GMEN HQ » Jacksonville Jaguars

The Top Three Picks in The 2013 NFL Draft will be…..

Joe Tufaro — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:15:24 +0000

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Luke Joeckel, OT/ Texas A&M – With all the different evaluations complete, Joeckel is still considered the best lineman in the draft, and now that the Chiefs have traded a 2nd round pick and a conditional 2014 pick to the 49’ers for Alex Smith, he would certainly love a little protection. They also released Eric Winston which puts KC in need of a starting tackle, and there is rumor Brandon Albert is refusing to move to RT, so they will be looking to trade Albert for a second round pick and a conditional pick in 2014. Sound familiar… Joeckel has been the clear cut #1 pick since the college season ended and I would be amazed if the Chiefs went in a different direction.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars – Dion Jordan, DE/Oregon – Dion is an anomaly. Most prospects unable to compete at either the combine or their pro day typically fall on draft boards. Instead, all this kid has done is run a 40 and he’s being considered as one of the best defensive players available this year. Jordan was unable to help his draft stock at the Oregon Pro day because he is recovering from a recent surgery to repair a torn labrum. He ran a 4.53 unofficial time at the combine, which is amazing. GM David Caldwell recently said, “We’re pretty close – It’s down to two people.” Most people believe the two he referenced are Oregon DE Dion Jordan and West Virginia QB Gen Smith.

3. Oakland Raiders – Geno Smith, QB/West Virginia – I jokingly put “the ghost of All Davis lives” when I first put Geno to the Raiders in late January. The truth is Davis would have been drooling at the opportunity to grab a mobile QB, especially if he had been alive to see RGIII the year before. Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie will be left with making a franchise changing decision, as QB’s taken in the top 5 can cost a GM their job if they don’t pan out. Just ask Mike Tannenbaum. The Raiders released Carson Palmer due to salary cap issues, and have only have Matt Flynn & Terrelle Pryor on staff at QB. This pick is easy.

Giants Game Day Essentials

Tom Brant — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:17:02 +0000

Game Time: 7:30 pm EST

Location: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL

TV: MY Tv 9 (NY, NJ, CT)

Announcers: Paul Dittino and Carl Banks

Radio: WCBSFM 101.1 (WFAN has the Mets game)

Game Time Weather:

Kick Off: 85* 10% Chance of T-Storms

Half-Time: 83* 60% Chance of T-Storms

4th Quarter: 78* 60% Chance of T-Storms

Current Line: It’s the preseason…..

Jul 27, 2012; Albany, NY, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz (80) and wide receiver Domenik Hixon (87) share a laugh during training camp at University Field at SUNY Albany. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

CHINESE KICKER LONG DING TO WORK OUT WITH THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS AS A NFL FREE AGENT

Jeff Ellis — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:34:10 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – PARIS, FRANCE – Chinese kicker LONG DING, who first played American Football in the United States in 2007 as a member of the IFAF / USA Football International Student Program, is to work out as a free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Long, who hails from Qing Dao, came to the attention of NFL scouts when he attended the NFL Regional Combine in New York and was then invited to the NFL Super Regional Combine in Detroit.

Read his full story here.

He enjoyed a stellar career at Norwich University where he was twice named Eastern Collegiate Football Conference Special Teams’ Player of the Year, gained all-New England Football Writers Association and D3football.com all-region accolades and the October Fred Mitchell Award recognized his off-field contributions.

Long’s chance to go to mini camp with Jacksonville comes as IFAF (International Federation of American Football) appointed a Country Administrator in China, responsible for overseeing the creation of a national governing body and establishing a development plan for youth and amateur American football. Earlier this month, an IFAF delegation met with top Sports Governance Officials, Corporate executives and community leaders in Beiging, Wuhu and Shanghai.

Long initially traveled 7,000 miles from his home in China in 2007 to study and play football at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. His only prior kicking experience had been at a NFL-organized camp in his homeland.

That rookie season he made 21 of 26 extra point attempts and six of eight field goals. Defensively, he collected 19 tackles including 6 for a loss of yards and had three sacks.

Long then studied and played football for two years at Dean College, winning a Northeast Football Conference championship in 2008 and 2009 and he was named MVP of the 2010 NJCAA Bowl Game and was selected as an all-conference kicker.

He concluded his Norwich University career by successfully converting 11 consecutive field goals and 14 extra points in a row. He ended the 2011 season as the Maroon and Gold’s leading scorer with 73 points and was the ECFC leader in made field goals and field goal and extra point accuracy as well as ranking in the top 20 of Division III in field goals per game.

Focus on: AFC South

Tom Brant — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:05:01 +0000

Every Wednesday for the next seven weeks, GmenHq will be featuring one of the divisions in each conference and what each team might be looking at for draft/free agency help. This week we will look at the AFC South.

Last week we focused on the AFC Central

Indianapolis Colts: My Pre-Draft ranking of the Colts in Upward. Give the colts this much credit, they are doing what they need to do to get younger, faster, and better. They have cut ways with Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and Peyton Manning to name a few. There are also rumors that the Colts are shopping Dwight Freeney too. As we all know the Colts have the number one overall pick and all assumptions are they that the Colts are going to draft Andrew Luck. The Colts are doing the best they can to free up cap space to put talent around Luck. It looks as if Luck will be the starter from day one too. After the horrific season the Colts had last year they can only go up. It may be a slow climb but they are one again on the right track.

Houston Texans: My Pre-Draft ranking of the Texans in NEUTRAL. The Texans took a huge step forward last year by making

October 09, 2011; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans outside linebacker Mario Williams (90) prepares for a game against the Oakland Raiders at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

the playoffs and doing so without their starting QB. However, Mario Williams is a free agent and the two sides appear to be very far apart. This would love the Texans defense with a huge hole. Without Williams or an impact player like Williams the Texans will struggle to repeat the same success they had from last season. The Texans have the 26th overall pick in the draft. If they loose Williams look for the them to target defense (again). Questions are still floating around questioning if they have a QB/Coach combo that they can win the Super Bowl with? The bigger question, as I see it, is do they have a defense that can keep the other team off the board? With more question marks than answers, neutral is the best pre-draft rating I could give the Texans.

Jacksonville Jaguars: My Pre-Draft ranking of the Jaguars is Downward. What is there to say about the Jaguars? They reside in a market that does not care about football, they think they have a franchise QB, and free agents never want to go to Jacksonville. The Jaguars have the seventh overall pick in the draft and most mock drafts have the Jaguars looking for a OL (although some say a WR). If the Jaguars cannot protect their QB, they will not be able to win any games. However, the Jaguars have a bigger problem off the field. No body cares about football and unless the Jaguars can get some talent into the city to make the people want to go to football games that stadium will always be half empty. Maybe they should trade for Tebow? I would not be shocked to see the Jaguars to be the next NFL franchise to move, lets say to Toronto? Just throwing it out there….

Dec 11, 2011; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker (10) passes against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at LP Field. The Saints beat the Titans 22-17. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-US PRESSWIRE

Tennessee Titans: My pre-draft ranking of the Titans is NEUTRAL. Does anyone know what the Titans are? Do they have QB (doesn’t that sound like a theme for the entire AFC South)? They have a good solid young coach but beyond that they have many questions. They should get some answers by drafting some secondary help and then looking to put some talent around Locker. The biggest advantage the Titans have is that they are playing in probably the weakest division within the AFC. Yes, I think the AFC South is worse than the AFC West. If the Titans can spend the cap room wisely during free agency they could push the Texans for division champions

My Pre-Draft prediction for Final AFC South Standings: 1)Texans 2) Titans 3) Colts 4) Jaguars (8-8 might win this division next year)

NFL NEWS: Suh Suspended, Del Rio Fired, Larry Coyer Out

Joe Tufaro — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:21:33 +0000

This morning brought some big time news in the NFL. The Detroit Lions young and talented Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh was suspended by the league for two games without pay and without team contact. The Lions who currently sit at 7-4 have upcoming games against the New Orleans Saints, and Minnesota Vikings. this could deal a huge blow to the Lions chance for finally making the playoffs. This season that started with so much promise has fallen on hard times lately, and it will be a test to see if they can overcome this setback and still make a run for a wild card spot.

Jack Del RIo has been fired by the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars who currently rank 4th in defense, but last in points scored sit at 3-8 and have struggled since day one. It has been surmised that defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will be the interim coach. Hired by the Jaguars in 2003, Del Rio finishes his career in Jacksonville with a 69-73 overall record, including a 1-2 mark in the postseason. His team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2007, when Jacksonville finished 11-5 and qualified as a wild card.

In a strange move that might be a sign of things to come, the Indianapolis Colts fired Defensive Coordinator Larry Coyer. Not sure how replacing the defensive coordinator after an 0-11 start sends any kind of message, but like I said this might be a sign of things to come.

A New York Giant Dissed in Madden 2011

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:02:01 +0000

Leading up to the August release of Madden 2011, EA has released the 5 players whose Madden scores improved the most and the 5 players whose scores decreased the most.

The NFC East doesn’t crack the top 5 gainers, although I was surprised the relative lack of major numerical increases of the top 5 (only 1 player managed to improve double digits, and he has yet to play a NFL game in his career). However, a New York Giant manages to find himself among the 5 biggest decreases in the new addition of the omnipresent video game. Tight End Travis Beckum tied for the biggest drop in the game, going from a respectable 69 to a 63, a drop of 6 points. This tied Reggie Nelson of Jacksonville for the largest drop.

I will be sure to have more on the Madden rankings as they are released, but here’s one more quick point: EA also released the list of top 10 NFL QBs and Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, and Ben Roethlisberger all crack the list, but Eli does not.