The Jacksonville Jaguars are absolutely loaded at running back for the 2007 season.  Fred Taylor is the senior member of this crew and he was awesome last season.  He played in 15 games (all starts) and he carried the ball 231 times for 1,146 yards (5.0 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  He also caught 23 passes for 242 yards (10.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Jaguars have done a good job of splitting the carries between Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew to keep both guys healthy and that’s what they will likely do again this season.  Taylor has played in 112 games (108 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 2,062 times for 9,513 yards (4.6 ypc) with 56 TD runs.  He also has caught 261 passes for 2,205 yards (8.4 avg) with 8 TD grabs.

Maurice Jones-Drew exploded on the scene as a rookie in Jacksonville last season as he quite simply….did it all.  Jones-Drew played in all 16 games (1 start) last season and he carried the ball 166 times for 941 yards (5.7 ypc) with 13 TD runs.  He also caught 46 passes for 436 yards (9.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Jones-Drew didn’t stop there because he also was a dynamo on special teams.  He returned 31 kickoffs for 860 yards (27.7 avg) with 1 TD return and he returned 1 punt for 13 yards.  Look for Jones-Drew to have another stellar season in 2007.

Greg Jones missed all of last season after blowing out his knee in the pre-season.  He is a load to bring down in short yardage situations which the Jaguars will likely utilize him in.  He has played in 30 games (16 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 213 times for 737 yards (3.5 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also has caught the ball 13 times for 78 yards (6.0 avg) with 0 TD grabs. 

LeBrandon Toefield has never really had a chance to prove himself but that’s because he’s always had someone better than him in front of him.  He played in 4 games (0 starts) last season for the Jags and he carried the ball 10 times for 22 yards (2.2 ypc) with 0 TD runs.  Toefield has played in 43 games (2 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 150 times for 545 yards (3.6 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also has caught 45 passes for 273 yards (6.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Don’t look for Toefield to add much to his career totals in 2007.

Alvin Pearman got to play a little bit last season and he showed that he’s a talented football player.  In 13 games (0 starts) last season he carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 12 yards.  Pearman was most valuable on special teams for the Jags as he returned 3 kickoffs for 56 yards (18.7 avg) and he returned 32 punts for 283 yards (8.8 avg).  Pearman is caught in a numbers game in Jacksonville so he will likely need to keep producing on special teams before he gets much of a chance running and catching the football.  Pearman has now played in 29 games (0 starts) and he has carried the ball 58 times for 238 yards (4.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he has caught 34 passes for 252 yards (7.4 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Pearman makes his money on special teams as he has returned 11 kickoffs for 243 yards (22.1 avg) and 81 punts for 693 yards (8.6 avg).

The Jaguars have signed quarterback Tim Couch to a 2-year contract but he didn’t get a signing bonus so the only way he gets paid is if he makes the team.  He will likely battle Quinn Gray for the #3 job on the Jags.  Couch has not played in the NFL since the 2003 season with the Cleveland Browns.  He played 5 years with the Browns and he completed 1,025 of 1,714 passes (59.8%) for 11,131 yards with 64 TD passes and 67 INTs.  He also carried the football 123 times for 567 yards (4.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  One thing going in Couch’s favor is that he has never played behind an offensive line like the one the Jaguars have so that should help him out big time.

I just checked out NBC’s SNF site, www.sundaynightisfootballnight.com, and they have a ton of cool stuff. Wallpaper, widgets, multimedia. You can look at Jacksonville food, and facts about the team. They also have Madden, Michaels and Collinsworth talking about the Jags match ups. You should go see it, because the site is great!

The Jaguars have three pretty decent QBs but none of them are standouts.  Byron Leftwich will likely be the starter as he’s by far the past passer of the Jags collection of signal callers.  Leftwich has always played pretty well but his main problem is just staying healthy.  He only played in 6 games last season (6 starts) and he completed 108 of 183 passes (59%) for 1,159 yards with 7 TD passes and 5 interceptions (79.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 25 times for 41 yards (1.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  If Leftwich can stay healthy this season, the Jaguars will have a good chance of making the NFL Playoffs again in 2007.  He has played in 46 games (44 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 789 of 1,344 passes (58.7%) for 9,042 yards with 51 TD passes and 36 INTs (80.5 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 120 times for 364 yards (3.0 ypc).

The backup QB will be David Garrard.  Garrard has a little bit of a different skill set than Leftwich does.  Garrard is a much better runner than a passer and that makes the Jags a little to 1-dimensional when he’s on the field.  He played in 11 games (10 starts) last season and he completed 145 of 241 (60.2%) passes for 1,735 yards with 10 TD passes and 9 INTs (80.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 47 times for 250 yards (5.3 ypc).  If Garrard was just a little bit better as a passer he likely would be the Jaguars choice to be the starter because he causes defenses big problems with his legs.  Garrard has played in 28 games (18 starts) in his career and he has completed 313 of 539 (58.1%) passes for 3,543 yards with 18 TD passes and 13 INTs (78.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 115 times for 637 yards (5.5 ypc) with 6 TD runs.

Quinn Gray is the #3 QB and he always seems to play well when he gets the chance.  It has usually been at mop-up time however so it’s a little hard to evaluate him fairly.  He played in 2 games (0 starts) last year for the Jags and he completed 13 of 22 (59.1%) passes for 166 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs (82.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 2 times for 26 yards (13.0 ypc) and both of his carries went for TDs!   Gray seems a little more like Garrard than Leftwich, but he’s one of the best third string QBs in the NFL.  He has played in 3 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 21 of 36 passes (58.3%) for 266 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions (100.0 QB Rating).  He also has carried the football 5 times for 27 yards (5.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

Andrew Carnahan is overcoming a serious knee injury that he injured last September.  The injury caused him to miss the remainder of last season.  Carnahan is a big guy at 6’7″, 296 pounds and he could add more weight to his frame as long as his knees can handle it.  Carnahan has a nasty attitude and should help him in blocking for the run in the NFL.  Carnahan likely has a ceiling of being a backup tackle in the pros.

Chad Nkang was a linebacker at tiny Elon University but he will likely convert to strong safety in the pros because he’s probably too small to play linebacker.  Nkang is 5’11″, 216 pounds but he runs a 4.44 40.  He also looked in college like he will be able to handle defending the pass in the pros.  Nkang played in 33 games on defense at Elon and he made 414 tackles, had 8.5 sacks, 49.5 tackles for a loss, forced 3 fumbles, recovered 7 fumbles, broke up 3 passes and had 2 interceptions (54 return yards, 1 TD).  Nkang will probably be a special teams player as a rookie and possibly more than that in the future.

The Jaguars need help at WR so John Broussard will get a chance to show what he’s got in Training Camp.  Broussard is 6’0″, 185 pounds which is a little on the small side but he runs a 4.43 40.  If he can get off the line of scrimmage and beat the jam, he could be a surprise for the Jaguars.  He played in 13 games at San Jose State last season and he caught 52 passes for 844 yards (16.2 avg) with 7 TD catches.  He also carried the football 3 times for 16 yards (5.3 ypc).  This was a nice low risk/high reward pick for the Jaguars.

Derek Landri is undersized for a defensive tackle but he’s very fast off of the ball which makes up somewhat for the size disadvantage he will face in the pros.  Landri plays hard every down and he’s a sure tackler.  He often gets pushed around when double teamed.  Landri is 6’2″, 282 pounds which explains why he has some problems inside.  He played in 47 games (38 starts) at Notre Dame and he made 161 tackles, had 34.5 tackles for a loss, 10.5 sacks, batted down 8 passes, forced a fumble and recovered 2 fumbles.  Look for Landri to be a backup for the Jaguars.

Josh Gattis was a nice pick by the Jaguars.  If they can toughen him up he might start alongside first round pick Reggie Nelson at some point in his career.  Gattis is 6’1″, 206 pounds and he’s fast as he can run a 4.4 40.  Still, he has to do a better job of making tackles in the open field and defend the run with a little more vigor.  He played in 47 games (33 starts) at Wake Forest and he made 259 tackles, broke up 19 passes, had 12 interceptions (169 return yards), forced 6 fumbles and recovered 5 fumbles.  Look for Gattis to play on most of the special teams and be a backup as a rookie.  But Gattis has nice upside and was a good pick in the 5th round.

The Jacksonville Jaguars got a nice player here that slid a little bit in the draft because of his 2005 suspension by Purdue University for slugging a teammate.  The Boilermaker coaches said that the University made a mistake and that it wasn’t that big of a deal.  Nwaneri is a little bit of a project as he played in a wide open offense at Purdue so he’s a better pass blocker than a run blocker right now.  Still, at 6’2″, 304 pounds and with a nasty attitude the Jaguars coaches should be able to mold him into a good run blocker.  He played in 29 games (26 starts) at Purdue and he was suspended for the entire 2005 season so he would have started that season too if he behaved himself.  Nwaneri will likely be a backup as a rookie and a starter in future for the Jaguars.