I caught up with Chris from Big Cat Country to ask him 5 questions about his Jacksonville Jaguars. You can see the questions he asked me with my answers here.
I wish I knew. I'm still a little spun out over how this decision was made and the way it played out over the off season. It's like the front office was trying to avoid a quarterback dellima and instead made one far worse when David clearly played better than Byron. That said, once the decision was made to make David the number one, the Jaguars had no choice but to release Byron. Nobody pays a backup quarterback 5.4 million dollars and creates the possibility of more problems in the locker room down the line. Once they committed to David, they had to completely commit, and that included cutting Byron. It would have been nice to get something for him though...
2. How do you see the carries being split between Fred Taylor and MJD? Are they the best 1-2 punch in the league?
I see it being a 60/40 spilt, with MJD getting more action on 3rd down/Goal Line situations where his skills are best. I think they are the best tandem because they make each other better. Fred gets to rest a bit more as he approaches 10,000 yards (he'll be the 21st player in NFL history to reach that milestone, how about that for "fragile fred"?) and MJD will get a lighter work load so he can do all that he does. Yeah, LT and Turner had better "stats" last season, but as a combo, Fred and Drew shared time more equally and both were outstanding.
3. Are any of the Jaguars' receivers ready to step up and be a big time receiver? Do you think they regret drafting Matt Jones so high?
I know for a fact they regret taking Reggie Williams so high, we'll know if that's true for Matt Jones in a couple of weeks. I know the coaches have focused on improving Matt's physical preparation and game study more so than ever before. That being said, I think the best wide receiver for the Jaguars got put on Injured Reserve, and that's rookie Mike Walker.
4. Jacksonville has had some really good defenses in the past. Where do you think the 2007 version will rank among those defenses?
If Reggie Hayward is within 80% of what he was before his injury, and we don't have another massive string of injuries like last season (Starting Middle Linebacker, DT, DE, Strong Safety), we'll improve from 5th best to top two.
5. Is Jack Del Rio's job in jeopardy if the Jags don't make the playoffs?
Yes. Without a doubt.