FanPost

CSR Mock Offseason 2015

Greetings and salutations! I'm a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars expansion sister franchise, the Carolina Panthers. I also follow the Panthers SB Nation page, Cat Scratch Reader.

This offseason, I'm participating in what is called the CSR Mock Offseason 2015. In a nutshell, 32 CSR members will each be taking the reigns of an NFL franchise. In this scenario, I will be representing your Jacksonville Jaguars!

There will be a Pre-Free Agency Transaction Thread (franchise tag, RFA tenders, pre-free agency trades), a Free Agency thread (bidding wars for free agents), and a Draft thread (self explanatory). Following the draft, I have to post my 53 man depth chart for your team.

What's interesting is that, for some inexplicable reason, I've been lurking around, reading articles on Big Cat Country for the last few months. I wouldn't go as far as saying that I'm becoming a fan of your team. Rather, I'm observing your team objectively and unemotionally from afar. Perhaps, I've become apathetic towards my own team's SB Nation page and have been looking for a breath of fresh air. But, that's another story for another day. With that being said, I think that I have a pretty good understanding of the present state of the Jacksonville Jaguars roster. Or, at least I have a better grip on this team than some of the other general managers presently have on their respective teams.

I'm creating this post for two reasons. First, I'd like to receive some insight from those of you that bleed black and teal and know the Jaguars better than me. Second, I'm approaching this mock offseason as if I'm representing you, the fans. While I am calling the shots in this scenario, your input will have a hand in how I will approach this offseason.

Before I go any further, I'd like to request you all not to lecture me on What Would Dave Caldwell Do. I'm only requesting this because I had fans lecturing me on their general manager when I participated in a community mock draft a few years ago. I'm not trying to bash anyone who's vision for the Jacksonville Jaguars happens to parallel with Mr. Caldwell. This is a mock offseason. I'm not your real general manager. I'm more interested in hearing what you would like for me to do to put your team in the best position to win football games next season.

The first phase of the mock offseason is already underway. In this format, we're using Walter Football's top 5 free agents from each team for the free agency pool. For the Jaguars, this would be: Cecil Shorts III, Alan Ball, Geno Hayes, Will Ta'ufo'ou, and the University of Virginia's own Austin Pasztor (Wah-hoo-wah)! In this scenario, all of the other unrestricted and restricted free agents will be retained and considered for the final depth chart.

For free agency, each team is given $20 in artificial currency to spend/retain free agents. Teams interested in free agents will place their bids and the highest bidders will be awarded said free agents. Yes, every single team in this scenario is on even ground. I don't have the benefit of working with the most cap space in the NFL. Obviously, this will affect how I will approach this mock offseason. I'm just going to have to make the best out of the given situation and set of circumstances.

Following the draft, I'll post a summary on here reminiscent of what I did a few years ago. I'll outline all of my transactions, elaborate on my draft selections, and post the 53-man depth chart with an analysis. Until then, I'm going to save my thoughts on the state of the Jacksonville Jaguars roster.

For now, I'll telegraph what I'm going to announce on the Pre-Free Agency Transaction thread. First, I'm not going to use the franchise tag. Second, the tags for restricted free agents will be $3 for a third-round tender and $5 for a first-round tender. In this scenario, Ta'ufo'ou and Pasztor are the only two RFAs that are eligible to be tagged. I don't plan to tag either restricted free agent. However, I'm not going to rule out the possibility of re-signing either free agent once free agency begins. I'm placing Toby Gerhart and Paul Posluszny on the trading block. I'm open to placing other players on the trading block as well (note: there isn't any cap benefit for trading away players). I'm also planning to shop the #3 overall pick.

So, now I'm interested in hearing what you all have to say. What positions do you think I need to address? Which free agents do you think I should pursue? Which draft prospects do you think I should target? Any and all input would be much obliged!

FanPosts do not necessarily reflect the views of the authors of Big Cat Country or SB Nation.