Jaguars Journal
by Sam Kouvaris
April 25, 2010
=============================================================================
Jaguars 2010 Draft
Before anybody goes making great proclamations about the Jaguars 2010 draft remember if it's anything, it's an inexact science. As near as 2008, the Jaguars took five players to build on, and one remains on the roster today (Derrick Harvey).
The Jaguars selected six players in this draft, and equally important they acquired a starting middle linebacker in Kirk Morrison from the Raiders. Morrison is in his sixth year in the league and has started in the middle since 2006 for Oakland. Why trade him to the Jaguars? The Raiders wanted the pick and had picked up Rolando McClain in the first round.
You can't rate the draft until a couple of years down the road and usually at best you hope half of the guys you select stick with the team a couple of years. The Jaguars have whiffed so often on first rounders that it's become almost comical. But despite the public outcry here in town, Tyson Alualu seems poised to become a star in the league.
Other teams, and even some analysts (who never admit they're wrong) say Alualu is in a word, "a stud." "He's the exception to the rule," Jaguars GM Gene Smith told me. "He never backs off, never takes a play off, never relaxes. He can really play."
D'Anthony Smith was available in the third round because he had a reputation for taking plays off and not going all out all the time. "He's playing 70 snaps a game with 4 sets of hands on him on every play. He's by far the best player on the field playing for La Tech so they identify him every snap. He'll play maybe half that in the NFL and especially in specialty situations," Smith explained.
The only way you can figure out if a guy can adapt at the next level is to watch him on tape, in person and talk to him. And that's where Smith gets his feel for whether a player "fits" into what he's trying to build.
There's a saying in the NFL selection world called "B-A-P" or Best Available Player (Some call it BPA). Some teams use that philosophy, others draft for need. The Jaguars are now a BAP team and it happened to coincide with their needs. They were the worst team in the league when it comes to getting pressure on the quarterback so their first four selections were defensive linemen. All who can also run. Larry Hart and Austen Lane were selected in the fifth round as guys who can come off the edge and chase down the quarterback. Running back Deji Karim is MJD light and can perhaps return kicks and Scotty McGee can return punts. Both were "specialty" picks according to Smith.
"We hope this makes our roster more competitive and that when we begin the season we'll have the best 53 football players on the roster, regardless of position. That's what the aim is."
Although it's only a one-year body of work, Smith seems to have the instincts that will allow the Jaguars to get back into the business of being competitive and contending for the post-season.
|
