But with an aggravated DUI and a widely publicized .24 breathalyzer test, it may just be time the Jaguars started trying to bid a bit lower on the Oklahoma State star.

The top eight picks from the 2012 draft have yet to be signed.  From Andrew Luck to Ryan Tannehill, the players have been trying to impress their team during OTAs in order to ensure that they’re worth the money that the team will throw at them.  21, 22, and 23 year old boys (rarely are we men at this age) given large amounts of money in signing bonuses and guaranteed contracts.  Clubs trust that their investment will pay off and pray the player doesn’t do anything stupid.

Like get charged with an aggravated DUI in Oklahoma.

Blackmon was impressing coaches during OTAs.  He had Head Coach Mike Mularkey excited about his play.  He was asking questions of the schemes being put in place by offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.  Jerry Sullivan had a star to work with as a position coach.  Blackmon did everything right during his time working out with the team.  His value was secured.

His DUI came at the wrong time.

His second DUI in 20 months (he had one in Texas in 2010), getting suspended for a couple games may be the least of Blackmon’s concerns.  Maybe he has a problem that goes beyond a couple nights of binge drinking.  Maybe Blackmon just had a bad night and made a bad decision.  We simply don’t know what was (or wasn’t) going through his head.

Either way, his value plummeted for a team that places a very, very strong emphasis on high character.

The Jags won’t low ball Blackmon.  His talent is too good to risk a holdout, media controversy, or losing crucial development time during the preseason and early weeks of the season.  He’s definitely worth some money.  Yet, how much is the club’s public image worth?

What does a club value integrity and its cherished values and principles at?

The Jaguars are forging a new identity under new owner Shahid Khan. Is it one that will reflect Gene Smith's focus on high character players? Source: Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

Is it a two game suspension?  Knocking $4 Million off the signing bonus?  A removal from first team reps?  A stern sit-down with General Manager Gene Smith?  Does the team force him to attend some meetings like some colleges do?  Is it just going to be a simple statement read to the public announcing a game suspension like coach Mike Gundy did at Oklahoma State during Blackmon’s previous DUI?

What value is placed on integrity?  What value is placed on the Jaguars’ cherished values and principles?

If this were Dallas or Cincinnati, Blackmon may get paid more for the extra “free” exposure his situation has brought the team.  So long as he performs on Sunday (or doesn’t perform given the teams’ track records), the team doesn’t care.  There’s no such thing as bad press, right?

There is if you’re a small market team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2007.

That bad press may cost Justin Blackmon dearly.  But whatever “discount” the Jags get from Blackmon’s poor decision probably won’t be enough to compensate for the poor media attention that threatens the integrity of an organization that is trying to forge a new identity post 2008.

- Luke N. Sims

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However, the Jaguars can take punitive action against Blackmon for “Conduct Detrimental to the Club.”  In this case, giving poor public awareness to the team, probably losing a lot of deals for endorsements, marring a reputation built on character, etc.  The ist actually seems to be endless when you think about it.

The team can definitely do something though, and we should fully expect them to.

This is the look of a very miffed general manager. Source: Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

Justin Blackmon became famous in college and has had the national spotlight on him since his draft selection.  He is not some run of the mill, two year receiver out of college.  He is the top receiver of his class and probably one of the best of the past three years.  He made General Manager Gene Smith look like a genius for only trading away a fourth round pick to move up and take him ahead of the St. Louis Rams.  A lot was resting on this guy.

Like any good early 20 year old, he let it slip through his fingers due to dumb action.

Two days after OTAs ended, Blackmon was back in Oklahoma flirting with a law that is designed to save lives.  DUI laws are not in place to protect the person driving.  If you’re dumb enough to drive while drinking then it isn’t the job of the state to do anything other than pick up your car after you total it into a tree.  Instead, DUI laws are designed to get drunk drivers off the road so that families, pedestrians, and other people driving the same street(s) will be safe from the drunk driver.

DUI laws should be respected.

So much so that in Oklahoma they have an aggravated DUI charge for anything over .15 (almost double the legal limit of .08).  Justin Blackmon blew a .24.  I don’t know about you, but it takes a bit of time (and some steady drinking) to get that drunk.  A .24 doesn’t just represent bad decision making from driving, it represents a commitment to sitting down and not getting up until the floor is swaying beneath you.

A commitment to sitting down and getting drunk.  Driving while clearly intoxicated (it’s tough not to tell you’re that drunk unless you’ve already blacked out).  A disregard for state and federal law.  Reckless Endangerment….

It’s not looking good for Blackmon.

All of those things are conduct that is detrimental to the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The team prides itself on having a locker room of leaders.  A locker room of men who play a boys’ game.  A locker room of men who hold themselves to a higher standard than the average football player.

I’ve advocated for the team suspending him.  I’d do it right after signing him.  And if the league doesn’t let him play for another two or three games after that….well it’s all fine by me.

Team discipline is far more impactful than a league mandate handed down from on high.  Head Coach Mike Mularkey is well liked by his players.  His respect must be earned.

Blackmon will be struggling to gain it back all year long.

- Luke N. Sims

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You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims

Remember in grade school when the teacher would announce a field trip day?  You’d run home with a sheet of paper to be signed by your parental figure, excitement in your eyes.  The excitement wouldn’t die down until at least a week after the actual trip happened.  My personal favorite was walking to the Minnesota Zoo.  By walking you were guaranteed to miss the entire day in transportation (read: running around with your friends) and cool animals.

Mularkey did a similar thing with his paintball day this Friday.  A team comprised of mostly 20 somethings got an opportunity to run around shooting each other with balls of paint from guns that could cause a welt to rise a solid two inches away from the skin.  20 somethings aren’t that far removed from grade school (trust me, I’m a good example), and I guarantee the excitement from their last OTA practice of 2012 will carry over to training camp.

I wonder if new owner Shahid Khan Participated....

Paintball, a sport of which I am very fond, is a wonderful way to get men to bond together.  You either play some woodsball that constitutes some strategy in where you begin, what cover to take, and provides a bit more confusion on how the team is doing.  Or you play some speedball that makes you heavily reliant on your other team members to move your unit forward, providing suppressive fire to pin down opponents and finally take them out.  While I don’t know if the day was spent running through the woods hoping Rashad Jennings doesn’t injure his ankle or not, I know that the guys gained a few things from their day paintballing.

1. A new sense of camaraderie that stretches beyond the football field.
2. A new enjoyment of their head coach.
3. The knowledge that the Jaguars reward hard work.

OTAs are not some light practicing in Jacksonville.  They are high tempo drills designed to help the team understand the playbook.  It is especially important to work hard when the team is installing a new offense. I’m not saying the offense is down pat, but it’s getting there.  Sometimes, it’s important to have a whimsical afternoon rather than focusing more on trying to cram information into some kids’ brains when they get hardly no rest.

I’m a fan of the paintball afternoon in Jacksonville.  I think the players enjoyed it, the coaches probably enjoyed it, and Mularkey managed to cement himself as an outside the box coach for the entirety of his tenure.

I just hope that nobody got hit hard enough to forget all of the plays he learned!

- Luke N. Sims