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Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars - jaguars.com

Thank you, fans

Join jaguars.com Senior Editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.

Danny from Jacksonville:
Can you recall someone in recent history who was considered a reach by the draft experts and ended up being a great pick?

Vic: Chris Johnson.

Jason from Brooklyn, NY:
Alualu called himself a reach at 10. Hearing our first-round pick doubt himself like that is not what I really wanted to hear.

Vic: You completely missed the wonderful expression of humility in his remark. It's gotten to the point that we've become so fond of our greatness that we no longer know how to express surprise at having discovered it. Tyson Alualu did.

Scott from Jacksonville:
Can you please explain the reason Notre Dame gets the favoritism they do? Is the fan base that big as to trump every other school?

Vic: Yes.

Chris from Jacksonville Beach, FL:
When we acquired Kirk Morrison in a trade, do we inherit his current contract or do they have to rework a deal?

Vic: Morrison signed the one-year tender the Raiders offered him, or he couldn't have been traded. He is bound to play under that tender for the Jaguars.

John from Morehead City, NC:
OK, Vic, I believe in BAP. I understand how it's supposed to work. Here's my only question: Like this year was a great year for defense, next year is a great year for quarterbacks and even you have said we'll get one then. That being said, how do general managers make sure they get those positions and still get BAP? What does a GM do if he absolutely needs a QB and one never falls as the BAP in the draft?

Vic: If I still believed in drafting the best available player, I'd tell you the GM would need to trade to where the quarterback he needs and wants fits, but I don't believe in BAP drafting any longer so I won't say that. I've changed, baby. I'm all need now. It was just hopeless for me to continue trying to explain BAP. I think I would've had more success trying to explain nuclear fission to a tree full of squirrels. BAP is just too difficult of a concept to understand so I'm done with it. I'm with the fans now, baby. Screw that drafting the best player stuff. Why draft a player who's better than another player when you don't need the better player, you need the player of lesser ability? Why draft from the whole pool when you can't draft from the little pool of players that address your needs? Come on, no one's gonna get hurt. Who needs depth? The great thing about drafting for need is that when the draft is over, you're going to the Super Bowl every year.

Daniel from Tallahassee, FL:
What is a realistic expectation of the number of members from the rookie class that will make the final cut?

Vic: I would expect every player drafted to be with the team in some capacity after final cuts are made and the practice squad has been assembled. This team is not far enough along in its development to cut draft picks.

Preston from Patterson, NY:
I watched the press conference of Kirk Morrison and immediately fell in love with his passion for the game and his feelings towards the team. I think acquiring him may have been as good a move as the draft class itself. Do you see the same thing I do in Morrison?

Vic: I love the way he talks. I love his attitude and his cooperation with the media and his willingness to step up and be a leader. Now there's only one thing left: Do it. This is the talking season. It's followed by the playing season. That's when I'll get excited.

Ian from Salt Lake City, UT:
Why is everyone making need and BAP drafting a big deal? I don't see anything wrong with drafting for the weak spots on your team. Let's say you keep drafting BAP's and they're all on offense. The team will be very unbalanced. I think need is better and will produce faster success. BAP's in the needed positions is what you need to draft.

Vic: Plus, a tree full of squirrels can understand it. You need a nut, you get a nut. Easy stuff.

Will from Jacksonville:
To be fair, isn't Mel Kiper a former NFL scout?

Vic: I don't think so.

Gary from Puyallup, WA:
Tuesday marks four decades since it happened. What do you hope our society has learned?

Vic: I don't think it's learned anything from that event and I don't think in those terms anymore. It's a purely personal thing for me. I haven't talked much about it with my wife or children. It's difficult to describe. I was standing at the top of a hill watching, and then I heard a lot of gunshots, the sound of which is as distinct today as it was 40 years ago. Then came the sirens – I'll never forget the unique sound of those sirens – and I knew something was real, real wrong. Every May 4, as noon approaches, I start looking at my watch. At exactly 12:24 p.m., I stop what I'm doing for a minute. I don't say a prayer or cry, I just stop what I'm doing and think about where I was on May 4, 1970. I feel an obligation to do it. It goes with something our class president said at our graduation. He reminded us that we are the last graduating class to have witnessed what happened on this campus, and then said, "Never forget." I couldn't if I tried. Nothing was learned, just remembered.

Devin from Jacksonville:
Who will be this team's number two wide receiver in the fall? Is there a clear choice or do you expect this team to add another veteran receiver to the mix at some point?

Vic: They might add a guy but, at this point, I would expect the number two receiver competition to be between Mike Thomas and Troy Williamson. Jarett Dillard could join the competition, but I see him as more of a specific-role type of player. The guy I'm waiting to see is Zach Miller. I'm looking forward to seeing in what role he'll be used this year.

Salo from Mexico City, Mexico:
What are your thoughts on Trevor Harris?

Vic: He's got a good short-stroke arm. That's the first thing I noticed about him. He wasn't asked to throw much more than check-downs and short crossing or out routes, but he was good at all of them. Sunday morning, I saw him throw deep for the first time and my reaction was, "too bad." In other words, he doesn't have an NFL-caliber deep arm, but neither does Ryan Fitzpatrick and he completed a 98-yard touchdown pass against the Jaguars last season. Fitzpatrick is the player to whom I would compare Harris. They're similar in arm strength and smarts. A veteran scout whose opinion I value as much as anybody's in the business told me that Harris has "it," and I saw evidence of "it" this past weekend. By the third practice, Harris was actually upping the tempo. He was in complete control of the action. He's super intelligent and that'll likely make him a coordinator's favorite. I also noticed something else: Mike Shula corrected Harris following a particular throw and Harris came back with the same throw and it was perfect. He's a guy who can be coached to a higher level and, by the way, his coaches at Edinboro did a fantastic job with him. For a kid to come out of that level of competition and make a seamless-looking transition in his rookie mini-camp says everything about the coaching he got at Edinboro. I don't know what can be done about his lack of a deep arm, but a kid with "it" is worth a look.

Sam from Jacksonville:
What quarterback that you've seen had the best play-action pass?

Vic: If you're talking about the best play-action fake, it was Boomer Esiason.

Austin from Jacksonville:
No question, I would just like to inform you that you suck. I have been a life-long Jags fan and love the organization but would like to know what idiot hired you. It's great that you keep up with what the Jags are doing but it's boring to listen to you speak. I have typed in numerous good football questions but instead you answer idiot, retard questions with sarcastic remarks. I don't know where you got a degree from but I'll bet they're ashamed. You literally talk about nothing and give no insight all the time. I cannot wait to take your job and actually get the city of Jacksonville involved with the team. (Expletive) you.

Vic: You'd be a great ambassador of the game and the team.

Alan from Orlando, FL:
Vic, you just don't get it. It's not about Gator fans, it's not about being from the state of Florida, it's much simpler than that. Tim Tebow is a once-in-a-lifetime player. You will never see a player like him again, ever, not even close. His personality, work ethic, heart, physical abilities, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Vic, but it does matter what the fans want and it does matter that Tebow would have brought fans into the stadium. The fans pay your salary, the players' salaries and the scouts' salaries. So don't try and be this pompous guy who thinks the fan's opinion doesn't matter, because it does, no matter if you like it or not.

Vic: The last thing I do before I go to sleep every night is say a prayer of thanks to the fans.

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