Black and Teal » Tony McDaniel

The Jaguars Three Biggest Needs This Offseason

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:56:36 +0000

Left tackle. With Khalif Barnes gone in free agency, the Jaguars have an immediate need at the LT position. Fortunately, there should be several quality offensive linemen available for the Jaguars at the eighth pick in the draft. Whether they take one there or sign a veteran to fill the role is anyone’s guess.

Wide receiver. The Jerry Porter experiment is over and Reggie Williams will not be resigned. So this leaves the Jaguars with Matt Jones, Dennis Northcutt, Mike Walker and Troy Williamson. Not a very menacing stable of receivers. As always we lack speed and the ability to spread the field. Look for a draft pick as early as the second round. My guess, Kenny Britt from Rutgers.

Defensive tackle. Last season, we traded Marcus Stroud thinking that we had enough depth to move on without him. Neither Rob Meier, Tony McDaniel nor Derek Landri could fill that void. This led to the constant double teaming of John Henderson, making him less effective. Put another quality big man next to Henderson, and we can start stuffing the run the way we used to.

Read the offseason needs for the rest of the AFC South at MVN.com.

Jacksonville Jaguars @ Chicago Bears Week 14 Preview

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:21:22 +0000

After a crushing defeat on Monday Night Football by the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars head north to face the Chicago Bears in week 14. Since the Jags are sitting at a 4 -8 record, this game is nothing more than part of the evaluation process for Jack Del Rio and the coaching staff. There will have to be changes made next year so look for Jack to give a lot of players a chance to show what they are made of. Conversely the Chicago Bears are still battling for the NFC North title, trailing the Minnesota Vikings by only 1 game. The Bears have everything to play for and the Jaguars have nothing to play for. So what could be the deciding factor in this game?

The Weather

The temperature is supposed to hover around 16 degrees through most of the game but when you factor in the wind chill it will feel more like 6 degrees. Through in a slight chance for snow and you have yourself some classic Chicago football weather. Fortunately for the Jaguars, they play very well in winter weather for a southern team. Anyone who has any doubts about this should remember the 2 victories over Pittsburgh late in the year last year. Fred Taylor is particulary excpetional in the cold weather and should have a good game. The Bears are used to this kind of weather so it shouldn’t affect their play dramatically. Matt Forte should see lots of carries against a Jags defense that struggled to control Steve Slaton last week. The pressure is on the Bears to win after losing last week to the Vikings so this could play into the Jaguars hands.

Injury Report

Jaguars:

Greg Jones – FB – Questionable

Greg Estandia – TE – Probable

Tony McDaniel – DT – Probably

Bears:

Dusty Dvoracek – DT – Out

Jason McKie – RB – Doubtful

Anthony Adams – DT – Questionable

Adewale Ogunleye – DE – Questionable

Hunter Hillenmeyer – LB – Probable

Prediction

The Bears will do what every team has done this year: make the Jaguars throw the ball. While I do not blame Garrard for the Jaguars losing season, I do not think our passing attack is potent enough to beat the Bears. The Bears will control the clock with their running game and keep Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew from causing any major damage. Bears 24 – Jaguars 10

Oklahoma Drill Draws Huge Turn Out

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:34:16 +0000

The Oklahoma drill is a right of passage and an honor. Yesterday, over 3,000 Jacksonvillians (not scared away by the storms) came out to witness it.

It was an exciting bout between Khalif Barnes and this year’s second round pick Quentin Groves. There were eight rounds and no injuries.

Jaguars.com reports:

Barnes, who is attempting to hold off Richard Collier in their competition for the starting left tackle job, used his bulk to push Groves aside on the first thrust. In the second fall, Groves used his quickness to rebound from Barnes’ initial thrust, stopping the ball-carrier between the two blocking bags.

Del Rio had the bags placed three yards apart, which most thought was a little tighter than in past years.

The other match ups included:

Tony McDaniel and Uche Nwaneri
Richard Collier and James Wyche
Clint Ingram and Charles Davis
Matt Jones and Trae Williams
Drew Miller and Thomas Wiliams
Justin Durant and Chris Brown
Vince Manuwai and Jimmy Kennedy

With hot and humid days, rainy afternoons and Jaguars taking the practice field it is really starting to feel like football season. Unfortunately, there is another reminder of football season lurking in the bicep of Brad Meester:

“We’re trying to determine how long he may be out. He strained a bicep muscle or tendon and we’re concerned he may miss time,” Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said.

Del Rio went on to add:

Del Rio said it’s important for backups to step up when the starters get hurt.

“Nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for anybody else. What we preach and what we do is the next guy gets an opportunity and we expect him to step in and play well,” he said.

The most important thing is for Meester to heal because he is awesome.