2013 Offseason Update, Week 12

The Jaguars showed off three of their four new uniforms last week. From left to right,
Eugene Monroe, Uche Nwaneri, Mercedes Lewis. Photo credit to NY Daily News.

Thursday marked the start of the 2013 NFL Draft. There wasn’t too much to get excited about at the top end, but there was plenty of depth and a few steals along the way. But the draft wasn’t the only news of the week, so let’s get into everything.

Jaguars New Uniforms

The Jacksonville Jaguars unveiled their new look, which you can see in the cover photo for this post. Changing uniform looks has worked for some teams in the past (e.g., the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Seahawks). But I have a feeling Jacksonville will need more than a new look if they want the taste of success that has eluded them since Tom Coughlin left.

That said, I really like the new uniforms. The coolest part is the helmet. The matte black in the front fades into gold in the back of the helmet. I’m always a fan of taking chances in uniform fashion. Well, almost always. The Pittsburgh Steelers striped uniforms may be the ugliest I’ve ever seen in any sport.

NFL Draft

Eric Fisher (OT, Central Michigan) and Luke Joeckel (OT, Texas A&M) were taken first and second overall by the Chiefs and Jaguars, respectively. Both teams are in dire need of help on the offensive line. Still, it isn’t common for O-Linemen to go so high, especially two of them.

The first quarterback taken off the board was EJ Manuel of Florida State. The Bills selected him in the middle of the first round, and he remained the only quarterback taken on day one. The Jets used the 38^th overall pick on West Virginia QB Geno Smith, who was considered a Heisman frontrunner early last season after throwing for 656 yards and 8 touchdowns against Baylor. He completed 45 of 51 passes in that game, showing that he can be very accurate. He faded down the stretch last season though, which is why he fell out of the first round.

The Chargers traded up in the second round to draft Manti Te’o, the subject of a girlfriend hoax. The Chargers have been looking for a signature linebacker since Shawne Merriman’s career flamed out. Manti had a rough combine, but he has a great work ethic and could be a perfect fit in San Diego.

Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly selected Matt Barkley, rival USC’s quarterback, with the Eagles’ 4^th round pick.  Barkley was a pretty accurate quarterback in college but likely fell to the 98^th pick because of other USC quarterbacks who have not faired so well in the NFL. He has the potential to be considered the steal of the 2013 draft.

Another guy with that potential is Marcus Lattimore, the South Carolina running back who fell to the 131^st overall pick (a compensatory pick in the 4^th round). He injured his right knee against Tennessee and Dr. James Andrews performed his surgery. He is expected to be able to play again, but we don’t know when. James Andrews performed Adrian Peterson’s surgery and he came back as good as ever. We are also waiting to see how Robert Griffin III comes back after Andrews performed his knee surgery.

Carter to try out for Minnesota, Montana for 49ers

Two young men who were not drafted have been invited to try out for their fathers’ teams. Duron Carter, a wide receiver from Florida Atlantic, is the son of Cris Carter, who will be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this August. He was invited, after the draft ended, to try out for the Minnesota Vikings. There were some early reports that the Vikings were going to sign Carter, but for now it is nothing more than a tryout.

Nate Montana flamed out at Notre Dame and moved around a bit, finishing up with a year at Division II West Virginia Wesleyan. He’s more than a long shot to make an NFL roster. If Carter’s tryout with Minnesota is more than just a favor to an old superstar, there’s no way the same can be said for Nate Montana. His dad was the greatest quarterback in NFL history by the time he retired, and is still widely regarded as such.

Still, I hope both kids perform well enough to make it.

Tebow Released

Once again, the Jets get the last story in my weekly update. Last week, they had just completed a trade sending their best player to Tampa Bay. This time, they released Tim Tebow after a very bizarre year. Following the draft, New York found themselves overstocked on quarterbacks, with six of them. So they released Tim Tebow so he can, hopefully, find a home with a team that will actually use him. Geno Smith and Mark Sanchez are going to be competing for the starting job; the Jets would be fools to not have Smith starting by Week 1.

Right now, I’m not sure there is an optimal home for Tim Tebow. Jacksonville would still be a good spot for him, but he would have to switch positions with just about any other team.

If I’m missing anything important, or if you just want to hear my thoughts on any other offseason news from the past week, feel free to contact me via my Twitter account, @cpuffnfl.

2013 Offseason Needs: AFC South

This week and next, between Tuesday and Friday, I am going through the NFL division-by-division, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. I have covered the bases in the AFC East and AFC North, so today I move on to the AFC South.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Houston Texans

I like Houston in 2013. J.J. Watt stepped up in a huge way this year and I expect more of the same. Brian Cushing will be back, too, so I have no doubts that the defense will be ready to carry this team at least as far as it went this year.

The offense is what concerns me. Arian Foster is a premier NFL back, and they have one of the best receivers in the NFL in Andre Johnson. Matt Schaub just does not look good when they go up against anything better than a mediocre defense. Cincinnati’s defense, which was little more than ‘up-and-coming’ this year, made him look incompetent in the postseason.

There is no expectation that Schaub could be out in Houston, but he needs to find his mojo, which he lost sometime around 2010, because this is a Super Bowl contender doomed for Divisional Round exits if he doesn’t step his game up.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts underwent a total overhaul last offseason and found themselves in the playoffs, so they have to be feeling very good about what just a few changes could bring in 2013.

Bruce Arians is out as he takes over head coaching duties in Arizona, but the Colts were quick to bring in one of Andrew Luck’s coaching from Stanford, so we shouldn’t see the loss of Arians affect him too much next season.

The big name among Indy’s free agents is Dwight Freeney, but losing him won’t be as big a blow as fans want to think it will be. Freeney is getting older and isn’t what he was during the mid-2000’s when the Manning Era looked like it may never end.

The offense is just about set, all Indy needs is a lineman or two who can protect Luck better than the unit did in 2012. On defense, the pass rush was a weak point for Indianapolis this season, but mostly because receivers were getting open too quickly down the field. The top priority needs to be the secondary, then the Colts can look to add a linebacker and replace Freeney if he does, in fact, leave.

Jacksonville Jaguars

I’ll tell you right now, the Jaguars will not be turning any heads in 2013. This team looks hopeless right now, and teams that look like that don’t turn things around in one offseason. Nobody likes to hear this, but what Jacksonville needs to do is treat this process as a multi-season thing. If they look for a quick fix, not only will it fail but it will make the process of turning this team into a contender take much longer than it has to.

The Jaguars have the second pick in the draft, and they need players on defense. They need offensive weapons, too, but defense was their weaker point this season. Of course, drafting that pick could help more because then they can add players on both sides of the ball.

Gabbert needs to be Jacksonville’s man, and they need to get him the offseason work he needs. They have to make sure Maurice Jones-Drew is fully recovered and they might want to get a decent backup, because they didn’t have anything this season once he went down.

The defense needs a total overhaul, each part needs to be replaced or refurbished. If the Jaguars can do enough to notch six wins in 2013, then next offseason could hold brighter tidings in the crystal ball.

Tennessee Titans

Chris Johnson needs to get back in his groove next season to take the pressure of Jake Locker, who came on strong this year but is still too young to trust as much more than a game manager.

Offensively, I like where Tennessee is going. They are slowly looking more and more like the Titans of the late 90’s, a team I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

Defensively, the Titans need work. The line and secondary are clearly the biggest areas in need of improvement, depth at linebacker is important, too. They lost Colin McCarthy, a very good young linebacker, to ankle and concussion injuries for most of the 2012 season and nobody was there to step into his role.

Tomorrow I will go through the AFC West, looking at each team’s offseason outlook just like I did for the AFC South today. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

Thursday Night Football Afterword: Jaguars vs Colts

The Jaguars played a good enough game to retain my
interest, but still look like a bad team.

The 27-10 final score doesn’t exactly tell the whole story of last night’s game. The Jaguars seemed to play better than the 17-point deficit indicates, but it was an easy win for the Colts.

Andrew Luck continues to impress. He makes all the throws and he is always so calm, never rushed. On one play late in the game, after Dawan Landry hit him as he slid on a scramble, he pushed all his players away when they started defending him and going after Landry. This is as good a young quarterback as I’ve ever seen, and I watched Peyton Manning’s rookie campaign.

As for the Jaguars, the offense is definitely a concern. Blaine Gabbert actually played a decent game, though when he went out with a shoulder injury and Chad Henne stepped in, Henne looked like he should be the starting quarterback.

The problem right now for Jacksonville is that they have no playmakers. Laurent Robinson, who broke out as a #3 receiver in Dallas last year, made plenty or grabs last night but he couldn’t deliver many yards after the catch. Justin Blackmon was uninvolved, and that leaves Cecil Shorts, who is the star of this offense, not that it says much.

He made a fantastic grab in the second quarter of the game that was reversed on the challenge, but I think it was a bad decision to take the reception away. It was a route up the sideline; Gabbert threw a good but nearly uncatchable pass. Shorts went up for it, caught it with one hand, came down, and the ball popped out when he hit the ground. Initially it was called a reception. Now, I know that if the ball comes out when you hit the ground, it’s an incompletion. But after establishing two feed in bounds, another foot went out of bounds before he hit the ground, and my understanding of the rule is that he it then no longer matters if he retains control all the way to the ground.

Reggie Wayne isn’t particularly young any more, but he sure has been playing like it. Andrew Luck is so similar to Peyton, just more mobile and maybe slightly less accurate, but because of the similarities, Wayne has clicked with his quarterback very quickly and is playing at the level we expected to see week in and week out during his first several years in the league.

Jacksonville lost control of the game mostly because of turnovers. The Colts had only forced three turnovers during their first eight games, which tied an NFL record for fewest takeaways in the first half of the season. Last night, they doubled their takeaways for the year as the Jaguars lost possession three times on turnovers.

Jacksonville is in a rough spot, but I saw some things in the offense that they can build on to have a successful team, not this year, but down the road if they make the most of the offseason. I saw enough, in fact, that I might be willing to move them out of the bottom floor of the league and replace them with the Chiefs, but this is still a bad team and one that might not win another game this season.

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of Week 10. I’ll be back Monday with my Sunday Afterwords!

2011 Offseason: AFC South

Today’s posts are for the teams in the AFC South.

Houston Texans

2011 Offseason: Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

2011 Offseason: Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

2011 Offseason: Jacksonville Jaguars

Tennessee Titans

2011 Offseason: Tennessee Titans

Thanks for reading and check back tomorrow for posts on the AFC West teams.

2011 Offseason: Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars are in a slightly unique situation. They have a very good running back, exceptional actually, in Maurice Jones-Drew. They have a team that always plays well against their division opponents, including the Colts. And they also have a Coach who will be in a real ‘must-win’ situation in every game next season.

Jack Del Rio has done a pretty good job in Jacksonville, but for the past three seasons they just haven’t seemed to get the right pieces to the puzzle of winning the AFC South, a puzzle they nearly solved this year before melting down during the final three games of the season.

They do need to address the quarterback position. Trent Edwards is not the answer to any team’s problems yet. He showed promise in his first season in the league up in Buffalo, but has failed to show any considerable level of improvement since. David Garrard, the current starter, has shown weaknesses down the stretch. The best decision may in fact be to stick with Garrard under center next season, but that doesn’t mean the Jaguars don’t need to look very carefully at that position and explore their options.

With the kind of talent they have to play against, both Peyton Manning and Matt Schaub twice each season, Jacksonville had better be very confident in their defensive schemes, especially their secondary going into next season. But the Colts have shown that they may want to start running the ball more, and the Texans already have a successful rushing attack, so they can’t focus only on the pass defense. The good news is that their run defense wasn’t that bad this season, so they shouldn’t be too concerned about that. They can focus their time on the secondary for the time being.

The Jaguars have some other key players on both sides of the ball that they need to retain for next year’s campaign. However, free agency will be important for the Jaguars and Del Rio. I’ve always been a believe in using free agency to get players who will help you win now, something a coach in Del Rio’s position needs. Though Jacksonville should not ignore the draft and can certainly get some quality players in that manner, the free agent market will be filled with players that can help them immediately.