2007 DRAFT NEEDS:

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

presented by

by PFT Editor Mike Florio, with Matt Miller of NewEraScouting.com

The Jaguars took a major step backward in 2006 after a promising 12-4 campaign the prior year.  Heading into 2007, coach Jack Del Rio's butt is firmly on the hot seat, and it's crucial for the Jags to get some guys who can help Del Rio turn things around.  Right now.

To get there, the Jags need something that they won't try to get -- a quarterback who can perform at a high level on a consistent basis.  Instead, they'll continue for at least another year with the three-headed mess of Byron Leftwich and David Garrard and Quinn Gray.  Sure, Leftwich is the "starter" again.  But it won't last.  Whether it's an injury or ineffectiveness or ineffectiveness that's pawned off as an injury, Leftwich (we believe) won't be the starter when the 2007 season ends.

But that's another story for another day.  There's nothing that the team can do or will do to address this situation in the short term.  They'll instead use their picks on other areas where the rookies might actually make a difference in the season that will make or break Del Rio's tenure with the team.

On defense, the biggest need is at safety.  Donovin Darius is getting long in the dentures, and Deon Grant is gone for Seattle.  Reggie Nelson from down the road in Gainesville would be a great pick at No. 17 in round one, if he's still on the board.  We have a feeling that he won't be.

Also, the team could use another starting-caliber end.  Bobby McCray is coming along, but Paul Spicer is getting old and Reggie Hayward is coming back from a torn Achilles' tendon that wiped out nearly all of his 2006 season.

Cornerback is also an area where some depth would be useful, since the Jags have no one behind Rashean Mathis and Brian Williams.

It also would be nice to get some depth at outside linebacker, if Mike Peterson is cut loose.

On offense, the team needs more receivers who can catch the ball.  But with the Lion-esque investment that the team has made in the position via recent drafts, it's hard to admit failure.  Reggie Williams and Matt Jones and Ernest Wilford aren't bad; but they're not good enough to take this team where it needs to go.

And given that we've projected in several versions of our mock draft that the Jags will pick tackle Levi Brown in round one, we suppose we need to declare tackle as an area of need.  Brown could be broken in on the right side and shifted to left tackle if/when the team decides to part ways with Khalif Barnes, whose "hick town" rant will do little to give owner Wayne Weaver a reason to uncover those 10,000 seats that are covered in canvas on game days.  (Of course, that doesn't account for the fact that the Jags have signed Tony Pashos to play right tackle, so maybe we need to re-think that pick in our 6.0 version of the round one mock draft.)

Above all else, the Jags need to not draft turds.  They have had a rash of arrests in the past year, prompting us to dub the team "Bengals South."  Since it's hard to get rid of bad guys once they're on the team, the challenge is to keep them from ever getting there, by not drafting or signing them.