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.