Quote:I don't think one can definitively say that either RT or safety is an improvement so far. It's hard to judge RT when the interior of the line is so bad, and Joeckel still makes a lot of mistakes. I saw Cyprien miss at least two tackles he should have made yesterday. His one big play was a blitz, not what you draft a safety for. There is room for argument, it's not a certainty one way or the other, but I don't see definite improvement over last year in the play at those positions so far.


 

The Cowboys needed the luck of the Walker trade partly because free agency wasn't really a factor until 1993 (Reggie White). Nowadays it's easier to build a playoff team quickly. The Jags came thisclose to making the playoffs in JDR's second year, in spite of the Hugh Douglas mistake. Were Musgrave a merely competent OC, the Jags would have won their home game against the tacks and finished 10-6.

 

1. Regarding Cyprien, yes, he has missed some tackles, but he had two hits he put on Raiders receivers that seemed harder than anything Landry had during his time here.  I'm sure I could look up stats that could debunk this statement, but I don't recall Landry forcing any fumbles or having any sacks last year, either.  Also consider he is young and adjusting to the speed of the game and the scheme.  I think barring injury, he'll be a better player week 10 than he is now, and what he is now isn't bad at all.  One thing I find interesting about this portion of your argument is your lack of comment on Gratz being an improvement over Mathis/Ross.  Was that mere oversight on your part, is it too soon/too small a sample size for you to make that call at this point, or is that a tacit admission that he represents improvement over Ross/Mathis last year, even if slight? 

 

2.  Yes, the current Jaguars have the luxury of free agency.  However, the likelihood of the Jaguars finding legitimate stars in free agency is smaller, I think, than in the draft.  I think free agency is more apt to get you role players than stars.  Dallas utilized the draft in the aftermath of the Walker and Walsh trades to get star caliber players like Emmitt Smith, Kevin Smith, Darren Woodson, etc.

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