Greg Jones - RB - Florida St |
| 86 | Jerricho Cotchery - WR - NCST | 86 | Jorge Cordova - LB - Nevada |
| 118 | PK Sam - WR - FSU | 118 | Anthony Maddox - DT - Delta St |
| 120 | Etric Pruitt - S - Southern Mississippi | 120 | Ernest Wilford - WR - Virginia Tech |
| 137 | Jeb Terry - OG - North Carolina | 137 | Josh Scobee - K - Louisiana Tech |
| 150 | Scott Wells - C - Tennessee | 150 | Chris Thompson - CB - Nicholls St |
| 159 | DeMarco McNeil - DT - Auburn | 159 | Sean Bubin - OT - Illinois |
| 249 | Jason Geathers - RB - Miami | 249 | Bobby McCray - DE - Florida |
2004
These guys have completed one season and so far its not looking very good. and talk about what could have been... This is the exact reason why you should trust your gut. Rushing the passer was the Jags biggest need the entire year before this draft. And while I didnt really care for Udeze all that much, everyone kept praising him and I knew he would fill a huge void for the Jaguars and he looked pretty good every time i watched him. But what I really wanted to do was draft one of the linebackers from Miami, Vilma or Williams, even though LB wasnt an immediate need. And go figure, Vilma wins defensive rookie of the year and Williams was third in voting. The other thing Ive been kicking myself about was Jason Geathers. while I always thought he was a super athletic guy that was a good player that could never find a spot on the hurricanes roster(stuck behind the likes of portis and mcgahee at RB as well as andre johnson, roscoe parrish, and ryan moore at receiver), no one in the NFL thought the same as I did so Im not sure Ill ever find out if he could have found a role in the NFL. Last I heard, Coughlin picked him up and he is currently with the Giants on the practice squad. Anyways, I was debating between him and McCray with that last pick but didnt go with McCray because I thought he was a headcase. But thankfully the Jags werent thinking the same thing and went with McCray who was a great find in the 7th round. Overall though this was a down draft for both parties. of course its only been one year which is too early to judge a class, but the first rounders were disappointments. And Sean Jones was hurt in training camp and never played. If he can come back from injury and play well, coupled with Dockett who was a good player for the Cardinals, this draft could rebound for me.
| # | My Jags Draft | # | Actual Jags Draft |
| 7 | Terrell Suggs - DE - Arizona St | 7 | Byron Leftwich - QB - Marshall |
| 39 | Taylor Jacobs - WR - Florida | 39 | Rashean Mathis - DB - Bethune-Cookman |
| 72 | Vince Manuwai - OG - Hawaii | 72 | Vince Manuwai - OG - Hawaii |
| 104 | Onterrio Smith - RB - Tennessee | 104 | George Wrighster - TE - Oregon |
| 132 | Tully Banta-Cain - DE - California | 132 | LaBrandon Toefield - RB - LSU |
| 176 | Mike Nattiel - LB - Florida | 176 | Brandon Green - DE - Rice |
| 179 | Jeremy Bridges - OT - Southern Mississippi | 179 | David Young - S - Georgia Southern |
| 193 | Curry Burns - S - Louisville | 193 | Marques Ogden - OT - Howard |
| 218 | Cecil Sapp - RB - Colorado St | 218 | Malaefou MacKenzie - RB - USC |
2003
This was one of my better drafts. Suggs was the defensive rookie of the year although I have to wonder if the Jags would have used him the way the Ravens did. It just so happened that this was the new Front Office's first draft and it was pretty darn good. Probably better than mine. Kinda odd that I picked the same player as the Jags did in Manuwai. The only picks that havent worked out so far are Jacobs in the 2nd and Banta-Cain in the 4th. Jacobs was hurt his rookie year and is now stuck in a run oriented offense with Gibbs in Washington. He could yet break out... but I know you're not supposed to draft Gator receivers. I just assumed with him doing well in a non-Spurrier offense(Zook/Zaunbrecher offense) that maybe the rule would change with him. Banta-Cain wasnt disappointing in that he hasnt played(he has played a little for the Patriots), its that I could have picked him much later. Bad value. Otherwise, I thought my draft was succesful. One of the recurring problems with Coughlin is that many of his draft picks not only didnt start, but couldnt make an NFL team. While this draft may not have provided many starters(other than suggs, manuwai, and occasionally smith), i believe all these players were on 53 man rosters providing quality depth. One thing Coughlin's draft never did.
| # | My Jags Draft | # | Actual Jags Draft |
| 9 | John Henderson - DT - Tennessee | 9 | John Henderson - DT - Tennessee |
| 40 | Mike Pearson - OT - Florida | 40 | Mike Pearson - OT - Florida |
| 89 | Terrence Metcalf - OT - Mississippi | 89 | Akin Ayodele - LB - Purdue |
| 108 | Keyou Craver - CB - Nebraska | 108 | David Garrard - QB - East Carolina |
| 118 | Aaron Kampman - DE - Iowa | 118 | Chris Luzar - TE - Virginia |
| 180 | Eric Heitmann - OG - Stanford | 180 | Clenton Ballard - DT - SW Texas St |
| 222 | Daryl Jones - WR - Miami | 222 | Kendall Newson - WR - MTSU |
| 247 | Justin Ena - LB - BYU | 247 | Steve Smith - DB - Oregon |
| 248 | Ken Kocher - DT - UCLA | 248 | Hayden Epstein - K - Michigan |
2002
This was Coughlins last draft as a Jaguar and I must admit that it was one a good one... especially compared to the three previous years which were pretty bad. Kinda funny how it worked out again though. Me picking the same player as the Jags although this time it was twice. first two picks. I swear I usually pick right away before I see who the jags pick so their decision doesnt influence mine. Anyway, Coughlins third and fourth round picks were much better than mine. Ayodele has been a good starter for the Jags and Garrard has been one of the better backup QBs in the league. This was one of Coughlins stronger drafts overall. I did better later in the draft however. Kampmann has become a quality starter for the packers and Heitmann has as well for the niners. In 2004, Ena was starting some games at MLB for the Titans due to injury. Jones returned kicks for the Giants early in his career but I believe is currently a free agent. As I mentioned before, a lot of Coughlin's second day draft picks never made teams let alone actually played. three years after this draft I had a fourth, sixth, and seventh round pick actually starting games. Coughlins were out of the NFL. Was an unfortunate trend of his that thankfully came to an end. But again, giving credit where credits due, this was a solid draft for Coughlin.
Unfortunately thats as far back as my records go. moved twice in a 6 month span and lost my papers somewhere. still mad that i lost it all. what is a shame is that i started this for my love of the nfl draft and also to see if i could outdo tom coughlin as a drafter. and whats really a shame is that the only draft of mine during the coughlin era that wasnt lost, coughlin looked to get the better of me. but i do remember the three years prior, i returned the favor and got the better of him. although if you go back on look at the jaguars drafts from 99-01, youd see besting those wasnt a very difficult task.
Moving on, some day soon Ill create a chart with a breakdown of how many players from each of our drafts are still in the NFL, starting, pro bowlers, etc... to get an accurate estimate of how i match up against the professionals. Now that my earliest draft that wasnt lost is three years ago, i should start to get a good idea of who won each draft.
