That's how I feel too Dwight. Source: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

One of the reasons Dwight Howard wants to leave the Magic is to go to a bigger market – a city like New York or L.A. New York, where he can become not only the face of a basketball team, but of social and popular culture (The irony of the situation, of course, is that he’s finally gotten the publicity that he craved; yet it’s caused him to tumble from grace in the eyes of his teammates, fans, and the greater public).  With a recent set of twitter quotes, Dwight Howard shot back at the Magic organization for denigrating his public perception.

Adidas would love some Dwight in New York. Source: CSPA via US PRESSWIRE

On the other side of the spectrum is Maurice Jones-Drew.  MJD was not a heralded number one pick like Dwight Howard was.  He wasn’t expected to become the star of a franchise, much less its centerpiece.  The contract he’s playing on is worth about as much as Howard’s rookie deal.  Yet, both Howard and MJD have been the faces of their respective franchises the past four or five years, and yet both will be replaced, albeit for separate reasons (Howard due to a poor relationship with the organization that can be blamed on both parties, and MJD due to a developing young first-round quarterback).

At the crux of these two situations is one more similarity – both Howard and Jones-Drew are set to play for teams that will struggle in the 2012-2013 season.  While Howard’s Magic have quickly fallen from the zenith that was the 2009 NBA finals, Jones-Drew’s Jaguars have been recovering from such a demise (post-2007) at a frustratingly slow pace.  Yet, despite this similarity, Howard and Jones-Drew  have had different reactions to their team’s struggles – Howard is looking to bail from his struggling team, while MJD is looking for a payday.

Yes, we will be needing some stellar play from all of you (except you Jarrett Dillard). Source: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

People often say that loyalty is dead in sports… and there’s no sport where that’s truer than in basketball.  As soon as Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen got traded to the Celtics, there’s been an incredible amount of free agent activity, and even collusion, amongst stars in the NBA.  You see, in the NBA, stars are looking for more than money – they’re looking for other stars to play with because they’re looking to win.  Shoot, money is almost guaranteed, as even B and C-list stars are getting max-level contracts (I’m looking at you Brook Lopez).  For guys like Lebron James, Dwight Howard, or even Deron Williams, there is no question that they’ll get paid – so other things like championship win-ability, celebrity status, and marketing opportunities become primary concerns.   In the NFL, however, money is always the primary concern… and is always haggled over.  A top three player at the most important position in football had to haggle for months to get a new deal that paid him like one.   Yet somehow, stars in the NFL almost always remain with their teams.  Who expected the Saints and Drew Brees – or the Lions and Calvin Johnson – to actually not come to an agreement?  The last NFL star to sign with another team was Peyton Manning, and that situation took the NFL by storm.  But in the NFL, the planets must align perfectly for a team to actually let its star be signed by another team, while in the NBA, sagas like those of Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and Lebron James are sadly but expected.

Drew Brees is happy to get back on that field. Source: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

So why are NFL players more loyal than NBA players?  The same reason why the American colonies fought with the British during the French and Indian War – they don’t really have a choice.  The NFL is like the 1700s – an era of limited rights and limited freedom – and the NFL’s franchise tag is the major determinant of both the relationship between the player and his team and the players’ freedom to switch NFL teams.  Because the franchise tag essentially allows teams to restrain players from signing with another team for a certain number of years in a row, NFL teams have far more leverage and control over contract negotiations and “player loyalty” than NBA teams do.  The NBA’s restricted free agency and Bird Rights simply don’t compare.  If the Jaguars didn’t have a couple more years of franchise tags in their back pocket, they might be more willing to start contract negotiations with MJD in this offseason.  If they didn’t, MJD is perhaps more likely to feel disrespected by his team, that they’d let him get into the final year or so of his deal without even discussing an extension.  Similarly, if the Magic could slap a franchise tag on Dwight Howard, it wouldn’t matter how much he pouted – he’d be with the Magic for at least 2.5 more years unless the Magic got an offer that came within 85-90% of his value.

I bet you're happy after signing that deal you got. Source: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

Because player freedom is more restricted, it’s harder to trade for players in the NFL because NFL teams expect to trade at close to 100% value.  Whereas, in the NBA, the combination of inflated contracts given out liberally and a lack of control after the contracts end makes trades far more likely because teams would rather sell at a severely discounted price.  As a result, contract negotiations in the NBA are relatively quick and painless; instead you risk overpaying pseudo-stars and losing your real stars.  On the other hand, while you won’t lose your stars in the NFL, contract negotiations are an excruciatingly time-consuming procedure.  Pick your poison.

– Zain Gowani

During last month’s polling, most of the head men in Jacksonville received overwhelming support from the community:

• 100% of fans approved of new head coach Mike Mularkey
• 98% of fans approved of new offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski
• 100% of fans approved of defensive coordinator Mel Tucker
• 78% of fans approved of general manager Gene Smith

With the cutting of Jarett Dillard and Aaron Kampman and the addition of even more strong, competitive players, it will be curious to see how you, the fans, respond.  What about Justin Blackmon’s arrest?  How does that affect the opinion on the team?

Without further ado, let’s get to the polling!

During the NFL draft just a few days later, the Jaguars drafted a total of two players at those three positions, both of whom were picked after the third round.  Add the free agency acquisitions of Matt Roth and Drew Coleman to 2011 draftees Cecil Shorts III and Rod Isaac, and you have four total players added at those positions during the offseason – and none of whom, I might add, had the potential to be a star or even a playmaker during the 2012 season (a very diluted argument for Drew Coleman or Cecil Shorts III may potentially be had).  One year later, one of those players now has two NFL catches to his name, two of them are searching for new teams to play on, and the fourth had made truly no impact last year.   All in all, Gene Smith and the Jags didn’t really make a huge commitment to the positions of need in the 2011 offseason and have thus far missed on the small commitments they did make (the impact Cecil Shorts III and Rod Isaac will have is still very unclear, but the total impact of both Coleman and Roth has been set in stone, since neither will be back with the team next year).

One year later (just a few months ago), Pro Football Focus released another pre-draft/pre-free agency report detailing the Jaguars’ needs.  Surprise, surprise. The top three needs on the list? Wide receiver, defensive end, and cornerback.

As bad as 2010-2011 had been for those positions, last year was arguably even worse.  It certainly was worse at wide receiver, where the Jarett Dillard/Mike Thomas combination was an abomination as far as a 1-2 receiving punch goes.  Defensive end was a bit better, as the Jaguars hit a three year high with 31 sacks on the year, and Jeremy Mincey broke out in a big way (a very timely breakout season, I may add).  Like much of the defense, defensive end was hit hard with injuries.  Aaron Kampman re-tore his ACL, and he, Matt Roth, and John Chick all ended up missing games due to injury during the season.  Cornerback was a bit of a mixed bag, as the top three corners for the Jaguars (Rashean Mathis, Derek Cox, and William Middleton) all had good years, but all of them also ended up missing significant time due to injury.  Mathis will be fighting an uphill battle to return to form in the coming year, while Cox and Middleton will try to stay healthy and carry over their production (hopefully consistently) into the coming year.

However, Gene Smith’s approach this offseason has been different.  The Jaguars were significantly less active in free agency, but focused hard on positions of need.  WR Laurent Robinson, WR Lee Evans, and CB Aaron Ross were major free agent acquisitions, and re-signing DE Jeremy Mincey was key to maintaining (and perhaps upgrading) the defensive line.  In addition to this, he drafted WR Justin Blackmon and DE Andre Branch in the first two rounds, bringing two blue chip prospects to help fix the Jaguars’major needs.

Yeah, you're the man now Laurent. Source: Alan Maglaque-US PRESSWIRE

The difference in Gene Smith’s approach to the Jaguars’ needs the last two years brings up some questions as we try to evaluate our team’s progress over the last few years and specifically, evaluate his progress as a general manager.  Why were our major needs more or less ignored during the offseason last year, while being a focus of this year’s offseason?  Was it a question of availability?  Was it a question of neglect?  Was it a question of undue faith in his previous draft classes?  Even more to the point – how much was Gene Smith responsible for our 5-11 season last year and the lack of development shown by the Jaguars at these key positions?

Perhaps there weren’t enough quality WRs, DEs, and CBs available in last year’s free agent class and draft.   A quick look at the draft class last year suggests that perhaps there were some availability questions mixed in.  Sure, we could’ve gotten Prince Amukamara, Adrian Clayborn, or Ryan Kerrigan (disclosure: who I wasn’t a fan of, by the way) at 16, but the chance to get a franchise quarterback (which was also a pretty big need) easily trumps impact players at these high need positions.  In the third round, there were a number of WRs/DBs taken right after Rackley, but WRs Austin Pettis and Leonard Hankerson were the only ones I would’ve been comfortable taking there – and it’s not like offensive line wasn’t a pretty big need either.  However, a look at the free agent class brings a few more questions.  The free agent class was filled with young WRs that had shown consistent production (Santonio Holmes, Sidney Rice) and/or plenty of potential (Malcolm Floyd, Lance Moore).  Oh, and Laurent Robinson.  He signed with San Diego for the veteran minimum last year. If you look at last year’s free agent defensive end class, you’ll again see impressive combinations of youth, production, and potential – in its best forms in Charles Johnson, Tamba Hali, Jason Babin, and Mathias Kiwanuka.  I’ll save you the time by just saying that the cornerback class was equally as impressive (Namdi Asomugha, Johnathan Joseph, Champ Bailey, Chris Carr, and Antonio Cromartie).

It wasn’t solely a question of availability.   While the draft didn’t offer tons of potential to supplement our biggest needs, free agency certainly did.  However, the problem with free agency is its cost.  The contract numbers of the guys we’ve been talking about fall in the $40-50 million range with $20-30 million guaranteed.  That’s a ton to pay for a player that doesn’t play quarterback, and if you’re going to shell out that kind of cash, he better be a cornerstone player and you should have no reservations about his production.  Unfortunately, free agency didn’t really provide those kinds of players.  Guys like Santonio Holmes, Sidney Rice, Jason Babin, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Champ Bailey all had questions of consistency, injury, character, or age.  Guys that were relatively question-free, like Charles Johnson, Namdi Asomugha, Tamba Hali, and Johnathan Joseph all got signed to enormous contracts, ranging from $49 million with $25 million guaranteed (Joseph) to $76 million with $30 million guaranteed (Johnson).

All in all, I’m willing to throw Gene a bone here.  I see why our key needs stayed the same between 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 – we just didn’t have enough of an opportunity to change them.  This year, we seized a few opportunities, and we have enough pieces to make huge strides at these positions.  While some of the moves made this offseason (giving $34 million with $14 guaranteed to Laurent Robinson) were more questionable than others (signing Lee Evans, drafting Blackmon), Gene’s given the Jags the opportunity to succeed next year, and in the offseason, that’s all I can ask for.

- Zain Gowani