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Chad Jackson's mom had health concerns, his decision was based on family finances.I was reviewing some player profiles from The Huddle Report and found this snippet by Drew Boylhart:
"I have one question that has nothing to do about Chad’s talent. Why is he coming out early? He was in a program and offense that could make him a top five player in the 2007 draft? I don’t know what the reason is, but If I were Urban Myers and I had a kid this talented, I would do everything in my power to hold on to him for one more year. This kid was in the perfect offense to show his talents to the world and he is passing it up! Not only that, his coach is not squawking like a duck being chased down the road by a mutt pissed because the duck was swimming in his water bowl. Personally, I have to wonder if this kid can handle the playbook at the next level."
http://www.thehuddlereport.com/ppSD/protected/archive/2006DRAFT/2006profiles/ChadJackson.htm
This could help to explain the lack of participation by a seemingly healthy (at least down the stretch) Chad Jackson. I think he was a developmental prospect all along. Urban Meyer clued BB in to the issues the Patriots were getting into and they were dealt with accordingly. He was never meant to be any type of replacement if Deion Branch didn't treturn this year.
If he matures this year they'll have a monster on their hands. They need to draft a more complete player like Rhema McKnight from ND and they'll be fine. He still may be available in Round 2. Paul Williams from Fresno State is likely to be in their plans as well. They're both big, productive, and come from JV schools so all the requisite homework will have been done diligently.
Hopefully next year I won't be left screaming "Why the EFF is EFFING Heath Evans split out wide with the EFFING season on the Line!".
That is my wish.
(This isn't directed at you Bert, a general observation)
I get a kick out of all the people down on the kid after the all the hype through the summer and well into the fall. Perhaps it's my own experience with developing young high school graduates so they perform well under pressure when lives are on the line - this kid needed to be groomed. Training Camp might have been enough, except he got hurt, pushed too fast and got hurt again, then did it a third time. He's young, he's learning, and the proof is in how they began using him as a blocker in the game, then his new role on Special Teams (he got an assist on one KR tackle against Indy). He's being brought up within the system learning to do the little things right, after a couple false starts moving him too fast earlier when they were desperate for WR talent. Gaffney panning out was a blessing for Chad, it bought him the time he needed to learn things without being thrown in the fire.
The crop of WRs on the roster or likely to re-sign includes four 6' Florida boys and the shifty Bam Childress. Assuming Troy retires (a big if, but he was slowing a little with the early workload) that is the WR corps on the roster. I think Kelvin is the only one who might be challenged from outside, and I think he will come on faster after the off-season program.
If a WR is drafted, it's because he's considered the best player available - which would really surprise me when weighed against the other positions - WRs aren't going to be that critical for us as Jabar/Reche/Chad/Kelvin/Bam go through the off-season. I would rank WR low on the team shopping list as of today - there are a number of juniors declaring which have diluted the draft pool - I expect when it's said and done this will be a deep WR draft. A deep WR draft may mean some veteran WRs become available for trade or in Free Agency, and some good Practice Squad prospects will slip to the second day/UDFA rounds.
5 WRs is about all the roster will carry again, not with the depth desired at TE and RB. Mills may become a FB, but I see him as a hybrid WR/H-back when Woicik gets done working on his quickness in and out of cuts.