The Ripple Effect: Jaguars Add Tra Thomas
by JvilleJag2 on Mar 9, 2009 3:23 PM EDT
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In a move that was applauded by many, myself included, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed free agent offensive tackle William "Tra" Thomas. Thomas has spent his entire 11 year career with the Philadelphia Eagles earning three Pro Bowl appearances. The addition of the veteran tackle changes the landscape of the Jaguars offensive line and the possible draft strategy of the Jaguars.
Thomas adds a much needed veteran presence to an offensive line that is going to need to rebuild itself. He should be immediately be penciled in as the opening day starter. Thomas is an improvement over former starter Khalif Barnes. Thomas may not be as good a run blocker as Barnes but he is well-versed when it comes to keeping his quarterback clean. In Philadelphia, Thomas kept Donovan McNabb upright in Andy Reid's pass-happy offense. While in the NFC East Thomas faced off against such players as DeMarcus Ware, Andre Carter and Justin Tuck. In 2008 Thomas only allowed two sacks, not too shabby. The former Florida State star still has a lot left and will be a welcomed addition in Jacksonville.
Tra Thomas' addition means the Jaguars have much more flexibility when it comes to the NFL Draft. It has been long known that the Jags needed a left tackle. In a sense the Jags were "Old Mother Hubbard" with no left tackle in the cupboard. Thomas now makes the left tackle position less of a priority and will allow Jacksonville not to have to force their hand and reach for a left tackle. Gene Smith will now try his best to trade back in the first round in order to gain more draft picks.
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I thought Gene was starting a youth movement...
You could not have summarized my feelings better. It’s not that I hate the move; I’m probably neutral right now, recognizing the flexibility it gives Gene on draft day and wondering what a weak run blocker is doing on a running team.
You do not cut Fred Taylor and add someone that is 34 to your team. Period. Plus, if Andre Smith is there at 8 or 15 or wherever the Jaguars end up, they would be silly to pass on him. Then congratulations, you have an expensive rookie backup and a 3-year commitment to a band-aid. Or an expensive rookie starter and a 3-year commitment to a guy that thinks he should be starting. I don’t like the sound of either of those, and I don’t like the sound of passing on Andre Smith.
Blah.
new and green
i disagree..sometimes to open up the run there has to be a pass threat. looking at our Oline last year. there was no threat. either blocknig or receiving. wee seem to like to run up the centers rear and just off guard. if this philosophy continues. then Tra is more valuable as a pass blocker. That is only if we can find a receiver that can produce. this move will free up the team to trade back and take both a young LT and a receiver. Andre Smith at this point is much more of a reach for Gene Smith with the first pick. Than tra thomas is as a vet acquisition. i mean the guy disappeared from the combine. the biggest job interview of your life. i love the move. barnes was a sub par guy. lets note the lack of interest. i love fred, but lets be real we have younger horses in the stable now. i wish him the best, but its time to move on and i think the tra thomas signing was better than letting fred go. he wasnt that dominant of a runner the last few years. tra thomas at this point will be more doininant that barnes.
Youth Movement
While I can understand the confusion about releasing a 33 year old Fred then signing a 34 year old tackle it does make sense. Fred wasn’t as productive as most would have liked. One touchdown isn’t cutting it. Thomas can still play and play at a high level. Fact is the Jags have MJD and Greg Jones. They didn’t have anything at LT.
The team still might take Andre Smith whether it be at eight or 15. You can’t have enough great O-linemen. I’d take Smith and let him compete with Pashos and Thomas. You could even move Smith inside to guard.
If the Jags get Smith around the mid to late teens he won’t be nearly as expensive at the eighth pick. The money given to Tra Thomas wasn’t a lot either to there isn’t a huge financial commitment there.
Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Fred Taylor. Sounds about right.
smith would most likely play rt as he would beat out pashos
or maybe we would smile bc we had depth
last year you would have probably loved this move. i dont know you, but if you watched the same team i did then i dont know how you wouldnt love this. it creates depth. You never know what will happen, depth is necessary. remember week 1 last year. wow! who wouldve predicted it. if we get smith, great if we get raji then we have two new starters. We dont know who will be gone before our pick. What if even oher is gone…. do you want a 2nd rder starting?
surreal to be teal
More Options
This is a decent move to give the Jaguars flexibility in the draft. With the 8th pick and no Left Tackle we would definitely need to draft one. Also it’s not as much of a risk if we pick the best player on the board rather then just the best available Left Tackle. We all know how great our 1st round picks are when we draft for need (ie Reggie Williams, Byron Leftwhich, Matt Jones, R. Jay Soward) . Currently we only have 6 picks in this years draft and Gene Smith has said he wants to build through the draft. Our best option would be to trade down our 8th pick to the mid 20’s and acquire an extra 2nd round and a 3rd or 4th round. That adds two more picks and most likely another pick for next years draft. So yea 9 picks sounds a lot nicer and even if we do draft an Offensive Tackle it will at least add depth to our O line which was so depleted last year.
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