When Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio announced that Byron Leftwich would be the starting QB for his team in 2007, we all figured that was that. Some folks, however, just don't want to leave it alone. Don Banks of Sports Illustrated, for example, thinks this matter is far from settled:There's still speculation within the league that Leftwich, who's entering the final year of his rookie contract and last played in a game in Week 7 of 2006, could be on the move before this offseason is done. Where to? Well, Leftwich would seem a decent fit in Oakland if Russell is not the No. 1 overall draft pick.
Part of that speculation may be stemming from this article about David Garrard, which paints the backup QB as some who still has something to prove -- and after last season, he probably does. His only shot to start will come if Leftwich gets hurt again, because there's very little chance of a trade here. Of course, given Leftwich's injury history, Garrard may still have a better shot than most backups have in the NFL.
As for Leftwich, who has talked the ears off his coaches while saying nothing to the media, he has informed the team that he'll be skipping voluntary team workouts in favor of his own workout plan in South Florida. Naturally, Del Rio wasn't pleased with this, but he wasn't too pleased when Fred Taylor skipped voluntary workouts last year, and how did that turn out? If Leftwich is putting in as much effort as Taylor says he is, Del Rio has nothing to worry about. Garrard, on the other hand...
Previously at the FanHouse:
Byron Leftwich Fighting Battle of the Bulge
Byron Leftwich Has Nothing to Say to You
Del Rio Makes Nice with Leftwich, Names Him Starter for 2007
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2007 @ 9:20PM
johnnie said...
J Delrio has totally botched the QB situation. Why come out now and name Leftwich your starter. You have essentually have painted yourself in a corner.
If Leftwich does not progress and the backups out play him in training camp and preseason Delrio has no way out. You also have stymied any chance of latching on to any QB that becomes available such as David Carr who was just released by the Texans, who I believe would provide something sorely needed from our QB position. While Garrard is more mobil than Leftwich, he is not accurate on deep balls... David Carr has a 60% completion rate. I would grab him in a heartbeat but our front office is so out of touch. They tend to latch on to players most notably Donavan Darius he should have been allowed to walk and so should fred taylor. I believe the three tier personnel is too restrictive, granted our cap is healthy but what good is cap space when you dont sign impact players (See New England, Denver) the moves they made showed their fan that they are serious about winning. The Jags are in a Neiman Marcus League but we look for bargains by shopping at Walmart (see Dennis Nortcutt) when Curtis from the Rams was available. by the time we realize our mistakes our so called core players will be passed their prime
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