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I'm back from golf camp

Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.

Ron from Orlando, FL:
What really bothers me is that you still have a job. I read the garbage that spewed out of your mouth all last offseason, just to find out that everything you suggest or say is absolutely wrong. You try to degrade people because of your own insecurities when they're asking a logical question. Go read your crap from last year and see how correct it is; how great Jerry Porter looked in training camp, blah, blah. It bugs me that whenever I decide to look at my favorite team's website, I'm forced to see your columns at the bottom. Anybody could take your job and write their worthless opinions, just to be proved incorrect a few months later. If Malcom Jenkins or Crabtree are still on the board and the Jags do not take them, then I'll be sitting in a lawn chair in front of the Jaguars office waiting to have a talk with someone. I spend my hard-earned money year after year on season tickets just to see them pick Gators like Harvey and then to hear you boast about how great of a move it is, no matter what they do. If they took Maurice Clarett a few years back, your article the following day would be how great a decision it was. Bet you won't post a comment like this, Einstein.

Vic: Nothing snaps a guy back to reality after a week of vacation like a good dose of hate. Thanks, I needed that.

Saif from Washington, DC:
Is there a formula for recouping the value of a draft pick that determines how many picks you should get for trading down?

Vic: Yes, it's called a numeric table, but I don't put much stock in it because it doesn't include a crystal ball. When the Jaguars traded up from 26 to eight in last year's draft, they clearly won the battle of the numeric table, but Baltimore got the franchise quarterback it had always wanted.

Kelly from Windsor, CA:
Should I be feeling lukewarm about the Mel Turner selection? Are his talents really exemplified by the Browns defense of the last three years?

Vic: Scott Linehan was a hot coordinator when he became the Rams' head coach. How'd that work? Brian Billick was considered an offensive genius when he was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, but under Billick the Ravens were always a defense-first team that always seemed to struggle on offense. The point I'm trying to make is that a lot more goes into hiring a coach other than his track record of success or failure, especially when you're hiring a coordinator. You have to know his philosophies mesh with yours. You have to feel comfortable with your ability to communicate with him and you have to be confident in his ability to communicate with and teach his players. The opinions of people who've worked with him are probably most important. I have no doubt Tony Dungy gave Russ Purnell a sterling recommendation and Jack Del Rio has great respect for Dungy, so anything Dungy said would've carried a lot of weight. Hey, Dungy may have gotten Mike Tomlin the job in Pittsburgh. I know Tony gushed to the Steelers about Tomlin. Don't just look at the rankings. Coaches know who can coach.

Tim from Jacksonville:
Bob Hayes: snubbed or undeserving of the Hall of Fame?

Vic: Hayes would be in the Hall of Fame today if he had a positive defining postseason moment. As it is, Hayes' defining postseason moment is negative. I'm talking about the "Ice Bowl," when Hayes put his hands in his pants to keep them warm and didn't come off the line of scrimmage on running plays, effectively tipping the plays. That's what's kept him out of the Hall of Fame. Postseason performance is very, very important and Hayes' postseason stats are rather ordinary: thirty receptions for 491 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games.

Jeremah from Jacksonville:
The Cardinals were able to add thousands of seats in the end zone for the NFC title game. Weren't we told when the Jaguars added tarps that the stadium capacity could not be changed, even for the playoffs?

Vic: Yes, that's the rule. The Cardinals must've asked the league for permission to add seats and the league granted the request. The Jaguars could make the same request.

Chris from Rochester, NY:
So you had to know this was coming. After Warner's performance against the Eagles, do you feel he should be a Hall of Fame quarterback now?

Vic: I've already said it twice but I'll say it one more time. If Kurt Warner wins the MVP on Sunday, which he likely would if the Cardinals win, then I would consider him a lock to make it into the Hall of Fame. Super Bowl MVPs trump everything and having won two of them would make any player of longevity a certain Hall of Fame selection.

Eric from Jacksonville:
Do you think Jacksonville will ever go to the PSL option like most teams around the league?

Vic: Not in the foreseeable future; you have to have an overwhelming demand situation to be able to sell permanent seat licenses. I don't know if "most" teams have PSLs. The last I looked, fewer than half the teams in the league did.

John from Jacksonville:
The Steelers/Ravens game prompted a question. There was a play where the Steelers coach threw the red flag to challenge a TD and the Ravens coach threw the flag to challenge the catch. What are the rules when both coaches throw the red flag on the same play?

Vic: It wouldn't matter how many challenge flags are thrown because separately or collectively they would accomplish the same thing, which is to say a comprehensive review of the play. As soon as I saw the ball come loose from Santonio Holmes' hands as he stretched it out at the goal line, I knew the Ravens would challenge because a receiver must maintain control through the ground to complete the catch, if he hadn't already done so. As it turned out, the Ravens saved Mike Tomlin a lot of embarrassment. Had the Ravens not challenged the catch call and Tomlin had challenged the no-touchdown call, review of the play would've reversed the catch call. Tomlin, effectively, would've cost his team a touchdown, had it scored from the one-yard line.

Alex from Jacksonville:
When Willis McGahee was lying on the ground after his scary injury, I could not believe music was being played in the stadium throughout the whole ordeal. That was exceptionally crude. I knew Pittsburgh was a town full of simple-minded steel workers but I did not realize it was also a city full of classless jerks.

Vic: See question and answer below.

Ross from Farmville, VA:
All I could hear from the stands as McGahee was carted off was clapping (to be expected) and enthusiastic statements of support so that he could hear them. Clapping for him is typical, but the enthusiastic and vocal well-wishes are a nice show of class.

Vic: People hear and see what they want to hear and see. Some people hate, some people love.

Perry from Orange Park, FL:
A study done by the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center revealed that football fans who played Madden had a higher football IQ than those fans who didn't. Maybe Madden isn't all bad after all?

Vic: Fortunately, I don't have a degree from Oregon.

Chris from Duval, FL:
What are the chances of trading the eighth overall pick for Anquan Boldin?

Vic: I'm curious. Do you play Madden?

Chris from Jacksonville:
There's been a lot of flap on the sports programs about the hit on Willis McGhee. Personally, it looked to me like Clark was trying to lead with his shoulder but they both ended up bashing helmets. I don't think there was anything dirty about it. Your thoughts?

Vic: One of the mistakes fans make in interpreting the helmet-to-helmet rule is that they apply it to all situations. Unless it involves blatant spearing, helmet to helmet applies only to quarterbacks and defenseless receivers. Once a player becomes a runner, he ceases to be defenseless and at that point the helmet-to-helmet rule does not apply. Willis McGahee was a receiver on the play, but once he got his second foot down after the catch, he became a runner who could defend himself. Ryan Clark's intent was to tackle McGahee as briskly as possible. It's what all defenders do. The idea is to cause a fumble, which Clark did. There has been no fine on Clark. It was a clean hit. Football is a tough game for tough guys.

Andrew from Jacksonville:
Where's Vic? Must be out with all the other libs worshipping their new "messiah." You're in for a letdown. Nothing is going to change. You libs are going to continue to blame G.W. for everything that goes wrong for the next 10 years. By then the sheep will have gotten wise to you and then the change will begin.

Vic: I just went golfing; that's all. Geez!

Mikey from Lake City, FL:
I was sad to hear Dante Lavelli passed away. Do you have any stories about him you could share?

Vic: I was covering a Hall of Fame induction ceremony about 20 years ago. Lavelli was one of the Hall of Famers on hand and they always honor those in attendance by announcing them. When they called Lavelli's name, Mike Ditka and another Hall of Famer, it may have been Doug Atkins, each put an arm under Lavelli's arms and hoisted him out of his seat and into the air so the fans could see him. That's when I realized football was a really tough game.

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