Three weeks ago I sent a buddy of mine a text "We really need to stop winning or we have no chance of landing a franchise QB and getting the franchise on track."
Since then - back to back wins at home against Houston (31-24, The "Law of Gus" win) and Cleveland (24-20).
Boy am I right, and it pains me!
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| David Garrard, Jaguars QB |
It is the typical Jaguar cycle, we are good enough to get a late teens pick one year and than a pick around 10-14 the next year and blow the picks on decent player we could have gotten 20 picks later, just like the Tyson Alualu pick this past year at #10. Alualu has been playing well and might end up being a solid pro, but the fact remains that we could have traded back 20 picks, acquired an additional pick and still have taken him!
It is this type of management that annoys me to no end. Garrard is not a franchise QB, I'm sorry. Sure he went to the Pro Bowl last year, only because every other QB decided not to play. He has lead to some solid wins, but has also played extremely poor all too often. (Did anyone watch the Monday Night game against Tennessee?)
Unfortunately at this pace I think we will end up winning at least three of our final games. I expect to get destroyed at the Meadowlands next week by the younger Manning, but after that the schedule looks very favorable. At Vince Young-less Titans, Home to the Campbell lead Raiders (Campbell is one of the few NFL starters that is actually worse than Garrard), @ Lucas Oil against the better Manning. Honestly we should win at least one of those games, if not two. That already puts us at .500. We then finish with a Home game against Washington and a road game against the soft Texans. Could Jacksonville really have the potential to be a 10 win team? Does that get us into the playoffs? Am I ok with a playoff appearance?
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| Jake Locker, Washington QB |
Wow, all huge questions. I wanted Andrew Luck. Too bad he will be throwing to Steve Johnson next year, the player that is single handily making me look like a fool in my fantasy league. Thanks.
So that leaves Mallet and Locker on the table.
If we end up getting a pick in the early teens, we might get lucky and be able to nab Jake Locker or Ryan Mallet but I doubt it.
Other than the Bills, who would be foolish to draft anyone other then Luck with their first pick, who else needs a QB? The 49ers need one, although I am not sold that they will draft one this year. Depends 100% on Locker and Mallet's combine and interview accomplishments. The Bengals desperately need to replace Carson Palmer. Just ask ESPN Sports Guy, Bill Simmons how he feels about
Palmer.
". My favorite thing about Palmer: His conventional statistics keep throwing everyone off his rancid scent -- 1,855 yards (seventh overall), 12 TDs, seven picks, 83 QB rating. Not terrible, right?
So you have to dig a little ... and that's when you find out that he's last in third-down passing (49 percent completion rate, 431 yards, 62 rating), or that defenders have dropped 215 possible Palmer interceptions (approximate), or that his receivers unofficially lead the league in walking off the field shaking their heads at one another (which, by the way, really
should be a stat)."
So if I were Marvin Lewis (if I still have a job after this year) or Mike Brown, I would absolutely consider investing in a franchise QB in this draft. Mallet or Locker could learn behind Palmer for a year or two and take over a solid team after that. Expect the Bengals to do the opposite though.
And then there is the Broncos, oh wait they drafted Tim Tebow. My bad.
The Lions? They better hope that Stafford comes back from his injury problems.
Vikings? They had better take a QB. I'd expect Locker to be their pick, he has a lot more upside than Mallet and makes too much sense for them to take, right? Good thing Chilly is gone or they'd probably take someone else.
And then there is the Cardinals. Please tell me they are going to take a QB, please please PLEASE! I am tired of watching Larry Fitzgerald without a QB (cue Bill Bidwill "Hey Kurt, would you like to Favre this shit and come back next year? Larry's been asking for you...).
Then we still have the Redskins and Dolphins that might have a QB need.
Point is, we are not getting a top tier QB unless we lose out.
So I guess that means I am cheering for playoffs, although that hinders the franchises long term ability to field a competitive team.
Let's hope to getting Michael Vick, Kevin Kolb or Donovan McNabb this off-season.
(Hey Kurt, you wanna come back?)
Unless you're Art Rooney and someone puked all over your Pittsburgh Steelers. Seriously those things are Ugly, with a capital U. What is with that arm band? It looks like something that Allen Iverson should be wearing over in Turkey, not something I am seeing on the gridiron. And speaking of AI, maybe if he'd practiced a bit more he wouldn't be broke playing in Turkey, or maybe he would have scored more than two points last night. But really, here is the million dollar question, where was David Kahn? You can't tell me signing Iverson didn't cross his mind, seriously they need a few more point guards there and/or over paid high draft picks who can't play. Sorry Darko.
Fine back to the gridiron.