What would I change? Nothing. Yes, nothing. I truly think that a lot of the Jags struggles of late has come from too much change.

Coaches - 3rd offensive coordinator in 5 years. Although it was unavaidable, a new defensive coordinator. Lets let these guys have a few years in a row to build relationships with these players. Let them get a feel for what their players can do. Let the players get some confidence in their coordinators. And Jack Del Rio needs let these guys coach and keep his hand out. He has to understand that these guys are experts and he has to trust them. Too many times he handcuffs both sides of the ball.

Leadership - Every year we lose a veteran who is a vocal leader and a locker room faorite. You don't think those things matter? Think about your job. Imagine if every time you got to know someone and really liked working with them, they got fired.
    *Stroud - I know the coaching staff had some issues with Stroud. They have to swallow their egos here. Instead of trading him off, they should have looked at how much this team feeded off Marcus' attitude and leadership. I'm sure they could have sat down and worked something out.
    *Mike Peterson - I an underdtand why they are timid in not giving him a contract extention, but not naming this guy a captain really got under the other players' skin. They showed how they felt by voting him team captain themselves.

Free agency - Lageman hinted at it after the game that he feels that the chemistry of this team might have got messed up. We went from a blue collar hard working team where everyone and I mean everyone truly liked one another to a locker room all looking around at one another. I know losing only perpetuates this, and I know these guys are Pros and need to just suck it up, but I think it really got to some of these guys. Again, I use the work analogy. Imagine at work they bring in a guy next to you and pay him way more than you even though you have more experience, work harder, and might even be better.

Draft - Although I like some of our draft picks, that's not the point. Too many years we are drafting a guy to start. Good teams just don't do that. We need to get back to drafting the best player available and having them sit for a year or at least half the year. For example, don't let Deion Grant walk before we have Reggie Nelson. We just need to stop leaving big gaping holes on our team and having to fill them in the draft.

In closing, I just feel like we have the players. We have the coaches. We just need to let these guys ALL play togther and coach together for a couple years in a row. Stop all the change every year. Too much change every single year is what is holding this team back. Let them build some comradery with and learn to trust one another.

-------------------------------------------------- "He’s on the ground and I’m still running. You can see his chinstrap and my hand is all inside his helmet and chin, and his face is snapped back. I’m still in stride and he is holding on for dear life. Posterized." -Fred Taylor

I agree all we need is the defense to adjust which i think takes time. You gotta remember that GWs defense is completely different from Mike Smiths defense.

I think Mike Peterson's obvious decline in performance is something that probably has a few guys in the locker room questioning their desire to have him designated as a captain now.

Thanks for putting some thought into this.  You could have simply avoided thinking all together and started another Cowher thread. 

Voted the #1 A-Hole on Jaguars.com Never argue with idіots. They drag you down to their level, & beat you with experience.

I've been thinking that amidst all the 'Super Bowl Contender' hype, and then of course the significant rash of injuries, we've basicly managed to struggle to underachieve.

Pending the outcome of the season, which I believe if we can manage to put a couple of wins together here, we'll still have a good chance of earning a wild-card birth, going into next season with fewer changes and our young guys developing a lil more, and getting guys like Vinny and Mo back, we'll still be in great position, and hopefully refocused with one goal in mind...

This year has been so up and down and so close yet so far, just to give up fifty yards on fourth and one...

Sixty Million Dollar Question:

David, IMO, is back to form, and with the return of at least Meester, the O-line should find more continuity. With Matt Jones' probable two game suspension, Dave's gonna have to get into a groove with at least another one of the WR's; Porter, Walker, RW, DN, TW, Marcedes, whoever- Can and will DG elevate his game to another level between now and the playoffs, and will the WR play allow him to do so that we can rely on him to make these big plays at the end of cloce games to win 'em?

"Intelligent people can differentiate"-JDR BIG RICH #76

This team is close to it's peak. We've got players on the decline. Freddy, Peterson, Henderson (?) I don't know all the ages and seasons played, but the believe in now statement was pretty close to where we are. Letting Stroud go was a mistake, and those happen. There seem to be too many chiefs and not enough Indians on the coaching staff. This team does not have a couple more years to get better and reach the big show. And now, we dug ourselves in a hole. This team is much better than what the coaches/co-ordinators are getting out of them.

I can't discuss **** or **** because I am on double secret probation.

Derrick Harvey is a talented player who should turn out to be a long term starter for this team.  He has the strength to hold the point.  He only has 4 years of on the field football experience (2 yrs HS + 2 yrs UF).  His hold out really hurt him in not being able to get the reps (both physically and mentally).  He may come on later in the year or his production may begin in his second year of his career.

Q. Groves is a superior athlete,but is he big enough to play DE?  Lageman believes that he is currently playing at around 240.  He is an extrovert who plays with a lot of passion, but needs to play with more discipline.  This should improve with added experience.

The two rookies will also benefit from playing in a rotation with two very hardworking professionals in Paul Spicer and Reggie Hayard.  These guys have had to scrape and claw their entire careers and and perfect mentors for the youngsters.  These veterans are good players, but even better people.  They will show these youngsters how to be professionals both on and off of the field which may be the best lesson that they recieve in their entire careers.

Although the team is not recieving much production from the DE spot the future looks bright.  Right now it is tough to watch becouse the rookies are not quite ready for prime time.  Whenever Harey is in the game, teams love to screen on him taking advantage of his lack of experience.  Whenever Q is on the field teams want to run at him taking advantage of his lack of bulk. If Spicer or Hayward's play slips too much we still have Jeremy Mincey and James wyche as jars on the shelf.  These guys may not be elite type players, but they are hard workers who could provide depth to the rotation.

Regarding the DT's:  First of all I firmly agree with the FO's descision to let Marcus Stroud go.  Marcus was a warrior for the Jaguars.  He played the majority of his career with Jacksonville with various ailments.  Marcus has a true passion for the game and always played with pride.  When he was a rookie he would get mauled.  Many experts predicted that he would be a bust.  He was abused single handedly by most centers and guards and was almost never double teamed.  No longer could he get by on his athletecism.  After the embarrament of his rookie campaign he dedicated himself to his craft and became one of the most dominant players at his position in the entire league (the drafting of fellow DT John Henderson also helped).  Stroud always played with pride.  His play was somewhat inconsistant, but look out if you got him pissed or took a cheap shot on him.  When totally focused he was an outstanding one gapper constantly getting into the backfield, blowing up plays before they even developed.  Stoud had to be traded for two reasons.  First of all his age.  It would be too risky to have both of your starters with so much abuse on their bodies.  Having Rob Meier as the third guy in the rotation only makes matters worse.  There was a need to groom some younger players for the position.  These are very large guys whom are putting alot of stress on their joints.  The second reason is Marcus'  injury history.  The draft picks allowed the team to get younger.

At DT the Jags have a couple of young players in Tony McDaniel and Derek Landri.  These guys have shown steady improvement and have proved that they are worthy of a roster spot and being developed for the future.

The four pronged approach to winning football: 1.) Beat them to the punch. 2.) Offense sells tickets; defense wins championships. 3.) Run the ball and stop the run. 4.) There is no I in team.

That's a tough question. Whould I want him? Sure. He is a game changer. How much will he demand though? Do you really want to pay him $60 million? We just signed Spicer and Meier to peanuts and then you give the new guy a monster deal. His deal would dwarf Big John's.

Even if you do sign him, when does he start delining? He's the same aga as big John or the same age Stroud was when we traded him. We will be putting all our eggs in onw basket here.

-------------------------------------------------- "He’s on the ground and I’m still running. You can see his chinstrap and my hand is all inside his helmet and chin, and his face is snapped back. I’m still in stride and he is holding on for dear life. Posterized." -Fred Taylor