With the 10th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...

[I-10east]

The fake ass Gator homer/4 percent Jag fan are now weeded out. Thank God, we now have real Jag fans left, who are realistic, and do not have Tebow tunnelvision. Those fake and frail ass Gator homer Jag fans, probably root for teams like the Dolphins, and the Steelers when they play us anyway. Go on and root for Denver Gator fan! We don't want you!

[buckethead]

Gator fans have good cause to be proud of their team, just as Tebow fans are justified in admiring him. I am just as sick of overly arrogant fans (of any team) as anyone else, but a bit of tolerance goes a long way.

I welcome Gator/Tebow fans to any and every Jaguars game.

[I-10east]

^^^You're right, but I'm just tired of those " I'm not supporting the Jags anymore because they didn't get Tebow" type of fans; I'm like "Well you weren't ever a real Jag fan to begin with". Hard as it is to believe, there are actually some intelligent, and realistic Gator fans out there. What no one around these parts are talking about is that Denver really reached too much for Tebow.

[buckethead]

Should Tebow need a mansion built... I'm his guy!

Holla Tim!

[Wacca Pilatka]

Best Player Available.

If that's the GM's evaluation of "Best Player Available" the Jags have bigger problems than will be solved in this draft

Why, because Mel Kiper said so?

You mean like last year, when Kiper said Knighton was a major reach and Cox was the 107th best CB available?

I'm not sure what's more insufferable, the fans who treat people like Kiper and commercial draft guides as gospel or the ones who think life is a Madden game and taking a lineman = no ticket sales because we didn't take someone "exciting."

[BridgeTroll]

I think the Jags fell in love with this guy... wanted to trade down to get him... couldn't find a trading partner and wound up taking him anyway.  definitely a reach but there are no guarantees some of the guys the jags passed over will make it either.

Quite happy with my Packers pick though...

[St. Auggie]

I will admit, I despise the Gators. I hate how many players Jax has drafted from UF.  That said...

Tebow will have to be beyond a bust for Jax not to have taken him.  I mean out of the league by next year bust.

Sure it would be a dog and pony show by drafting him at 10, stupid by any other team.  But the Jaguars are nearly giving away tickets and people are still not buying seats.  Weaver had to do something else, and that would have been drafting TT.  Its is beyond me why folks wont buy tickets for this team.  They are a decent team, not great, but decent with good shot at making the playoffs this year.  I dont even want to hear about the economy.  There are plenty of people in this town to fill a 60,000 person stadium 8 times a year.  People just dont want to go.  So be it, the Jags will leave.  The best thing to have happened to this town in the last 2 decades and this city will waste it, just as they have the waterfront downtown and any other myriad of oppurtunities.  I dont think TT would have solved everything, but something had to change about the Jags and they let it slip right through their fingers.

[JeffreyS]

Yes they need to change their one year of being below NFL average in ticket sales.

[Wacca Pilatka]

We've already sold 4,000 more season tickets in the general bowl than we did last year.

A dog and pony show is no long-term solution, and if Tebow didn't pan out it could lead to a disastrous reaction against the team.  Picking Tebow also makes us look amatuerish and like a minor-league town to the rest of the country.

The Alualu pick shows that Gene has guts, that's for sure.  He knew it wouldn't be popular, and it wasn't one of the ever-"exciting" skill position players, but he did what he thought was right.  No pandering to the casual at best Jaguar fans with Tebow or Bryant, no grasping at need with Graham or Pierre-Paul or Thomas.

[Tripoli1711]

I was pretty stunned by the pick, but I am willing to see how it works out.  Everyone gripes and moans about not getting any pressure on the quarterback, so we go out and sign Kampman and draft this player and everyone gripes and moans.  Seems to me people just like to gripe and moan more than they like the Jaguars.  Sports are supposed to be an escape from the trials and tribulations of daily life.  I get emotionally invested and really REALLY into the games, but why is everyone so quick to anger?  There are dozens of people at the stadium whose sole job it is for years is to evaluate this guy.  Yes, years.  They didn't just start watching tape on him 3 months ago.  College scouts for the Jaguars have been watching this guy live for a couple years now... give him a chance.  I do worry that Gene might have gotten "too smart for the room" because of his home run w/ Knighton and Cox last year.  I worry he said "I saw their true value when nobody else did, and I'll do it again."  But, again, I am not a paid NFL scout.

Lastly, it is amazing how authoritative some folks can be when giving an opinion on a topic they are obviously less than informed about.  The Jaguars have won home openers before.  And reed... a first round pick is not going to get cut after training camp.  Are you insane?  If someone cuts a first round pick after training camp in the next 5 years for poor play, I'll buy you a yacht.  Not cutting him b/c he dies, or gets his leg amputated, etc..  but just for "poor play".  I would venture to guess it hasn't happened in 50 years, if that.

[St. Auggie]

Yep Jeffery it was ONE year.  With it looking like TWO years this year.  They are giving tickets away , and looks to be blackedout again.  Many college teams charge more than the Jaguars and still fill their large stadiums.  If Tebow was viewed by scouts to be a first round pick, which he was, the Jags had to take him.  This DT may very well be  pro-bowler, but the same can be said for Tebow.  I DESPISE the gators and yet I was really pulling for the Jags to take him.  There are so many transplants here the games have to be on TV for new locals to have any interest in this team.  Why not just stay at home and see your hometown team that you grew up with Vs. paying money to go see a team that you know nothing about and cant get a chance to know them because its a coinflip if the game is going to be blackedout.

[St. Auggie]

Also I have no problem drafting linemen.  The game is won in the trenches on both sides of the ball.  They aint glamorous picks but they win games.  I just feel this time, with the whole draft being a crap shoot anyway, take a guy that will energize the area and the fan base to buy tickets.  Tebow could be out of the league next year or a pro-bowler.  So could the guy the Jags drafted, I just thought this is the ONE time you do it. Because at the end of the day the 10th pick Vs. the 25th pick is not that different in the NFL draft.

[JeffreyS]

I have no problem if they had taken Tebow. I feel there is some validity to "come for Tebow stay for the Jags".  I just do not feel the sky is falling in the ticket sales department.  Hey looks like we are number one in the state.

[avonjax]

One expert had Alualu rated at 30th best player in the draft. Way ahead of several players in the 1st round. So time will tell if it was a good pick. But based on last year's success, maybe the Jags are on to something. I am a big Gator fan, and yes, I wanted Tebow for the glamour of the pick. But I'm a Jags fan first. I kinda think the Jaguars would love to have traded down and maybe he was someone they would have drafted. Everyone after us traded their pick. I just hope fans are smart enough to support the team not just a player.

[mtraininjax]

I am willing to let Gene Smith pick my team any day. Go Jags!