The Jaguars have taken a step in filling their need for speed at the wide receiver position this week by obtaining Troy Williamson from Minnesota for a late round draft pick. Williamson, who will be entering his 4th season in the NFL, was the seventh overall pick by the Vikings in 2005 in exchange for Randy Moss.

Although Williamson is one of the fastest players in the entire league, he has yet to demonstrate his big play making ability. He uses his breakaway speed after he gets the ball but in his first three seasons in the twin cities he hasn’t racked up more than 40 catches yet. His season high was 37 in 2006 when Tavaris Jackson was just getting a taste at the quarterback position.

This season Williamson had a well documented problem with the Minnesota front office who docked him a game check for going to his grandmother’s funeral. They later reversed their decision and gave the receiver his check after team leader’s voiced their displeasure.

Now that Williamson will have a more proven and stable quarterback in David Garrard he will have his chance to prove why he was drafted so high out of South Carolina. Jacksonville still needs a proven playmaker at the receiver position and with number one target Ernest Wilford set for free agency there is no telling what ownership has in store.

The draft is right around the corner also and with the number 26 overall pick in the first round there could be a chance the Jags go after another Gator in the first round. Last year it was safety Reggie Nelson who played an integral part for the Jaguar secondary. This year it might be defensive end Derrick Harvey who would provide immediate help on the defensive line.

Time will tell, check back for more draft coverage!

Jaguar’s middle linebacker Mike Peterson was lobbying this week to head Coach Jack Del Rio to play in this weekend’s Divisional Round Playoff Game against the New England Patriots. However, Del Rio ruled Peterson out for the eighth consecutive game because of a broken hand and the Jacksonville defense will have to find a way once again to shut down the run without their star linebacker. Daryl Smith has filled in quite well for Peterson especially considering that Smith is an outside linebacker.

Safety Reggie Nelson was restrained to riding the stationary bike today in practice because of a thigh injury, in which he played through against the Steelers. Defensive tackle John Henderson, who forms one of the top tackle duos in the league with Marcus Stroud who is already on IR, was forced out of the Pittsburgh game in the first half and was not participating at the start of practice on Wednesday.

Once again our franchise player was snubbed for the NFL’s annual all star game. Fred Taylor, who is enjoying one of his finest seasons of his 10 year career, was again left off the AFC roster for 2007. The AFC undoubtedly has an overload of exceptional running backs compared to the NFC and because of the small market that Taylor plays in he was overlooked again.

Ladanian Tomlinson of San Diego was of course chosen as the starter because he is the best running back in the league, as well as the most popular. Willie Parker of the Steelers was selected as a backup and it was well deserved. Parker has had a tremendous year for Pittsburgh and has put up some gaudy numbers as he sets the tone for the Steelers offense. The third running back chosen was Joseph Addai of the Indianapolis Colts and it is never fun to watch one of our rivals get picked over one of our guys. However, you can make a decent case for Addai because he has good numbers this year and takes a lot of pressure off of Peyton Manning in the Colts offense. But come on, where is Taylor? He has put up ridiculous statistics this year and unlike any of the aforementioned half backs, Taylor splits carries with Maurice Jones-Drew. Taylor has piled up 1,091 yards (4th in conference) on 216 carries for an average of 5.1 yards per carry, easily the best average among starters in the AFC. Without Jones-Drew, Taylor would lead the league by about 300 yards.

One of the main factors that separate Taylor from the other running backs that were chosen is the lack of touchdowns. Willie Parker, who has only 2 touchdowns this year, gets almost all of the carries for Pittsburgh and leads the league in most rushing categories so the low touchdown total does not hurt him as much. It is not really fair to Taylor because the human bowling ball (Jones-Drew) gets virtually all of the carries inside the ten yard line. Only one of Fred’s four touchdowns have come inside the 5. With touchdown runs of 50,80 and 12 yards respectively, it is evident that Taylor must break a big run if he is going to hit pay dirt. With that said, Freddy has never complained nor will he in the future because he is the ultimate team player and his main objective is to win games on Sundays. If by chance he gets in the end zone then that is just an added bonus.

For us loyal fans of the Jaguars, we know what kind of player #28 is and he does not need to go to Hawaii to prove himself. The important thing (and Taylor 100% agrees) is that the Jags are on the verge of storming into the playoffs and “Fragile Fred” is carrying us there on his shoulders. It is funny that only a couple of years ago, the so called “experts” took the liberty of slapping that nickname on him. Now the league is starting to take notice but for the fans that have seen him play since he stepped out of The Swamp as a Gator and into the Jaguar teal and black, we know how gifted and hard working this man really is. Keep up the good work Fred.

On that note, Taylor shouldn’t feel too somber because no other Jaguars were selected either. At 10-4 and having the 3rd best overall record in the conference, apparently no Jaguar was deserving enough of a trip to the Aloha State in February. The Pro Bowl, like any major sports All Star game, is more of a popularity contest then anything else. This year however, the players that were selected actually had the statistics to justify their votes. The Jaguars players that were deserving of some consideration can either pout about not being chosen for the Pro Bowl or they can continue to get it done on the field for the team. With the character of this team from the coaching staff on down through the players, I would imagine the latter will happen.