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If you want to know how crazy the NFL can be, look no further than the Detroit Lions handing Fernando Bryant $7 million in bonus money. Did they see him play lately? Maybe they thought they were getting Kobe Bryant. But they handed it out, and along with plenty of other available cash, middle of the road players were lavished with riches. But the Jaguars were prudent, choosing to spend a little money here and a little money there, getting players that fit the bill for what Jack Del Rio’s vision is for the team.
A linebacker to replace Danny Clark, a couple of defensive backs to upgrade the defensive backfield and most recently, Ephraim Salaam, a veteran offensive lineman to keep guys who were up front last year honest. Plus, it’ll be rare if the Jaguars get through a second season without getting somebody hurt among the starters on the offensive linemen. So what’s that leave?
It’s pretty obvious the team is targeting a defensive end for the draft in the first round and a wide receiver right after that. Who knows who they’ll take, or if they’ll even stay in that ninth spot of the first round. But they’ll be drafting for “need” instead of the “best player available,” somewhat of a departure from last year when they took Byron Leftwich with their first round pick.
The best player available at the ninth pick is going to be either Sean Taylor or a wide receiver. But they’ll pass on either one of them if they’re there. Does that matter? Only if one of those guys turns out to be Jerry Rice or Taylor makes people forget about Ronnie Lott. Either way, the players the Jaguars take with their first two picks must turn out to be starters and must be big impact guys from game one. None of this rolling into it. They’re got to put their hand down and cause some problems right away for the competition.
A lot of observers from around the league are pointing to the Jaguars as “the next Carolina.” That should bother and excite Jaguars fans all at the same time. Any comparisons with Carolina should rub the Jaguars and their whole organization the wrong way. But Jerry Richardson made his coaching move a year before Wayne Weaver and John Fox paid dividends in year two. Jack Del Rio should feel some heat to do the same.
It’ll be interesting to see if he has that kind of impact on the Jaguars. Bill Parcells has made a reputation by putting teams on track in a couple of years. It’ll be interesting to see if he can do that in this salary cap era. Making the same improvement in year two is tougher than year one. Joe Gibbs is in a similar situation in Washington. The Redskins will be vastly improved over last year’s Steve Spurrier-led squad. But it’s year two and three that Gibbs knows will show whether he’s on the way to putting together a championship run or not.
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