Top 3 Jaguars in team history
Sorry for the huge gap between blogs. This sort of happens once the season is over and vacation time rolls around. For the most part, I'm still vacationing. The problem is that I've still got to get my football fix in. I'm no different than any other fan in that respect.
Anyway, I snuck away from wifey for a few minutes and read an interesting answer in a Q&A session http://www.charlotte.com/qna/forum/scott_fowler/index.html about the two greatest Carolina Panthers of all time. Since the franchises are so similar, I figured you guys could chime in with what you think are the greatest Jaguars of all time.
By the way, I'm thinking about going deep sea fishing (I've never been) on one of these party boats out of Mayport. Being a Texan, I don't know much about saltwater fishing. So I'm halfway afraid that I won't know what I'm catching. Does anybody have tips? Will I get seasick? Is there a way of avoiding this? Perhaps some of the local fishing gurus can help me out on this one.
Anyway, I snuck away from wifey for a few minutes and read an interesting answer in a Q&A session http://www.charlotte.com/qna/forum/scott_fowler/index.html about the two greatest Carolina Panthers of all time. Since the franchises are so similar, I figured you guys could chime in with what you think are the greatest Jaguars of all time.
By the way, I'm thinking about going deep sea fishing (I've never been) on one of these party boats out of Mayport. Being a Texan, I don't know much about saltwater fishing. So I'm halfway afraid that I won't know what I'm catching. Does anybody have tips? Will I get seasick? Is there a way of avoiding this? Perhaps some of the local fishing gurus can help me out on this one.
posted by Michael C. Wright at
8:31 AM
15 Comments:
As far as the two best Jaguars of all time, I would say Tony Boselli and a toss up between Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith for obvious reasons. Now as far as your fishing question I would recommend Capt. George Straight of the Mayport Princess or if you want a private charter go with Capt. Dennis Young either will do you great. The sea sickness can be prevented in most cases with a little Dramamine.
Brian
Fred Taylor, Tony Boselli, and a tie between Jimmy Smith and Mark Brunell for third.
Fred Taylor
Tony Boselli
Jimmy Smith
I HATE not having a defender on this list, but I think Brackens, Darius, Peterson & Henderson/Stroud still come up a bit short compared to these three.
Fred Taylor
Jimmy Smith
Tony Boselli
Brian H., I appreciate the help. I was thinking of trying the Mayport Princess.
As for the top 3 Jags, I'm pretty surprised that mentalvelocity is the only one that mentions Mark Brunell. No love for Mark Brunell?
I would have to say in order of the 3 greatest:
1) Fred Taylor
2) Jimmy Smith
3) Tony Boselli
Honorable mention to Mark Brunell, Keenan McCardell, and Tony Brackens.
I would have to say I agree with most of you but it has to be in this order:
1 Fred Taylor
2 Tony Boselli
3 Jimmy Smith
Honorable Mention:
Natrone Means, Mark Brunell, Tony Brackens, Donavan Darius, John Henderson, Mike Peterson,and Rasheen Mathis.
Top 3 Jags
1.Fred Taylor
2.Tony Boselli
3.Jimmy Smith
Close but...Mark Brunell-Most accomplished passer in team history. Keenan McCardell-Robin to J-Smooth's Batman, outstandning possesion receiver. Tony Brackens- Biggest defensive playmaker in team history. Leon Searcy-Like Keenan, star anywhere else, but sidekick to Boselli.
1.Fred Taylor
2.Tony Boselli
3.Jimmy Smith
I may wake up tomorrow and have them in different order. In the next two years Taylor can make a solid push for the Hall of Fame. If Boselli wouldn't have been hacked by the doctor (I can't find the article, so I probably shouldn't have said it), he would have been one of the best left tackles in NFL history and a first ballot Hall of Fame selection. With the trade to Houston, his Jaguar career was shortened. That has to be taken into account. Taylor and Smith have very similar career numbers. With Smith's off the field issues and sudden retirement question marks, he is stuck in 3rd.
1) Fred Taylor
2) Jimmy Smith
3) Tony Boselli
There really isn't much debate about the top 3, the top 10 is probably more interesting. How about:
----
4) Tony Brackens
5) Mark Brunnell
6) Keenan McCardell
7) John Henderson
8) Mike Peterson
9) Leon Searcy
10)Marcus Stroud
Mark Brunell
Jimmy Smith
Fred Taylor
C'mon guys. Jimmy Smith is a 5 time pro-bowler that is 10th all time in receptions, 12th in yards, and had 7 1,000 yard seasons. He is OBVIOUSLY the best player in Jags history.
Boselli was also a 5 time pro-bowler and was arguably the best OT in the game for those 5 years.
Fred Taylor is a 1 time pro-bowler that is having his most consistent seasons now that he's sharing carries with a younger RB.
I love Fred, but objectively it has to be 1) Smith 2) Boselli 3) Taylor.
Is it that obvious, Ben?
Fred Taylor leads the team in total rushing yards, total touchdowns, and total yards from scrimmage for a career. His yards-per-carry average over his career is incredible, too, an indication that he's better than the raw numbers even indicate. Of the top-23 running backs, his average (4.7) is third-best behind only Jim Brown (5.2) and Barry Sanders (5.0). The last two seasons he has averaged an astronomical 5.4 and 5.0 yards per carry.
And his most "consistent" season is clearly subject to your definition of consistency, but I'd argue that his 2000 season, long before Maurice Drew came onto the scene was his most consistent one, and one of the most consistent of all-time for any running back. That year Fred Taylor ran for nine consecutive 100-yard games, one of which was his career-best 234-yard performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Anyone who has paid attention to Taylor's career knows that it's a travesty that he hadn't gone to more Pro Bowls. In 2000 he led the league in rushing yards per game. In 2003 Fred had 1574 rushing yards (4.6 ypc) and 1942 yards from scrimmage. In 2004, when Fred had 1224 yards on 4.7 ypc, the Pro-Bowl selection went through three alternates, including Jerome Bettis (940 yards, 3.8 ypc) in overlooking Taylor. I could go on with years that he deserved to make the Pro Bowl, but those three stand out most glaringly. It's clear that the minimal exposure of the Jaguars, the team's poor performance during Fred's prime years, the AFC's relatively strong crop of runners during Fred's career, his lack of touchdowns in the Fantasy, and his "Fragile" stigma all conspired against him to prevent him from making the Pro-Bowls more often.
It's also interesting that you discredit Fred's success of the last two years as being a product of the presence of Maurice Jones-Drew, but don't discount Jimmy's productivity throughout his prime when he played alongside Keenan McCardell.
Also, if character comes into play at all in this list, Fred didn't get caught twice for cocaine use and has a reputation of being as amicable as they get, whereas every description of interactions with Jimmy Smith that I've ever heard have all been that he is an obnoxious, arrogant snob.
Sorry, my vote goes:
1. Fred Taylor
2. Jimmy Smith
3. John Henderson
I cringe at leaving both Tony Boselli and Mark Brunell off of this list, but I hate the idea of not recognizing the defense that has been the signature of the Jaguars since Del Rio arrived even more.
And come on guys, Natrone Means? Tony Brackens? Maurice Jones-Drew has already had a better career and one more impactful on the success of the Jaguars than Means'. And there are at least three players on the Jaguars current defense whose careers have been better than Brackens.
And in my first post I meant to say: "... his relative lack of touchdowns in the age of Fantasy Football ..."
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home