Two subjects ruled the Jaguars' offseason: the town's salivation over potentially drafting Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, and rumors of relocation to Los Angeles. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the state of the franchise. Let's take a closer look at the Jags on the 21st stop of NESN.com's 32-day fantastic NFL voyage.
2009 Record: 7-9 (missed playoffs)
2010 Schedule Difficulty: Their opponents went a combined 137-119 (.535 winning percentage) in 2009, which makes for the fifth-most difficult schedule in the NFL.
Key Additions: Defensive end Aaron Kampman, defensive tackle Tyson Alualu (draft), wide receiver Kassim Osgood, guard Justin Smiley
Key Losses: Defensive tackle John Henderson, wide receiver Torry Holt, tackle Tra Thomas
Burning Question: Why haven’t the Jaguars addressed the quarterback position?
First off, good for the Jags for not succumbing to the pressure and selecting Tim Tebow with the 10th pick in the draft. But why do they remain content with David Garrard running the operation? Garrard is a great guy and all, but he's merely a placeholder at his position, despite how many quarterbacks dropped out of the Pro Bowl for him to gain selection last season.
To be fair, Garrard isn’t the guy keeping the Jaguars — who overachieved to win seven games in 2009 — from making a Super Bowl run. They have more pressing issues than that. However, several quarterbacks have been moved in the last two offseasons, including Donovan McNabb, Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Brett Favre and Brady Quinn. Yes, all five are questionable to some extent, but they'd at least push Garrard.
And get this, the Jaguars haven’t drafted a quarterback since they grabbed Byron Leftwich with the seventh pick in 2003. That’s seven consecutive drafts without taking a quarterback, which is just irresponsible.
Again, Garrard is a nice quarterback who is accurate and efficient enough to run Jacksonville's run-based offense, but the Jaguars will need an upgrade if they want to win a Super Bowl before they're uprooted to Los Angeles.
2010 Outlook: The Jags' schedule was very manageable last season, but they still only managed seven wins. They just didn’t add enough punch during the offseason to create any additional optimism for 2010, and the schedule appears to be much more difficult. Jacksonville will likely miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
