Once again ...

• "Jack Del Rio liked what he saw in Fred Taylor, but that doesn't mean the Jaguars have lost interest in trading for Buffalo running back Travis Henry." - Jaguars.com. That's from a new article on the Jags website refering to some promising workouts from #28. I know I'd like to keep hope alive that Taylor will be healthy the entire season. But even with that nice healthy streak of games he had recently, history shows he isn't one of the most durable players in the NFL. I hope the front office continues to pursue Henry, as well as any other options that arise.
• " The Jaguars signed rookie defensive backs Scott Starks and Gerald Sensabaugh to contracts on Thursday." - Jaguars.com. Good news. Hopefully they get everybody in for the beginning of training camp. Starks is undersized but I think he'll surprise everybody in camp. I see the guy taking the #2 CB spot pretty quickly. He might not be a future superstar like Rashean Mathis, but he'll be a nice coverman as long as the d-line continues to pressure the quarterback. Sensabaugh, on the otherhand, could be the replacement for Darius next year. This guy could be the steal of this year's draft.
• I'm hoping to pick up a new digital camera pretty soon, especially to take pictures for training camp and the upcoming season. The one I have now, The HP Photosmart 620, is horrible. Seriously, if you ever consider buying it - don't. It seems like the battery life lasts about five seconds. Not to mention, without buying an addon memory card, it only holds about 10-12 pictures. It's really a joke. If anybody has any suggestions on a good camera at a decent price + where to get it, hit me up with an e-mail (contact link at the bottom of the page). I also need a decent laptop for college, so if you got any information on that, let me know.
  
• Baseball returns today - thank God. Yesterday was the most boring sports day on T.V. ever. I saw some left handed arm wrestling competition on ESPN that was mildly entertaining, but only kept watching because the "superstar" had this huge ego about something so lame, that it made him look like a complete idiot. It was really amusing. I would have prefered if they showed some more And1 streetball reruns. It's coming back to Jacksonville pretty soon. I went last year and it was pretty fun. Sure, it's not actual basketball whatsoever, but it's entertaining nonetheless. I'm not sure if I'm going again though.
  

A few Jaguar and non-Jaguar things ...

• They're just getting started on advertising season tickets. We've got the new commercials featuring Jaguar fans themselves and now this - an ice cream truck. Apparently Wayne Weaver has purchased an old ice cream truck and plans to fix it up and drive it around town, passing out information along the way. Oh yeah, and free ice cream. Kind of cool, different, and lame at the same time. Well, mostly lame. But at least it's something different, I guess.
• Watch what you say to Pacman Jones this coming season. The Titans rookie might slash your tires or something.
  
• "Oft-injured defensive end Courtney Brown impressed Broncos teammates and coaches during last week's minicamp."- Jacksonville.com. Maybe, just maybe, this guy is over his injury troubles. I remember when a ton of Jags fans were going crazy about signing him. Kind of hard to understand why, with his injury troubles, but I guess people still see potential. But don't worry, those Denver offensive linemen will be sure to illegally block him to death - thus reverting the guy back to his Cleveland form + rendering the signing useless. Ask Paul Spicer, he knows what's up.
• Gene Frenette writes that the Jags shouldn't sign Ty Law. I agree completely. I've never been a fan of signing pricey cornerbacks. And I've always agreed with the belief that a good pass rush will make any mediocre cornerback look better than he actually is. I think it's pretty safe to say that Jacksonville will have a pretty good pass rush this coming season, with the offseason addition of defensive end Reggie Hayward and return of Paul Spicer. Not to mention the quick development of Bobby McCray. In otherwords, I'm not worried about our cornerback situation. With this in mind, Law would be a very pointless signing - a waste of money. The injury issues alone aren't worth it. We'll be O.K. with what we have.
• "Sean Taylor rejected a plea deal today for his felony assault and misdemeanor battery charges that included three years in prison." - Rotoworld.com. I swear, the Redskins have to be the most depressing team to read about. I also can't believe this is happening to Taylor. He's really screwing the Skins over - this guy, in my opinion, would have been a very solid and productive NFL player. Joe Gibbs probably can't believe how bad his return to professional football has sucked.

Titans GM Floyd Reese will only trade for Travis Henry if he can sign him to a long-term deal. - Rotoworld.com

After reading that, I'm wondering if the Jags have a similar mindset. If we acquire Henry, is he our featured runningback for a couple of years? Is Fred Taylor done in Jacksonville? Or is this simply a frantic one year rental in hopes of returning to the playoffs?

Let me get this out of the way quickly - I'm in no way a fan of trading valuable high draft picks unless you're getting back a true franchise player. Any other year, I'd be non-supportive of this move. I'd prefer that the Jags acquire areas of need through free agency and free agency strictly (at the right price, anyway).

If you think about it, the old deal that turned into Rob Johnson for Fred Taylor between Buffalo and Jacksonville is a good example of how a team can be burned by making these kind of trades. Sure, that's one example. Sure, who's to say it can never work out. But it's a gamble. Draft picks are so valuable. In most cases, I wouldn't play with the odds.

But in this trade scenario where we send out a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th round draft pick (I'm not totally positive of Buffalo's asking price) for Henry...maybe it's worth it?

"I had an MCL and PCL combo [tear]. The thing that I heard was that it was just under the severity of an ACL -- not as bad, but just below it because of the combination of the two.'' - #28 himself, courtesy of Rotoworld.com

Most reporters are saying Taylor will not be ready for the first few weeks of the season and its unclear how the injury could hinder him for the remainder. With that in mind, are we ready to hand the job to LaBrandon Toefield, rookie Alvin Pearman, or any of the many backups with confidence that the offense will be OK?

In my opinion...

• L. Toefield - showed some ability in his rookie year, although I'm not quite sure this guy is anything other than a great backup and change-of-pace back.
• A. Pearman - rookie from Virginia who is not very speedy, but is considered an all-purpose back and has the receiving skills out of the backfield that Jaguar fans miss with Taylor. Could be a perfect fit in the new offense, but is obviously unproven and has a great deal to show in training camp before a real judgment can be made. Very intriguing prospect, however.
• G. Jones - not totally sure if this guy is even being considered as tailback anymore, but I'm sure he'll get some looks in camp. I've heard the team wants to create him into a fullback in the form of Mike Allstot. It's not a bad thing, but you know Jones longs to become the featured back and could have extra motivation to prove himself. Who knows what will happen with this guy, but odds are he'll remain the fullback.
• C. Fuamtu-Ma'afala - this guy is a total monster when he gets playing time, but injury issues are always a concern and it's hard to say he'll even be around when the season starts. I hope they hang onto him but it'll be a tough decision to make with all of the young guys around.
• R. Alexis - he was definitely a surprise to me in training camp last year, and I'm hoping he's developed further, but it's very doubtful he'll back in contention for the starting job. I'd sure like to see it happen, though. He's become a favorite of mine.
• D. Allen - really don't see this guy sticking around with the team drafting Chad Owens from Hawaii for kick returns.
  
• L. Webb & D. Wimbush - two guys I saw on the official website roster, but I have no clue about either. Webb is a fullback from USC and Wimbush is from Ft. Valley State. Probably camp casualties or practice squad bound.
• And for those of you that have to throw out this suggestion, M. Jones - um, no.

To be honest, I'm not totally confident in putting these guys in one of our most important spots. Neither is the dwindling fanbase.

Making the playoffs is so important this season. Del Rio realizes this. Harris realizes this. Just about everybody realizes this. Any other scenario, I believe the team would stick the young guys out there and see what happens. That's what I'd prefer. But this organization is desperate to become playoff contenders once again. Not just for the team's sake, but for the empty seats that need to be filled. This move could be more than just an onfield improvement, but an attempt directed towards improvement in attendance.

When it comes to dealing one of our good draft picks for a player, this is one of the rare cases where I'm for it.