The Jacksonville Jaguars have become known the league over as a very selective team in choosing the talent on the roster.  It doesn’t matter if you’re the consensus top wide receiver in the draft, if you aren’t a high character guy then you aren’t going to be playing for the Black and Teal….unless you’re Justin Blackmon?

Blackmon was easily the best receiver in the 2012 draft coming out of college. He was the most productive, the most versatile, and the most hard working.  Reports of his 2010 DUI incident in Texas didn’t matter because he had shown he could work hard and succeed at a high level when he put his mind to it.  His suspension by Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy appeared to refocus the young wide receiver and put him on course to be even more successful in college.

But with another DUI – this time an aggravated DUI – on his record now, it is easily fair to wonder if Blackmon really is the kind of guy the Jaguars have always wanted, or have the Jaguars reverted back to the Shack Harris era?

Shack Harris was the general manager before Gene Smith took the job in 2009.  He became infamous for his big busts (Derrick Harvey) and trying to find talent even when it wouldn’t mesh well with the rest of the team (Jerry Porter).  He took bit risks and failed quite often.  This was all well and good so long as he got players like Maurice Jones-Drew and Marcedes Lewis from time to time.  But after the Jags started to become known as a team similar to the Bengals, it was time to make a change.

How will Gene Smith and Mike Mularkey react to Justin Blackmon's off-field arrest? Source: US-Presswire

Enter Gene Smith.  Smith has focused on bringing in top tier talent that has a strong motor, a demonstrated history of leadership, and intangibles that add up to a high character person – not just a talented player.  This year, he interviewed the wives of potential free agent pick ups to see how the player is in a non football setting.  Above all else, character is the primary concern of the Jaguars.

Yet here we have Blackmon arrested in Oklahoma with his second DUI charge since 2010.  You’ve got to wonder what is going through Smith’s head.  Did he know that this could happen again?  Did Blackmon have us all duped?  What will the effect be on the rest of the roster?  How will this affect public relations?

These are all good questions.

For me, I don’t think that Blackmon’s arrest will be too much of a mar on the Jaguars high character persona.  I think that, if handled correctly, the Jaguars will be able to maintain locker room support and their integrity.  But how does one handle a DUI arrest correctly?

I think there has to be a suspension.  Maybe the first two games of the season.  Make Blackmon practice, make him interact with his teammates, but there is no reason he should be a starting wide receiver with a team that places so much emphasis on character during his first two opportunities.  It’ll hurt the kid to not be in the spotlight during the first two possible games of his career, but it could hurt the Jaguars more to not take any action when the tight, self-regulated ship they are running is in jeopardy.

Maybe it’s blown a little out of proportion to say that the entire basis of the Jaguars roster is in jeopardy.  Maybe not.  Making sure that Blackmon understands that his actions, especially driving drunk, go beyond him is an important part of making him into a better player and a better man.

A suspension will hurt his pride, but his drunk driving could have hurt other people.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims

Fortunately the only player drafted by Gene Smith to receive a grade lower than 0.0 was Eben Britton.

This seems odd to me because Britton was widely considered to be a solid player by the Jags coaching staff and the NFL community during his rookie season.  Perhaps time spent on the field played a major factor in the downgrade.  At the same time, D’Anthony Smith (our favorite injured player) received a 0.0.

Alas, the look at 21 players drafted in the three year span was rather superficial and poorly researched.

While I give ProFootballFocus a lot of credit for the work they do, this time they got it wrong.  The tidbit on Derek Cox allowing the lowest completion percentage in the league when he was playing last year was nice (32.1% is pretty good!) but it didn’t give him nearly enough credit for a very effective rookie campaign in 2009.

That said, the Jags obviously have a solid number of drafts to build on.  Of the 21 players listed by ProFootballFocus, all but eight are still with the team and five of those eight were from Shack Harris in 2008.

The foundation has been laid by Gene Smith. There are a number of middle round contributors that play and start for the team regularly.  Which brings us to this next season: putting the icing on the cake.

I like to compare the Jaguars to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Tony Dungy.  Dungy developed a winning strategy in Tampa, he had a number of good players beneath him, but he never could get over the hump.  The next year Jon Gruden was brought in and he brought a Superbowl Championship to the Bucs along with him.

The team had a very solid base, built around QB Brad Johnson, WR Keyshawn Johnson, DE Simeon Rice, and LB Derrick Brooks.  Am I saying the Jags are going to go from a 5-11 team to a superbowl winning team?  No.  But if a 9-7 foundation in Tampa can turn into the superbowl champions, I don’t see why the Jags can’t get into the playoffs.

OK, Warren Sapp was there too. Source: MPS-US PRESSWIRE

Sure Blaine Gabbert isn’t Brad Johnson.  But the team in Jacksonville is built around a different piece: Maurice Jones-Drew.  Sure he isn’t Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman all rolled up into one, but he’s the best in the business.  He’s unbelievable.  And he has his complement on defense in Daryl Smith.  So really what the Jags need is a solid passer to complement the running game (like Pittman did for Johnson and the passing game) and a strong/decent performance from the passer or wide receiver to get into the playoffs.

Ok, it’s a tad simple, I agree.

But the point is that the Jags have a very solid team.  They’re just missing that final piece.  The icing on the cake.  The defense will still be solid (it helps to have your defensive coordinator and most of your starters returning).  But the offense is an entirely new ball game.  And that’s good.

Mike Mularkey and Bob Bratkowski may just know what it takes to push the Jaguars over the edge.

Gene Smith has laid a solid foundation.  He’ll add a couple key pieces this year.  It’s time.  The table is set.  Unless Smith strikes out, it’ll be tough to not be successful with the team the Jags have assembled.

This draft is becoming unbelievably important for the Jaguars.  We’re a WR or a DE away from the playoffs.  Smith has identified that we’ll get the guy we need in the draft.

Now it’s up to Mike Mularkey, like Jon Gruden, to get the Jags over the hump.

- Luke N. Sims

Source: Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

As we all know, Gene Smith is a character picking man.  He likes to focus on the character of the players he drafts and the character of the players that he signs in free agency.  This has led to creating a team of players that is morally sound, hard working, and devoted to living and breathing football in a healthy environment.

But has it produced winners?

The Jaguars have gone 20-28 since he took over as GM following Shack Harris’ departure in 2008.

So far the team he’s building seems very solid.  Eugene Monroe is a strong left tackle, TnT (Terrance Knighton and Tyson Alualu) make a devastating force in the front four of the defensive line, and a few gems like Derek Cox have managed to contribute to the starting lineup.  But none of this really matters if the team doesn’t win. (more…)