the draft - what were we thinkin'?

OK, let me start with this. Before the draft I said the Jaguars should take Reggie Nelson, the safety from Florida. The Jaguars did indeed pick Reggie Nelson, the safety from Florida. I should be extremely happy. Truth be told I'm not that unhappy. The "what if" story though is...Brady Quinn, the quarterback from Notre Dame, that everyone thought would be gone long before the Jaguars had an opportunity to pick, was still available. It's no secret that quarterback isn't the strongest postion on the Jaguars roster. We have three guys. All are pretty good. None are great. The best of them is Byron Leftwich, who's in the last year of his contract and, in my opinion, wants to go someplace else. Whether he has a good or bad year, I'll be surprised if he's a Jaguar after the upcoming season. Let's just say after a few years of not living up to the fans' expectations, Byron isn't exactly feelin' the love in J'ville. If it's good, he'll be all full of his "I tolf you so" self, thumb his nose at Jacksonville where he never felt appreciated and take a huge contract in another city. If it's bad, Jacksonville won't offer him a contract worth considering and he'll take a huge contract in another city, because quarterbacks get huge contracts and people always think things can get better with a scenery change. Brady Quinn has potential to be great, and I think we should have taken that chance. Give him a year to learn as Leftwich plays out his contract and let the cards fall where they may...but no. On the flip side, the operative word is potential. No position holds more uncertainty and more first round bust examples than quarterback. No, it's not a sure thing, but damn guys...the chance was staring you in the face and you didn't take it. How do you pass that up?!?

Yeah, I speak from a fan's perspective, and am probably willing to take on more risk that someone who actually has to answer for the picks and how they affect the team. Yeah, we really needed a safety, and Nelson will be a very good one. It's not a bad pick, but I can't help wondering "what if".

The rest of the draft went OK, except the fourth round, where we started by picking a punter. Other people who could really make a difference on this team were still out there, and we draft a punter. I know, we probably need one, but it could have waited. We had two picks in the fourth and one in the fifth, and I gotta think that guy would have still been there, because nobody drafts punters. Punters are undrafted free agents that come in pleading for a job after the dust settles. Marcus Thomas was still available...at least until Denver took him. The guy was a first round talent who had some character issues that he swears are behind him. We should have taken him in the fourth round and let him prove himself. If he's lying and still has off the field issues, you can cut him. Worst case, you didn't lose much...maybe a punter, or take the punter later and skip one of those flyers on a fast linebacker. We have the market cornered on fast linebackers and yet we take more in the late rounds.

I know I sound like I'm not happy, and that's not the case. I think we did OK in the draft. I just think we could have done a little better.