World Cup 2006 is approaching

If you need a reason to get pumped up, here are all the goals the USA scored from the 2002 tourney... picture quality isnt great...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwqBiJoREEk

Jimmy Smith retires

Sad day for jaguar fans. unexpected news for sure.

Smith will go down as one of the top 2 or 3 jaguars in history. In a group with Brunell and Boselli. One of the best receivers in his time. Not sure if he has amassed enough stats to warrant an invitation to the Hall of Fame, but he is borderline.

Ill always remember that diving TD catch against the Broncos in the 96 playoffs. in case ive never mentioned this before, i was there, 14th row 50 yard line! haha

My Jags Draft for 2006

Here is my draft class for 2006. I thought I did pretty well on the first day. Getting value at all three picks while addressing needs... at least what I perceive as needs. Second day was difficult. part of which was due to the fact that the Jag's front office bungled a couple trades leaving themselves only one pick outside the 7th round.

1)D'Qwell Jackson - LB - Maryland. Florida boy. Was the ACC defensive player of the year. Led the entire ACC in tackles as a junior and senior. led maryland in tackles the last three years. played inside and outside at maryland. smart player who is very competitive. biggest knock is that he doesnt have great timed speed. some might say this is a reach. but he went only 5 or 6 picks later to the Browns. think he is a solid player that would come in from day 1 and start.

2)Eric Winston - OT - Miami. Would have been a top 10 pick if not for a bad knee injury a couple years ago. came back last year and struggled some early on. was playing better by the end of the year. they say his injury can take up to two years to recover from. at worst should be a solid RT in the NFL. if he can fully recover from than knee injury and play like he did prior to that, he could be a real steal. first round potential in a second round pick. Ended up going to Houston in the beginning of the 3rd round.

3)Max Jean-Gilles - OG - Georgia. another florida boy. Early in the draft process was considered a fringe first rounder. ended up dropping to the beginning of the 4th round taken by Philly. i have no idea why he fell so far. there was concern about his weight and that he wasnt as dominating as he could be. but was named first team all american. i think he could have come in right away and started at LG for the Jags. while it may seem odd to use two first day picks on offensive lineman, i thought that was one of the biggest weaknesses for the Jags last year. plus I think I got very good value with both of them.

Now this is one of the problems picking where the Jags do. They traded away their 4th rounder to move up just a handful of spots in the 3rd. Obviously if i were running this draft, i would not have done so. Jean-Gilles would have still be there if we stayed there in the 3rd. And in the 4th round I would have grabbed DeMario Minter, also from Georgia. and then I probably wouldnt have used my 5th round pick on...

4)Dee Webb - CB - Florida. obviously a bad value here since the Jags actually drafted him in the 7th round. this was a difficult pick for me since some of the guys I was targeting had gone off earlier in the round... DeMario Minter, Marcus Maxey, and most notably, Jeff King. King was a player I really wanted and fully expected to be there in the 5th round only to see Carolina get him a few picks earlier. So thrown for a little bit of a loop, I didnt know who to pick. Was a strange year in the sense that there werent many second day players that I really liked. And half of them just got drafted earlier in this round. I debated between taking Webb, Marcus Hudson of NC St and Jeremy Mincey of Florida. I went with Webb thinking this was good value(thought he would have gone near the 4th round somewhere) plus the Jags could use some depth at the position. He reminds me of the Fred Gibson pick last year where throughout the college football season I told myself I would never draft this guy. Gibson because he didnt love football and Webb because I saw him repeatedly beaten deep. But just like Gibson, I thought this was good value and since I wasnt sure who to take, I grabbed Webb. Even if he turns into a good player, it was still bad value. I wonder if Hudson or Mincey will turn out to be better players. He had potential. Was highly touted coming out of high school(ed white in jax). but he struggled to live up to that at florida. came out early when he probably shouldnt have. we'll see how this turns out. one of my least favorite picks of all time.

5)David Anderson - WR - Colorado St. first of two 7th round picks. Jags traded their 6th for two 7ths. when i was out in colorado, saw quite a few rams games and was always impressed by this guy. plays fast. quick in and out of breaks. knows how to get open. has great hands. will catch balls over the middle. doesnt have great 40 time but neither did Jerry Rice. I think 40 times are overrated and that Anderson will be able to get open in the NFL. Biggest weakness is his size. 5'10 and 200 pounds or so. Basically the same size and plays the same way as Wayne Chrebet. I think he could be a similar player if given the chance. drafted by Houston who is in need of receivers. hopefully he'll make the roster.

6)Gerald Riggs - RB - Tennessee. 2nd of two 7th rounders. highly touted coming out of high school. didnt live up to potential at tennessee. had some injuries and had hard time cracking starting lineup with deep crop of backs. best year was 2004. ran for over 1000 yards and nearly 6 yards a carry while mostly coming off the bench. supposedly has first day talent but but never lived up to it. wasnt drafted. signed by the dolphins as undrafted free agent. may actually have a shot of making roster with ricky williams out for the year.

So there are my picks for the year. Dont like it as much as I liked last years. Difficult because I dont know when or where the Jags will make a trade and it usually throws me for a loop. Other than Webb, I think I got pretty good value with my picks. I fully believe the first three will become at worst solid starters in the league. The 2nd day picks could become solid contributors given the opportunity.

Jags 2006 draft is complete

Here is my opinion on the Jags 6 picks. I think its an alright draft. Dont love it. I wrote something on the first three but Ill address them again after giving it more thought.

1)Marcedes Lewis - im not a huge fan of this pick. I do think he could turn into a great player. Im just not sure about that. He does look like he has great hands, can make difficult catches, and has the height to be a mismatch. But he doesnt look very fast. From the highlights I saw, he doesnt appear to get a lot of separation. i wonder how thatll translate to the NFL. he doesnt look like the kind of TE that will bowl people over in the open field. from the clips ive seen, he doesnt break many tackles. He looks like a WR. he is tall and lanky. doesnt have a lot of bulk on him. I wonder if he will have a difficult time blocking DEs and LBs. My biggest worry though is this past year against USC, CAL, and Northwestern in the their bowl(three of the four toughest games), he was completely shut out. a total nonfactor. combined for 4 catches and 36 yards in those three games. What did those teams do to shut him down? was told they put corners against him. cant imagine a guy with that height would be totally shut down by college level corners. if so, thats not a good sign. maybe they put bigger defenders on him. maybe faster. maybe they double and triple teamed him in which case NFL teams wont be able to afford that luxury. Basically i think he has too much risk for a first rounder. Heath Miller went in a similar spot in last years draft but I dont think Lewis is quite the prospect Miller was. I think Lewis could turn into a very good TE but I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered first. Jaguars were willing to answer them. We shall see...

2)Maurice Drew - very productive player as a RB and especially as a return man. very fast and quick. but he is barely over 5'6. so the question is, can a 5'6 RB ever be a fulltime starter in the NFL? and if not, is it worth it to spend a 2nd round pick on a change of pace/3rd down back/return man? Unless he turns into one of the elite return men, i think the answer is no. But again, we'll have to see. I dont think this is a case like Pearman who was just too slow. Drew is extremely fast. And he is solidly built. the guy is over 200 pounds at 5'6. he is pretty thick. with that weight, there is a possibility he could be a fulltime starter. I think it would need to be on a team like the Colts, Eagles, or Broncos though. Not sure he could run it between the tackles, 20 times a game, 16 games a year for a team like the Jags. And even more critical, can a guy 5'6 stand in and block pass rushers on a consistent basis? Im not sure he can. Im excited about him as a return man though. I think the minute he walks into camp he will be the starting punt returner and possibly the kick returner as well. I was reading in the Dallas Morning News where he averaged nearly 25 yards per kickoff and punt return in his career! Not just any given year but for a career. Thats pretty amazing. I think this guy will be a very good punt and kick returner for the Jags. I think he will also win the 3rd down role and should be at worst a solid player there. But the question remains, can he be an every down back? And if not, should you use a 2nd round pick on a speciality player?

3)Clint Ingram - I wasnt fond of this pick. Not because of the player but because of the circumstances. The Jags moved up 12 spots in the 3rd round to make this pick but gave up a 4th to do so. Earlier in the 3rd round, a team moved up 5 spots and only gave up a 7th. Then as I found out on the jags message board to a reply of this very post, a team moved up 16 spots into the bottom of the 3rd round and only gave up a 6th. Clearly the Jaguars gave up more than they should have to select a need. They felt Ingram was the last LB capable of starting right away and they paid for it. For the most part, I am completely against trading up, and Im especially against it when we give up more than we need to. Now on to Ingram. I dont think size is an issue. I dont think speed is an issue. Looking at his highlights, he looks athletic. Attacked the back on screen plays. Looks like he read the QBs eye's well. Had 5 sacks as well as 5 INTs as a senior. But the thing that surprised me, was for a guy that appeared to be instinctive on tape and around the ball, he only finished the year with 60 tackles. his best total in his career. reading all the reports on him(which were quite varied), the common theme was that he isnt very instinctive and is a better athlete than football player. which I guess could explain why he was capable of making big plays but was very inconsistent in doing so. Hopefully with Jack Del Rio, theyll be able to coach em up. I think he should be graded a little more harshly because he is essentially a 3rd and 4th rounder. I didnt see anything that had him rated higher than a mid-3rd. most had him lower. I dont think they needed to trade up for him. looks like he is a good enough athlete to start. not sure he is a good enough football player.

4)Brent Hawkins - DE/LB from Illinois St. hasnt played a lot of football. started off at purdue. left to go play basketball. decided to return to football. put up huge sack totals albeit against very bad competition. wasnt invited to the combine but put up impressive numbers at his pro day. total boom or bust player. doesnt have the size to be a DE(the Robert Mathis' are few and far between). the Jags said they wanted to move him to LB. seems odd considering his forte is being a pass rusher. the jags havent had much luck with small school guys in the past. lots of upside. but could just as easily be way in over his head.

5)James Wyche - underachiever. good value in the 7th though. similar to the Bobby McCray pick although I dont think Wyche is quite the athlete. Wyche put up some solid numbers. but inconsistent. i think he might have a hard time making the roster. Hayward, Spicer, and McCray are locks. Wyche will have to battle for the last DE spot. assuming another DE spot even becomes available. Meier is a DT/DE. And Brent Hawkins will start off his career as strictly a combo LB/DE pass rusher.

6)Dee Webb - another underachiever who is a good value in the 7th. just like Wyche, maybe the light will click on and he will live up to his potential. think he is a better athlete comparatively at his position than Wyche is though. got burned a lot at florida although he started playing better by the end of his last year. might have more of a chance to make the roster than Wyche though depending on how many CBs are kept. Williams and Mathis are the starters. Cousin, Starks, Richardson, and Webb could battle for 2 and maybe even three spots.

Overall I think its an alright draft. Could have been better. Difficult because they had so few picks but thats their own fault. I think there is significant questions with each pick. Not many sure things in my opinion. I wouldnt be surprised if only 4 of them made the team. and wouldnt be surprised if only two of them made any real contributions this year. this could just as easily be a good draft as it could be a complete bust.