Quote:I have to believe very few people have the mindset that his career is over. 

From FBT's Original Post:  "From my perspective, I'd like to see them work out a reasonable deal to keep Drew around, not as a feature back, but as the grizzled veteran who can still make a play here or there.  That kind of arrangement extended the career of Fred Taylor, and allowed MJD to develop into a feature back.  I'd like to see that process continue with MJD and his heir apparent as of today, Toddman."

 

Perhaps I'm reading your OP incorrectly, but the "grizzled vet" comment makes me think more of a RB that's washed out.  The concept of making a play here or there also implies tacitly that only glimpses of the old player will occur on an inconsistent basis.  MJD's rookie year and also his 2nd year, when Freddie was the "girzzled vet" showed a very different reality from what you described above.

 

Freddy was still the featured back and he basically ran off a huge play in practically every game I saw in 2007.  He was also the featured back when MJD was a rookie in 2006.  

 

Now if you're speaking about 2008, yeah I agree he'd been pushed aside for MJD--and rightfully so.  MJD was clearly gonna be the great player we now see.  

 

But I disagree with many opinions (not yours, but alot of other posters) I've read that we're gonna/have seen a huge drop off from MJD in regards to your original post.  Like I said, I see MJD having at least 3 if not 4 seasons of big productivity.  The injuries he had this year and last are ones that I don't think will hinder future success.  To me, his injuries mean his tread is a bit deeper than Freddie's during this same time frame if comparing careers.  

 

It is pretty interesting to put Freddie and MJD's careers side by side in terms of statistics and years played in the league.  I think we have a potentially similar situation (as you pointed out) where he have a great RB and have the opportunity to transition into another great one.  I see MJD's career in terms of Fred Taylor's 2004 or 2005 year, in terms of how productive he can be.  Not in terms of Taylor's 2008 "grissled vet" year in which he subsequently went to the Pats to die---metaphorically speaking.  

 

We're not yet in a position where we need to absolutely dump MJD, or let him go to another team to wash out.  The benefit to us as Jaguar fans is that MJD's leverage is zilch, so we can hopefully entice him to stick around and be a big part of a playoff push in the next 2 seasons.

 

If MJD has 3 great years left, which I think he does, he'll be the crafty vet that we can utilyze while bringing in a new RB, or fully developing Todman.  

 

Either way, I think it would be a shame to not try and keep Maurice.  

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