I loved the Central Division.  Being in the AFC South is made worse by our lack of success.

Hurts to think about as that was the good ole days for this team.

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https://youtu.be/sgn-C6QLtuI

This is what it was like. Boselli (easily Jags best player) and OL destroys Denver's DL. Watch the whole game. I don't know the attendance at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium to watch the game, but I do believe there were 40,000+ when the team arrived back from Denver. Yes, the team returned to the stadium after they arrived back in Jacksonville. Surreal.

*You may have to click on YouTube link to watch. It's worth it.

---

I loved the Central Division.  Being in the AFC South is made worse by our lack of success.

Hurts to think about as that was the good ole days for this team.

AFC South is pretty much. Land of the Misfits.  We are the only conference in which resale tickets drop dramatically when playing divisional rivals.

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I was at that Jags Broncos game. Definitely my favorite moment as a Jags fan. Hard to believe how long ago that was. Would love to experience something like that again.

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________________________________________________
Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

I was at that Jags Broncos game.  Definitely my favorite moment as a Jags fan.  Hard to believe how long ago that was.  Would love to experience something like that again.

Brunell to Smith 4Q TD pass is the greatest play in Jaguars history.

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Really? He's that desirable? By Jags folks?

Trevor Lawrence is the absolute TRUTH and will most likely be one of the best, if not the best, QBs to come out of the college ranks into the NFL.

Just watch/listen to all of the scouts and draftniks once he decides to declare. He will be push to be the highest graded QB from CFB and will be highly sought after.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-pO2n8JpfR/..._copy_link

I wouldn't take anyone at QB as a sure thing.

---

Hurts to think about as that was the good ole days for this team.

AFC South is pretty much. Land of the Misfits.  We are the only conference in which resale tickets drop dramatically when playing divisional rivals.

But won't London fix it for us.... hahahahahah yeah right

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The Khan Years

Patience, Persistence, and Piss Poor General Managers.

Simply glorious.  Especially 1999.  14-2 and most experts had us winning the super bowl.   We were a winner for a period of time.  Jags haven't had that since the 90's.

---

The 2017 season was pretty doggone great. That was the best defense we ever had - better than 1999, better than the D that had Stroud and Henderson upfront. The playoffs were great. We got closer to the SB that year than we ever have. The Conference championship games in 1996 and 99 - the team was out of both contest by the fourth quarter.

You look at that 2016 defense, and you realize just a few years before, the defense was bad to medicore. There were a few free agents added, most notably Campbell. But the rebuild happened. If we can get guys like Simmons or Brown, and pair him up with Allen and Harrison (who I believe is a stud), if we can Myles Jack to play at the level he did in 2016--we'll be on our way back. It won't be next year, but the arrow will be pointing up.

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The 2017 season was pretty doggone great. That was the best defense we ever had - better than 1999, better than the D that had Stroud and Henderson upfront.  The playoffs were great. We got closer to the SB that year than we ever have. The Conference championship games in 1996 and 99 - the team was out of both contest by the fourth quarter.

2017 game was definitely the closest of them all but the 96 game was only a one score game halfway into the 4th.  Patriots got that fumble return for a TD to put the game away.

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________________________________________________
Scouting well is all that matters.  Draft philosophy is all fluff.

Late 90's were GLORIOUS. It was a good time to be a Jags fan. Thunder and Lightning, Boselli man handling every All Pro DE in the league....Freddy T running for a 90yard TD in the playoffs, retiring Jim Kelly AND Dan Marino in the playoffs....good stuff.

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“Motivation alone is not enough.  If you have an idiot and you motivate him,now you have a motivated idiot.” Jim Rohn

 

Even though the 90s teams had some talent, it seemed like they played above it because they had a chip on their shoulders for being an expansion team

The former Jags on the radio won't say it, but they have slighlty alluded to it that this generation of players are a bunch of "kitties" and softies. I think its taboo for them to call them out but its obvious what their opinions are, especially the former players who genuinely care about the Jags and Jacksonville

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Even though the 90s teams had some talent, it seemed like they played above it because they had a chip on their shoulders for being an expansion team

The former Jags on the radio won't say it, but they have slighlty alluded to it that this generation of players are a bunch of "kitties" and softies. I think its taboo for them to call them out but its obvious what their opinions are, especially the former players who genuinely care about the Jags and Jacksonville

That and also the fact that they're getting paid out the ying yang to essentially take less of a physical toll for it all. Not that the guys in the 90's didn't get paid fairly for their time. But compared to the gigantic amounts of money being thrown around now? Not even close. Some of these guys doing local work probably wouldn't have to do it today if they got some of today's contracts. 

I still get chills when I catch that story from Chuck Bednarik as well. Damn near made it to 90 before he passed away. But he had this story about how a player, and it may have even been him. But they had torn a bicep and it was completely out of place on their arm mid game. He or that player walks over to the sideline, has it duct taped back into place and gets back into the game. 

[BLEEP] Legend. He was also playing Linebacker AND Center in games. These guys got paid [BLEEP] for a living. And had to work during the off season.

---

"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

[BLEEP] happens.  A lot of teams go through bad stretches.  If you're only looking for all winning and good seasons, professional sports is not what your fandom should lie.  I've lived it long before Jacksonville.

Agreed.

The Patriot/Steelers/49ers/Cowboys dynasties are the exception, not the norm.

But even those teams have had down periods.

As for the original question, the 90s were a blast.  As fun as the 2017 playoff run was, imagine watching a team's first ever playoff run...where it was left for dead week 12.  Imagine your team finally putting all of the mistakes behind them and everything-inernally and league wide, falling exactly into place.

I'm talking the right teams losing down the stretch.  I'm talking Morten Anderson missing a chip shot.  I'm talking Mike Hollis banking two FGs off an upright in back to back 30-27 playoff wins against legendary QBs at home and highly favored.

Having four straight winning seasons and being serious Super Bowl contenders gave you confidence as a fan.

The games mattered. 

You weren't talking draft position in late October.

The crowds were electric.  Thinking back, I still get goosebumps when I think of the atmospheres in the stadium in our first ever home win (against Pittsburgh, of all teams), our first Monday night game (again against Pittsburgh-we were in the then AFC Central-basically the AFC North plus us), the first real game against Miami and Dan Marino, and the 1998 Tampa game (had the feel of a college rivalry game).  If you think of the Bills playoff game crowd, it was similar to that, but the games were far more exciting in part because of the offenses involved, and in part because they involved intra state and divisional rivals vying for supremacy.

---

 

Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I'm actually feeling good about the future.  The team has 12 picks this year, and 9 next year.

Yep.

Whatever it is that has better players running for the hills (besides just the Coughlin thing) it won't last forever  - and the bevy of upcoming draft capital is encouraging to at least equip the team for a bounce back. 
The odds of firing on all cylinders in 2021 don't seem too bad to me. 

2020?  Well, may have to be a transitional year.

See, I dunno about that.

Pittsburgh lost for forty years before finally winning.

Detroit has won ONE (1) playoff game since 1957, and has had one of the few winless seasons in league history.

It took the Saints 21 years to finally have their first winning season.

If teams continue to do bad things, they will continue to have bad results.  Sadly the Jaguars are not immune to that reality.

Given the next two years of draft choices and the possibility of landing Trevor Lawrence, I like our chances of having a long term turnaround.

But we have to get a lot more things right.

That means hitting big on the draft picks the next two years.

That means retaining the players we really want to keep and eliminating the acrimony between players and front offices.  Ideally, players should only leave here if: 

1.  We truly can't afford them because of the cap, not because we are being cheap
2.  They aren't good enough to remain on the team
3.  They retire
4.  The team decides to trade a player for picks-and not because a player forces a trade like Ramsey did and Yan is trying to do.

---

Can we survive another 5-11 season? 

To be honest, a 1-15 season would be better than a 5-11 season with Trevor Lawrence entering the draft next year.

If we get the #1 pick in 2021 Season Ticket Sales would go through the roof.

Agreed completely.

I think Minnesota is entering the mix for Lawrence.

---

 

Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

To be honest, a 1-15 season would be better than a 5-11 season with Trevor Lawrence entering the draft next year.

If we get the #1 pick in 2021 Season Ticket Sales would go through the roof.

Really? He's that desirable? By Jags folks?

To me, it's temporary pain for a longer term of bliss.

I'd rather not go through that.  Id rather have hit on a franchise QB pick earlier, have players stay here, and go on sustained periods of winning.

But we haven't done that.  We've missed on way too many premium draft picks-QBs and otherwise.

Sometimes, it takes bottoming out and taking a stud QB to turn a team around.

Pittsburgh's fortunes did not turn around until they took Terry Bradshaw after a 1-13 season.

Dallas had three straight losing seasons from 1986-1988 (finishing 3-13) before taking Troy Aikman in 1989.  They wound up winning 3 Super Bowls.

Indy finished 3-13 in 1997 before taking Peyton Manning in 1998.  Since his selection at the top of that 1998 draft, the Colts have been to two Super bowls, winning one, and had ten winning seasons in eleven years, averaging 11/6 wins a season during that time.

Two other notable first pick QBs to have success were John Elway and Eli Manning.  Elway was taken first overall in the legendary class of 1983 draft by the then Baltimore Colts.  However, the Colts were so poorly managed by Robert Irsay (Jim Irsay's dad), Elway refused to play for them, saying he would rather play baseball.  Eventually the Colts gave up on trying to sign him and traded him to Denver where he went on to take the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning two.

As for Eli Manning, he was taken first overall by the Chargers in 2004, but like Elway and the Colts, Manning did not want to play for the Chargers. The Giants wound up trading for him and winning two Super Bowls with him.


Is it possible to hit on a QB that leads to a period of sustained success without using the #1 overall pick?

Sure.

The 49ers selected Joe Montana in the 3rd round in 1979 and wound up the team of the 1980s.  They continued their success with Steve Young, acquired in a trade from Tampa, and won another Super Bowl in the 1994 season.

The Packers went to back to back Super Bowls in the 1996-1997 seasons with Brett Favre, a QB originally picked in the 2nd round by the Falcons and subsequently traded to the Packers.  They had more success later on by picking Aaron Rodgers towards the bottom of the first round.

The Seahawks have had recent success by taking Russell Wilson going to back to back Super Bowls and several playoffs since 2012.

Of course, everyone knows the history of the Patriots and Tom Brady.

But here's the thing with the teams in the later category.  They not only had to rely on other teams to get the QB position spectacularly wrong, they had to have the GM who recognized that and was willing to take advantage of it.

I want the Jaguars to not have to rely on others to mess up spectacularly in order to land a true franchise signal caller.  That is too tenuous a proposition at too important a position.

If a 1-15 season in 2020 results in a 10+ season career with Trevor Lawrence and a sustained period of success including a Super Bowl, I would gladly endure that to achieve that longer term result.

---

 

Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Really? He's that desirable? By Jags folks?

To me, it's temporary pain for a longer term of bliss.

I'd rather not go through that.  Id rather have hit on a franchise QB pick earlier, have players stay here, and go on sustained periods of winning.

But we haven't done that.  We've missed on way too many premium draft picks-QBs and otherwise.

Sometimes, it takes bottoming out and taking a stud QB to turn a team around.

Pittsburgh's fortunes did not turn around until they took Terry Bradshaw after a 1-13 season.

Dallas had three straight losing seasons from 1986-1988 (finishing 3-13) before taking Troy Aikman in 1989.  They wound up winning 3 Super Bowls.

Indy finished 3-13 in 1997 before taking Peyton Manning in 1998.  Since his selection at the top of that 1998 draft, the Colts have been to two Super bowls, winning one, and had ten winning seasons in eleven years, averaging 11/6 wins a season during that time.

Two other notable first pick QBs to have success were John Elway and Eli Manning.  Elway was taken first overall in the legendary class of 1983 draft by the then Baltimore Colts.  However, the Colts were so poorly managed by Robert Irsay (Jim Irsay's dad), Elway refused to play for them, saying he would rather play baseball.  Eventually the Colts gave up on trying to sign him and traded him to Denver where he went on to take the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning two.

As for Eli Manning, he was taken first overall by the Chargers in 2004, but like Elway and the Colts, Manning did not want to play for the Chargers. The Giants wound up trading for him and winning two Super Bowls with him.


Is it possible to hit on a QB that leads to a period of sustained success without using the #1 overall pick?

Sure.

The 49ers selected Joe Montana in the 3rd round in 1979 and wound up the team of the 1980s.  They continued their success with Steve Young, acquired in a trade from Tampa, and won another Super Bowl in the 1994 season.

The Packers went to back to back Super Bowls in the 1996-1997 seasons with Brett Favre, a QB originally picked in the 2nd round by the Falcons and subsequently traded to the Packers.  They had more success later on by picking Aaron Rodgers towards the bottom of the first round.

The Seahawks have had recent success by taking Russell Wilson going to back to back Super Bowls and several playoffs since 2012.

Of course, everyone knows the history of the Patriots and Tom Brady.

But here's the thing with the teams in the later category.  They not only had to rely on other teams to get the QB position spectacularly wrong, they had to have the GM who recognized that and was willing to take advantage of it.

I want the Jaguars to not have to rely on others to mess up spectacularly in order to land a true franchise signal caller.  That is too tenuous a proposition at too important a position.

If a 1-15 season in 2020 results in a 10+ season career with Trevor Lawrence and a sustained period of success including a Super Bowl, I would gladly endure that to achieve that longer term result.

Per your last point, 100000% agree.

Honestly. Even if Lawerence doesn’t win a SB but we have continued success and sustained playoff appearances, I’m ok with that. These last 10 years have been down right dreadful. 1 playoff run doesn’t wash off the stink of the other years.

---

To me, it's temporary pain for a longer term of bliss.

I'd rather not go through that.  Id rather have hit on a franchise QB pick earlier, have players stay here, and go on sustained periods of winning.

But we haven't done that.  We've missed on way too many premium draft picks-QBs and otherwise.

Sometimes, it takes bottoming out and taking a stud QB to turn a team around.

Pittsburgh's fortunes did not turn around until they took Terry Bradshaw after a 1-13 season.

Dallas had three straight losing seasons from 1986-1988 (finishing 3-13) before taking Troy Aikman in 1989.  They wound up winning 3 Super Bowls.

Indy finished 3-13 in 1997 before taking Peyton Manning in 1998.  Since his selection at the top of that 1998 draft, the Colts have been to two Super bowls, winning one, and had ten winning seasons in eleven years, averaging 11/6 wins a season during that time.

Two other notable first pick QBs to have success were John Elway and Eli Manning.  Elway was taken first overall in the legendary class of 1983 draft by the then Baltimore Colts.  However, the Colts were so poorly managed by Robert Irsay (Jim Irsay's dad), Elway refused to play for them, saying he would rather play baseball.  Eventually the Colts gave up on trying to sign him and traded him to Denver where he went on to take the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning two.

As for Eli Manning, he was taken first overall by the Chargers in 2004, but like Elway and the Colts, Manning did not want to play for the Chargers. The Giants wound up trading for him and winning two Super Bowls with him.


Is it possible to hit on a QB that leads to a period of sustained success without using the #1 overall pick?

Sure.

The 49ers selected Joe Montana in the 3rd round in 1979 and wound up the team of the 1980s.  They continued their success with Steve Young, acquired in a trade from Tampa, and won another Super Bowl in the 1994 season.

The Packers went to back to back Super Bowls in the 1996-1997 seasons with Brett Favre, a QB originally picked in the 2nd round by the Falcons and subsequently traded to the Packers.  They had more success later on by picking Aaron Rodgers towards the bottom of the first round.

The Seahawks have had recent success by taking Russell Wilson going to back to back Super Bowls and several playoffs since 2012.

Of course, everyone knows the history of the Patriots and Tom Brady.

But here's the thing with the teams in the later category.  They not only had to rely on other teams to get the QB position spectacularly wrong, they had to have the GM who recognized that and was willing to take advantage of it.

I want the Jaguars to not have to rely on others to mess up spectacularly in order to land a true franchise signal caller.  That is too tenuous a proposition at too important a position.

If a 1-15 season in 2020 results in a 10+ season career with Trevor Lawrence and a sustained period of success including a Super Bowl, I would gladly endure that to achieve that longer term result.

Per your last point, 100000% agree.

Honestly. Even if Lawerence doesn’t win a SB but we have continued success and sustained playoff appearances, I’m ok with that. These last 10 years have been down right dreadful. 1 playoff run doesn’t wash off the stink of the other years.

Absolutely.

I'm sure the Colts don't regret tanking for Luck.

---

 

Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

For those wishing to relive some good Jaguars football:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1249857400787685381?s=20

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For those wishing to relive some good Jaguars football:

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1249857400787685381?s=20

I love the games against Pittsburgh in that 2007 season.

The Jaguars cleared out that stadium faster than a loud fart in an elevator.

In fact, I wonder which pair of games I liked better..the 2007 or the 2017.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!