Jacksonville Jaguars
June 13th, 2007 | by aaron |It’s not like I’m a Jacksonville fan, but I do have a special liking for players such as Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew, Matt Jones, and Reggie Williams. If the Jaguars have a healthy Byron Leftwich or Daunte Culpepper finds his way up the coastline, look for this squad to remain competitive and feature at least three fantasy studs. Unfortunately, the NFL only allows six teams per conference to play in the playoffs and the AFC could very easily represent the entire NFL playoffs with at least ten teams.
Maurice Jones-Drew: The way it looks right now I believe Fred Taylor is perfectly willing to pass the torch by allowing Jones-Drew to shine in this backfield. Then again, I’m not so sure if Taylor has much of a choice here as we watch this young, powerful, quick and elusive back run with the with fierce intensity and competitiveness. With 10 more carries last season we could’ve very easily watched this rookie surpass 1000 rushing yards. However, Jones-Drew did combine (rushing/receiving) for1377 yards from scrimmage and score a total of 15 touchdowns in only his rookie season. I do realize that we play to win every season in fantasy football, but if you’ve read my post ‘Safe Is Not Always Sound’ then you may want to consider drafting this 2nd year pro no later than the second round, if you’re in a keeper league. Even though the Jags will feature Fred Taylor as their starter, look for Jones-Drew to handle the majority of touches out of the backfield this season Look for another impressive season from this 2nd year pro.
Fred Taylor: Taylor showed more promise as a rookie running back than just about any other player in league history. Unfortunately, after an injury plagued career he has only managed to play the entire schedule in one of nine years in the league. Taylor does continue to possess the ability to break the long play from scrimmage. If he has over 200 carries, he’s capable of breaking the thousand yard barrier once again. With Taylor’s inability to find the endzone and Del Rio’s refusal to run Taylor inside the redzone, look for somewhat of a decline from his 2006 numbers. Even though Taylor is a 3rd or 4th rounder he still has value because of his ability to break the big play.
M.Jones/E. Wilford/R. Williams: This has to be the biggest receiving trio in the history of the NFL. Unfortunately not one of them is worthy of an individual analysis after last years sub-par season. This may change next season if Leftwich can remain healthy and the Jags live up to their pre-season expectations. Garrad was incapable of filling in last season after the Leftwich injury. As a result the trio caught a dismal combined total of ten touchdowns. Reggie Williams is by far the most talented receiver within this unit. He has speed, great hands, toughness, the ability to make plays and the potential to change games. With big bodies Jones and Wilford are capable of making plays across the middle, thus, creating havoc on opposing defenses.
Josh Scobee: With the Jags struggling off and on for most of the 2006 season it is obvious that Scobee’s value was effected as a top fantasy kicker. In my opinion, Scobee will have a greater opportunity to score in 2007 which makes him a top 5 kicker.
DEFENSE: According to Aikman’s efficiency ratings (AER) the Jags ranked 5th in overall defense and 2nd in total defense in the NFL. I love a defense that does not showcase a group of overpaid, big name players.
Even though this defense didn’t record an overwhelming amount of sacks or turnovers in the 2006 season, I look for much improvement in that category this coming year.
Despite a modest amount of statiscal points in terms of fantasy production, this is a dominate Jack Del Rio defense that kept the 8-8 Jags in many games last season. With the majority of starters heading into the prime of their careers this unit has the personnel and coaching that could force them to the top of fantasy draft boards. This defense is too talented not to capitalize and create multiple sacks and turnovers for a second straight season.
