Would the Jaguars be Interested in Tyrod?

With spring practice getting ready to start football is almost here again. Like all of you I will be salivating over every big play and worrying about every player that seems like they are nowhere near where they need to be for opening kickoff. Luckily we have the NFL draft to distract us--with Mel Kiper’s promise that he knows exactly what is best for every team. We can watch as he tells us that anyone who dares choose someone not on his big board will be doomed to the Cleveland Browns fate (see Chicago Cubs for example). Like most Hokies, I will be hoping that Tyrod ends up where he will be used as a true quarterback and not left for some last ditch wild cat package or forced into playing wide out for the Raiders. Sources recently announced that Tyrod Taylor will be doing a private work out for the Jacksonville Jaguars (also with the Eagles and Redskins). So as a diehard teal and black wearer on Sunday I will offer my 2 cents on the chances of Tyrod coming to the Jags and what they would use him for.

The Jaguars last drafted a quarterback in 2003 with Byron Leftwich as a first round pick out of Marshall (story goes that Del Rio wanted Terrell Suggs and instead Harris called out Leftwich when he got to the stage). Having made only one QB pick in 6 years, along with every other bad draft pick James “Shaq” Harris made caused him to step down in 2008. In 2007, David Garrard was promoted to starting quarterback and Byron was released in the final roster cuts during the preseason to everyone’s surprise. David took the team to the playoffs with an 11-5 record, 18 touchdowns, and only 3 interceptions (and he even missed 3 games). The 2008 and 2009 seasons saw the Jags underperform at the QB position, relegating the team back to the middle to lower end of the league with regard to winning percentage. In the 2009 season the Jags went into the last 4 games only needing 2 wins to make the playoffs and lost all 4 to finish 7-9. 2009 also saw the Jags pick up Luke McCown from the Bucs for a 7th round pick in the 2010 draft. In the preseason of 2010 Luke McCown out performed Garrad and was on the path to replace him (much as Garrard did Leftwich) until he tore his ACL. The season though saw a drastic reversal of fortune for David Garrard as he posted career highs in touchdowns (23) and interceptions (15) for a Jaguars team that outperformed expectations with an 8-8 record. Jack Del Rio and David Garrad’s careers have become intertwined and the common opinion is if they do not make the playoffs this year they are both gone. Regardless of the outcome of the season, with only 1 drafted QB and Luke McCown not going to be anything more than a Band-Aid, the Jaguars are going to need a future franchise quarterback.

When Harris stepped down in 08, Gene Smith became the General Manager of the Jaguars (no not that Gene Smith). Gene Smith has become known to pick kids that are smarter, family based, no history of problems, and come from smaller schools. The last two drafts under Gene Smith are as follows:

2009

2010

As you can see, Gene has drafted 4 kids that play at Virginia schools. He also picked up Don Carrey off of waivers from the Browns who is a Norfolk State graduate. Every one of Gene Smith’s picks that were healthy either started or played a lot of downs. Multiple press conferences with Gene Smith and Jack Del Rio this offseason have already shown that they are going to focus early on defense. Two seasons ago the Jags finished last in the NFL with 13 sacks. They doubled this number last year but still feel that there is a lot more room to improve. The Jags also picked up a new QB coach, Mike Sheppard, the old Bengals receiver coach, and it is yet to be seen whether or not he will have any influence over draft selections. Jacksonville has the 16th overall selection in this years draft. However, having 5 total picks in the first 4 rounds will allow the Jags to fill out there defensive picks early and allow them to take a QB in the middle to late rounds. Jags fans are hoping for a QB pick in Jacksonville by the 3rd round but it is more likely it will be in the 4th round or later.

I could see the Jaguars taking Tyrod Taylor later in the draft. If they were to take him it would be for the quarterback position and not for wide receiver (Jags do not run a wild cat). Gene Smith does his homework on players and puts them through the tests. Tyrod fits into the “Gene’s type of guy” category and would fit into the system pretty well. He would be able to sit as the developmental QB for a year or two before taking over as the starter, which would be very beneficial for Tyrod. However, Gene could just be covering his bases with bringing him in to work him out. He could also be trying to blow smoke at the other owners so that they don’t know what he is planning. Tyson Alualu was unexpected at the number 10 pick last year and no one thought the Jags were even interested (it has come out that he was on multiple teams boards for the first round as well). It could just as well be that Tyrod is this year’s Alualu. We won’t know until the end of April obviously, but that is what makes mock drafting so fun. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very likely, I say it is about a 3 that the Jaguars draft Tyrod. This number could shoot up if there is an early run on QB’s in this draft , which is not a strong draft for QB’s.