Afternoon Beer: Best of Today’s Jaguars Mailbags

Well, now that I have your attention…thanks for tuning in today. Black&Teal would never stoop to the level of using sex in advertising to reel in new readers or to tease our droves of loyal fans. The picture is perfectly relevant to today’s discussion. Attention: if there was ever a time for reader participation, it is now. Whoever has the best caption in the comments section wins a prize…I’m thinking an article written about you and your Jaguars’ fandom to be featured on Friday.

From today’s Ask Vic on Packers.com:

"Andy from Abbotsford, BCI just read Mike Spofford’s piece on Thompson’s top 10 draft picks. I found it to be a really fun read and it gave me a lot of confidence in our team’s ability to draft great players. One thing I found interesting was how in 2009 the Packers found themselves choosing between two good draft prospects in B.J. Raji and Michael Crabtree. Is this one of those examples where two players are so closely ranked together that the deciding factor is the need for 3-4 scheme players?Vic: It might’ve been; I don’t know. For me, it’s an easy decision when it’s between a big guy and a wide receiver: Take the big guy. There will be those occasions when the wide receiver is in a special class, but usually he’s a guy you can find later in the draft. The ranks of the big guys, however, thin quickly."

I don’t know if I’ll ever feel good about the Jaguars taking a wide receiver in the first round again. Between R. Jay Soward, Reggie Williams, and Matt Jones you have essentially the Dream Team of Suck – troubled, lackadaisical, and complete wastes of physical talent, these three. Soward has fallen so far he can’t even make it in the UFL or the Arena League – he plays in the Indoor Football League (IFL). You kind of have to feel sorry for him. It’s become ingrained in us by now, but “big men early” just makes sense – the Earth Theory (only so many men on earth big enough to play OL/DL positions) holds up and when you make the point of watching the line of scrimmage, instead of following the ball, as most viewers do, you realize without a doubt that this is where the games are won or lost. When Garrard has ample protection, he is unstoppable. When Mojo has wide lanes to run through, he dominates. When Chris Johnson gets two 300 pound men is his face a step and a half after he gets the handoff, it’s hard to break 75 yard runs. When Peyton Manning is being chased from behind all game, he looks like a pretty average passer and all of a sudden, Don Carey is Ed Reed-esque (OK, maybe not that far). You get the point. They ain’t sexy, but the Big Uglies are the foundation of the team and having mo’ uglies with mo’ skills is gonna make yo team mo’ betta. Now onto the real sexy.

From today’s O-Zone on Jaguars.com:

"Paul from St. Johns, FL:My wife selected me for my fluid hips.John: Good for you. Many of us must be content to be tweeners."

This is great – Oehser needs to be putting more stuff like this in (that one was unintentional). I’m a big fan of toeing the line and this is toeing it perfectly. Let’s have some fun with this little scouting innuendo, shall we?

• Despite poor measurables, I picked her for her great ball handling skills.
• She has a checkered past, but the film was too impressive to pass on that kind of talent.
• Doesn’t have enough leg to get it deep, but get him close enough and he should be able to split the uprights.
• She could use some more upper body mass and she didn’t look great in the underwear drills, but after a personal workout, I feel confident saying she has the BAP (hint: the “P” ain’t player).
• Her career may be shortened by college injuries – had to deal with 8 men in the box every Saturday.

– Andrew Hofheimer