It’s been a long time but the Jaguars Podcast is back.  This week I talk about all the stuff that’s happened since I last podcasted, which is a lot.

Today the Jacksonville Jaguars unveiled their new logo.  Why I really don’t know, as I loved the old one.  The new logo to me isn’t nearly as nice as the old one.  My big problem with the new logo is the two black lines over the eye.  These lines make it look like the Jaguar has long eyelashes, in turn making it look like a girl Jaguar.

I’m trying to think of all the other logos in the NFL and see if there are any I like less.  The only two I have come up with are both of the Ohio teams, the Bengals and the Browns.  The responses on the Jaguars Facebook page seem to mostly be negative as well.  Maybe they will admit they made a mistake and go back to the old logo.

Maybe the logo will grow on me over time but as now I don’t plan to buy any new Jaguars stuff with this logo on it.  I’ve even joked about going back to being a Falcons fan.  Yeah I hate the logo that much.

I just got home after stopping at my local Best Buy to pick up the new Sly Cooper game.  I only wanted it on the Vita but since it was only $10 more I went ahead and bought it on the PS3 (that and my Best Buy didn’t even carry it on the Vita.)  I got home and fired up my PS3 to start the download and figure out what I had to move off of my Vita to make room (really Sony please lower the price of your memory cards if you want us to download games.)  I got to the “disc benefits  selection and was greeted with a “coming soon” page.  It seems that even though Sly Cooper is out on the Vita today and even for sale in the PSN store, you have to wait to download your free PS Vita copy.  If I would of known this I would of stopped somewhere else and gotten the Vita version.  This is just another way the Sony and Playstation come up short.  It’s a shame too because deal like this one are great and get me excited about what the future could bring.

The Jaguars this season adopted the slogan “All In” but after this season, one that could end up as the worst in franchise history, they should be all out. By all out I mean the GM, coaching staff, front office, everyone. For the last ten seasons the Jaguars have made some of the worse moves in the NFL. Bad free agent pickups, extremely poor drafting, and poor marketing should lead to a huge change in the organization. Gene Smith has to know that he is on the way out. When he was hired he said give him four years to rebuild this roster and four years later it may have worse talent then when he took over. While it may not be fair to the coaching staff to fire all of them, they have to know if Gene Smith is out so are they. A new GM will want to bring in his own head coach. As for the front office they should be cleaned out as well. The lack of effort to market this team outside of Jacksonville is appalling. They did make more of an effort this season with the Jaguars caravan and some spots on the radio but it seems to little to late. The new people that were brought in this year from Kansas City should be allowed to stay but anyone that has been part of the team for any length of time in the marketing department should be asked to leave. It’s time to rebuild this team from the top down. The Jaguars need to take a close look at the Steelers, Giants, Packers and Patriots to see how they go about things and try to copy them. The Jaguars do have some young talent that looks promising and they should end up with an extremely high draft pick. Hopefully both of these will be enough to bring in a talented head coach.

If you’ve listened to the podcast then you know I’m in favor of letting Gabbert play this year.  After all we drafted him two years ago with the tenth overall pick, so we need to give him a chance to see if he is the guy.  However that time has now passed and it’s time let Gabbert sit.  Last week against the Texans Chad Henne came into the game and lead the Jaguars to the most points they’ve scored all year.  Justin Blackmon for once looked like a real NFL receiver and the Jaguars gave the Texans all they could handle.

Watching Henne lead the Jaguars made you wonder if the Jaguars are really just a good quarterback away from being a good team.  I was shocked when I heard that Mularkey was going to start Henne this week against the Titans.  Not that it’s not the right move but that it may cost both Mularkey and Smith their jobs.  When Gene Smith drafted Blaine Gabbert with the tenth overall pick he knew it could cost him his job.  If Blaine was a bust then Smith would be gone.  So far it looks like Blaine has been just that, a bust.  Mularkey is tied to Smith, so if Smith is fired then Mularkey probably isn’t too far behind.

I do think it shows good judgement on Mularkey’s part to start Henne, even though it might cost him his job.

Since the Jaguars joined the NFL in 1995 never have I felt like they were the worst time, until now. Gene Smith said four years ago that this team needed to be rebuilt and that the process would take about four years. Well it’s now four years later and this team is worse than when he started the process. Blaine Gabbert seems to be a bust and a backup quarterback at best, Justin Blackmon looks like he has promise but hasn’t delivered on it, and Tyson Alulu is a nice player but not a dominate player. These are three of the four top ten picks that Gene Smith has had since becoming the general manager. I understand that you aren’t going to hit a home run every time but with four top ten picks at least two of them should be All-Pro calibre players. The only one the meets that standard is Eugene Monroe.

Even his free agent moves haven’t worked out. Chad Henne was really beaten out by cheaper backup Jordon Palmer but Henne got the job (mainly because he was one of Smith’s “big” free agent moves). Clint Sessions can’t stay on the field and now it looks like Lamont Robinson may have the same problems. Paul Polakowski has been amazing but who else has Gene Smith signed that has worked out?

This week I talk about the Vikings game and how well both Blaine Gabbert and Cecil Shorts played. I also predict the Jaguars season record, which I’m already wrong on the first game. Then I go off on the Jaguars going to London and season ticket holders losing one home game for the next four years.

Every year for the past several years I have predicted what the Jaguars record would be before the start of the season. Sometimes I have been way off (2008) and sometime I have been dead on (last season). What I like to do is go down the schedule and pick what games I think they will win, it’s always fun to look back at the end of the season and see how close you were. So without any further ado here is my predictions for 2012:

I have the Jaguars going 9-7 and missing the playoffs by a game or two. I think that they will show a huge improvement over last year and that will be lead by Blaine Gabbert. This is Blaine’s year and while I don’t think he will be considered a top notch quarterback by the end of the year, he will move to the upper middle of the pack. The Jags defense is solid and the running game could be better than it’s been in years, with the emergence of Rashad Jennings. It all comes down to the passing game and I think Blaine is ready to take that giant step forward. It’s going to be an exciting year to be a Jaguars fan and I think the future is only going to get brighter.

Starting in the 2013 season the Jaguars will play one home game in London for the next four years. That means as a season ticket holder we lose a game every year. Now for my hard earned money I will get two practice games and seven home games. I for one have been against this move all along. I don’t mind the Jaguars playing in London but why do all the games have to home games?

In a letter to Jaguar fans Khan had this to say:

I am very proud to share the news that your Jacksonville Jaguars will be announced today as the featured home team in London as part of the NFL International Series.
Beginning in 2013, the Jaguars will play one of our regular season home games in Wembley Stadium through 2016 as part of the National Football League’s effort to grow the NFL brand throughout the world. The Jaguars and the entire Jacksonville community will be a centerpiece in the NFL’s efforts over these four seasons, and that’s a very exciting and rewarding development for all of us. My ambition is to make the Jaguars one of the signature franchises in the NFL and to see Jacksonville realize its full potential as a destination for commerce, tourism and living. An annual home game in London over four years, supported by initiatives in Jacksonville and throughout the United Kingdom to further develop our following, will help us achieve these goals and much more.

I am honored to welcome NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to Jacksonville today to announce the news, and in the weeks to come the Jaguars will have more information for our fans, partners and friends in the community. I wanted you to hear the news from me directly, and I thank you for the consistent and impressive support you’ve given the Jaguars over the years. I know great things are ahead for the Jacksonville Jaguars!

Sincerely,

Shad Khan

I’ve been a season ticket holder for seven years now and this move really makes me question if this will be my last year. I know the cost of tickets will go down by one game but we still get stuck with practice games, which are worthless. The past two years we have gotten the fourth preseason game which none of the starters even play. At some point as a customer you have to look at the cost and what you get for the cost and decide if it’s worth it. The move just pushed that needle closer to the not worth it side.

This week I talk mostly about Blaine Gabbert and how much better he looks this preseason.  His play has given me hope that this could be a good year to be a Jaguars fan.  Also about the offense as a whole and Justin Blackmons first preseason game.  When will Maurice Jone Drew come into camp?  Hopefully soon but Rashad Jennings is making us miss MJD less and less.