Are you looking for more of a reason to get excited about the Jaguars first round pick Justin Blackmon?  If so watch this as they show off what he can do.  It looks like he could make Blaine Gabbert look good in no time.

There is a bunch to talk about this week as I look back on the draft.  Many people are excited about the Justin Blackmon pick but scratching their heads about the punter in the 3rd round.  I also talk about who is to blame for Blaine Gabbert’s rookie struggles and of course Tim Tebow.  Ok so really just some closing thoughts on the Tim Tebow circus and how it couldn’t of worked out better for the Jaguars.

Last season at this time I was very hyped up for the NFL draft.  As a Jaguars fan we knew that the team would be picking a quarterback.  That night I was exstatic when the Jaguars drafted a player who many experts said was the best quarterback in the draft.  Fast forward one season and a large part of Jaguar fans have already given up on Blaine Gabbert.  This season our biggest weakness are the same as they have been for several years, need someone to rush the passer and need some wide receivers.

Listening to different “experts” I’ve heard several names of who the Jaguars might draft but mostly that the Jaguars want to trade back.  Rumors are also that most team from the 3rd pick to maybe even as low as the 16th pick would like to trade back so the value might not be there.  I really hope the Jaguars don’t trade back just to say they traded back.

The one player that I look at right now and have heard he could fall because of team needs in front of the Jaguars is Matt Kalil who is an offensive tackle.  Offensive line is not a position that screams need for the Jaguars and it sure doesn’t get the fan base excited, however if he is there the Jags have to grab him.  Most likely he will be gone and should be but there is a chance that he falls.  It’s not too much of a stretch to see it happening.  If Gene Smith is truly a best play available (which I have serious doubts that he is) this would be the guy if he is still on the board.

Other than that I have no idea who they would pick or should pick.  Looking at NFL.com’s mock draft they had four different mock drafts up and two of them have the Jaguars getting Blackmon, one has Melvin Ingram and the other Stephon Gilmore.  Of the four only one of them doesn’t have the Vikings picking Matt Kalil and he has the Rams picking him with the 6th pick.

The thing with the Rams is they need a wide receiver as much as the Jaguars do and if it’s Kalil or Blackmon that would be very interesting to see who they pick.  Even though you could get more excited about Blackmon, I would hope the Jags have a shot at Kalil.  Having him on one side and Monroe on the other would be some nice bookends.  Britton would then move to guard and that offensive line just became really good.

That’s my thought.  I will be the first to admit the draft is not my thing because I don’t watch a lot of college football and don’t spend a ton of time watching tape or the combines.  I’m a fan with a family and it just takes too much time to research all of these guys.  Hopefully we will get a truly great player no matter what the position.

Ok I know it’s already began but with Peyton Manning headed for the Bronco we all knew it would.  The reports are that the Bronco’s want to trade him and guess where people are saying he should go, you guessed it Jacksonville.  I talk about that and our three free agent signings.

It’s the offseason but there is still plenty to talk about, including free agency, Peyton Manning and of course Tim Tebow. Rumors that Manning will choose the Bronco’s have started more rumors about Tim Tebow coming to Jacksonville. Even Mike and Mike in the Morning are talking about the Tebow to the Jaguars possibility. I talk about that and what we hope for in free agency.

For those of you who have listened to the podcast for a long time or follow me on Twitter this may come as a surprise coming from me. I have made no beefs about going after Peyton for his less than clutch play in big games. I do believe that some guys are clutch and some aren’t and Peyton, well he isn’t. I feel if you look at his history it shows this. That however is about the only thing bad you can say about Manning. Other than that if you were to make up a perfect quarterback Manning would hold all of the qualities that you would want.

Before I go into why the Jaguars should go after him let’s look first at why Peyton may want to come play in Jacksonville. First even though things look like they ended well with Jim Irsay, you have to believe Peyton would love to stick it to him a couple of time a year, playing in the AFC South gives him that chance. The next would be weather. The Jets seem to be a popular choice to be Peyton’s next team but why would an aging quarterback who has played his whole career in a dome want to go freeze in New York? I know Farve did it but he was coming from Green Bay so he was use to it. The weather in Jacksonville is great. The Jaguars were bad last year but look at this, they have one of the (if not the) best running backs in football and the sixth ranked defense. The Jags would need to add some WR’s also but if they do that then the Jaguars are a team to be dealt with. The last reason Peyton might want to choice Jacksonville is the microscope wouldn’t be as big on him as Miami or New York. Peyton be under a microscope this year but in New York everything he does would be questioned, as in Jacksonville not so much.

Now why should the Jaguars go after Manning, well he’s Peyton Manning. This would do several things for the Jaguars, first if he is healthy and gets close to his old form it dramatically improves their team. That is kind of the no brainer but it does more than that. The Jaguars are working hard on selling out the stadium and growing fan support and you might not ever have a chance to give your franchise a shot in the arm like this. Bringing Peyton in would get fans excited about the season and draw in new fans.

Two questions that would come up with this move are one are you giving up on Blaine Gabbert and two what if Peyton can’t play anymore. The answer to the Gabbert question is no you are not giving up on him. Gabbert struggled badly last season and could of used time to learn the game. Who better to learn from than Peyton Manning. Manning is famous for his work ethic and knowing how to prepare. If Peyton couldn’t play then you hired another quarterback coach to help Blaine Gabbert. Either way it’s a win for the Jaguars.

The next week will be very interesting to see where Peyton ends up. Wherever it is the fans of that team will be thrilled to have him.

I got a letter in the mail this week thanking me for being a Jaguars season ticket holder.  Included in the letter was a poster that included a list of the teams that the Jaguars would play at home during the 2012 season and it was only seven teams.   A note under that said that preseason teams and AFC North team was to be determined.  There was one major problem with that statement, the AFC North team isn’t to be determined.  If you know how the NFL schedule works every team plays the teams in it’s division twice and then one division in the AFC and one in the NFC.  That makes up 14 games of the 16 game season, the other two games are played againist teams from the other two divsions that finished in the same place.  With that being the case the Jaguars would play the Bengals from the AFC North.

Mr Khan has been very out spoken about his desire for the Jaguars to play in London and to expand their international appeal.  Which I’m all in favor of but not if it cost us a home game.  I understand that it’s one less game that the Jaguars have to worry about selling tickets but the season is already so short.  Just in case they do have a game in London though I’ve already started working on my wife for a London trip.

 Several years ago when the Jaguars changed their jerseys the alternative black jersey went away.  Well now it looks like it is coming back and will the Jaguars new primary color starting in 2013.  This would make the black jersesy the Jaguars home jersey with the teal jersey being the alternative jersey.  In 2012 Nike takes over the NFL jersey contract and all teams will have new Nike jerseys, however it will take a couple of years before all the teams get the “full Nike treatment”, the Jaguars will be the first to get this treatment.  

Nobody’s really sure what the new jerseys will look like but hopefully they will be more like the old jerseys than the current ones.  I always thought it was laughable when Mr Weaver said that they wanted a jersey that people would look at right away and would know it was the Jaguars, only to show off one of the most generic jerseys in the NFL.  The old jerseys had Jaguar logos on the sleeves and looked great but the new jerseys didn’t have the first Jaguars logo on it.  Mr. Khan has promised that we will not be disappointed in the new jerseys.  I’m sure hoping that he is right.