| Authored by Randolph Charlotin - 6th September, 2007 - 3:33 pm
 I can't help it. Now whenever I think of Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio, I can't help but imagine him crooning Frank Sinatra's "My Way," similar to George Siefert's rendition of "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" like in that old Visa commercial.
It seems that's the message Del Rio is sending after unceremoniously parting ways with then-franchise quarterback Byron Leftwich. David Garrard will now start for the Jags.
Is Garrard worthy of being first string? Hard to say. In the 10 games Garrard played last year, he was just 5-5, throwing one more touchdown (10) than interceptions (9). Garrard did out-perform Leftwich this preseason, but Garrard was passing against second or third string defenses while Byron faced the top units.
What we do know is Leftwich and Del Rio couldn’t get along. Most times people can work together without liking each other, but not this relationship. Despite Leftwich having his ankle surgically repaired, losing weight, and changing his mechanics, Del Rio will try to win without Byron. Can Del Rio direct the Jaguars to the playoffs without Leftwich? It is one of the many questions in need of answers as the season kicks off this week. Three more of the biggest question marks this season:
When will JaMarcus Russell sign with the Oakland Raiders? He has missed all of training camp already, lost any chance at competing for the starting job, and now Russell is at risk to miss any chance of playing time this season. With Miami Dolphins cast-off Daunte Culpepper playing well enough in the preseason to deserve being named the starter, the best Russell can hope for is a season holding the clipboard.
Of course it's the details keeping the contract from being finalized. The guaranteed money is there but how it is paid out is what is holding things back. How close are they? According to one article, if both sides were closed in a room, they'd iron out the remaining language in 48 hours.
So what's keeping them? For now they’re exchanging "they aren't negotiating" or "they aren't operating in good faith" accusations. But while they are finger-pointing, Russell is losing valuable learning time. He won't get it during the season as teams only have enough time to prepare one quarterback for the weekly games. And if the Raiders are competitive to the point they are in the playoff hunt, Russell will only see the field during warm ups.
It would be a mistake to hold out to enter the 2008 draft. Russell won't have the chance to make the money currently offered by the Raiders now. He already lost a year of development. Losing a million or two in guaranteed money isn't worth possibly ruining a career.
Can Eli Manning and Rex Grossman have consistent seasons? They both play on playoff-caliber teams, but it will be up to them to drive their teams deep into the playoffs.
Grossman has accomplished that, leading the Chicago Bears all the way to Super Bowl XLI. But in the big game he played a dud, throwing for 165 yards and two interceptions, one of them returned for a score.
His regular season was worse. He completed below 55 percent of his passes while throwing 20 interceptions, usually in bunches: two against Indianapolis; three against Green Bay; three for Minnesota; another trio the following week to New England; a whopping four to Arizona; and two more for Minnesota. You never knew when Grossman would play a stinker of a game.
Eli on the other side has been consistent. In the past two seasons he had excellent starts with terrible finishes. In the first half of 2005 his touchdowns-to-interceptions was 14-5 after eight games. The following eight was 10-12. The trend continued in 2006: 15-9 first eight, 9-9 final eight. The sub-par play in the second half is even worse when you take into consideration that momentum could carry over into the playoffs.
Appropriate steps have been taken to correct their problems. Both will have more and improved targets to throw to.
Grossman will have over the middle first round draft pick TE Greg Olsen to look for. Olsen will benefit from a lot of single coverage with wide outs Muhsin Muhammed and Bernard Berrian on the outside. And Devin Hester has been switched over from defense to offense, giving Grossman another explosive target.
Manning will be happy just to have all of his targets. WR Amani Toomer is healthy and is a reliable chain mover for Eli. If a third receiver steps up, whether it is Sinorice Moss or 2007 second round draft pick Steve Smith, the passing offense can be impressive with WR Plaxico Burress and TE Jeremy Shockey leading the way.
But nothing can derail a passing game better than having no rushing offense. Both the Bears (Thomas Jones-traded) and Giants (Tiki Barber-retired) must establish a ground game without their leading rusher from last year. Cedric Benson will have to stay healthy for the season to warrant Chicago’s decision to trade Jones to the Jets. The challenge for the Giants’ Brandon Jacobs is to show he can be an every down back, not just a productive short yardage specialist.
If both teams can't run the ball effectively, all the class work and new targets for Rex and Eli won't matter as they won't have the time to throw the ball.
Randolph Charlotin can be contacted at lordrc@netzero.net. |
