Wow, totally out of the blue. Jaguars WR Jimmy Smith has surprisingly decided to retire at age 37. The decision isn't shocking, but the timing is. Smith gained over 1,000 yards last season and had been working out. His cumulative numbers (seventh all time in receptions, eleventh in yards) are worthy of discussion for the Hall of Fame. Despite five straight Pro Bowls, he was never seen as truly dominant. Smith's departure opens the door for Ernest Wilford, Matt Jones, and Reggie Williams to have bigger roles in 2006. May. 11 - 10:10 am et
Wow, I'm shocked, he was a very good WR. I still remember him catching the winning TD pass in OT last season. The Jags do have a lot of young talent at the position though.
That's just shocking. Jimmy Smith is Jacksonville, easily the greatest player in franchise history. I hate to think something happened to force his decision right away, but I can't shake it, I know he could have went at least another year. I highly doubt that the staff was planning on phasing him out in favor of the young guys, because he was still clearly the most important outside weapon they had. That Marcedes Lewis pick is looking brilliant right now.
Holy cow!! He was on NFL Total Access a few weeks ago talking about how excited he was for the 06 season
Was it medically related? Perhaps he's looking at Priest Holmes here. At any rate, although its a surprise that JSmith is retiring, he has all the money he'll need to move on to new endeavors in his life without the pain of Arthritis that most of his peers suffer after long NFL careers.
I just heard his press conference on the radio. He said that he was retiring while he still had his health, and after 15 years of training camp, he didn't want to go through another. hate to sound like a pessimist, but he's had drug suspensions before and the team is talented enough to make a run in the playoffs....hmmm.....
That team just took a major blow. Their young receivers have been ineffective so far in their young career's and even though Jimmy Smith wasn't putting up the monster numbers like he used to, he was still their #1 threat. Jacksonville is the most overrated team in the NFL right now, they are not elite.
Wow, I'm shocked, Smith WAS that franchise, and they could've had a great season this year. That's a big blow to them, Leftwich looses his #1 target and neither Williams, Jones, or Wilford have shown enough consistancy that they could be a #1 WR.
Look for jaguars to contact raiders about a couple of there WRs. Raiders are loaded at the position and can afford to trade a WR.
By loaded you mean Randy Moss.... Smith>Porter Beyond that you have who??? UCF star Doug Gabriel??? Or by loaded do you mean teams are banging the doors down for Ronald Curry????
That's generalizing. Reggie Williams hasn't done shit. Ernest Wilford, my boy, went from being like a 5th rounder to starting for them. The kid's got size and catches anything in his area. He'll step up and be a great possession type receiver for them. (Someone I really wanted to draft when he came out) Matt Jones was pretty great last year for it being his first year as a Wide Receiver. I think if we get his type of production from our QB project I will be dancing in the streets. Let him progress for more than 1 year before saying he is ineffective. The Jaguars will be fine with what they got plus Marcedes Lewis shagging balls in the middle of the field.
Yeah unless the Raiders are going to trade Randy Moss, the Jaguars are much better off than the Raiders. They have younger, cheaper players with way more potential than what you have got. Jaguars will not be interested. Also, they knew it was coming so grabbed an extra receiving threat in Marcedes Lewis when they could have gotten some skills at OLB or DE, something they need a lot more than TE. They will be alright.
First off i will take Champ bailey word how good a WR Jerry Porter is. Do you know how many calls Raiders have recieved asking about availability of D gabriel. Guess NFl people hold in a little higher regard than you. Sounds like your a little Jealous. IF L Coles was my number 1 WR I wouldn't be too happy either. To let you know Raiders do have alot of talent at Wr position -the J morants and C francis are very talented football players stuck behind some great Wrs.
It's sad to see, but it also makes you wonder how much more padded his stats would've been had he gotten started years earlier, instead of getting jumpstarted in the fifth year of his career. We could be looking at Tim Brown type numbers. Yeah it's really hard to burn a cornerback without help over the top, and Randy Moss on the other side. Porter is a solid player, but Smith has been MUCH better. I guess you work in the Raiders front office now too, bro? Because I'd like to know exactly how many calls they have received about Gabriel and from who exactly.
NO Raiders have young cheap WRs with abundance of talent. These young guys you don't hear of because they are stuck behind some serious WR talent. WE Know R Moss and J Porter 6'2 230. R Curry 6'2 220 is very talent Wr that just going to be brought along slowly(don't want to rush him back from achilles surgury) D Gabriel 6'2 217 (every nFL team know him) , J Morant 6'4 217 -explosive WR that needs to play soon , Carlos Francis 5'10 195 ( fastest WR at combine in 2004 and will go over middle) , James Adkisson 6'5 230 WR with sub 4.4 speed that AL has transformed into a TE.(His secret project)0 NOW 240-250 pounds .(Faster than alot of raiders WR. Was a big part of Raiders offense in minicamps. Alvis Whitted - getting up there in age but at 6' 195 is probably fastest Raider game has really improved every year) Here al Davis next WR Projects Kent smith QB Central Michigan 6'4 214 4.5 , W Buchanon 6'3 195 sub 4.3 speed (fastest USC player last year .
Raiderjoe is very correct about Doug Gabriel. He is a good wide receiver. I'd like him on the Jets. Jerry Porter and Ronald Curry can't be trusted because of their injury problems. Randy Moss is Randy Moss. The others are fringe players.
