Torry Holt, Jacksonville Jaguars / Photo: Newscom

As far as I’m concerned, Torry’s got six-to-eight more years left in his career. You can’t base an opinion on his production — or lack thereof — with the Rams last season (64 catches, 796 yards, three TDs). STL was a train wreck. And they let their best receiver go in some kind of crazy “youth movement”. But if any other team needs help at the receiver position, it’s the Jags. Last offseason they thought they were getting some quality depth with the additions of Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson, but Jerry is no longer with the team and Troy struggled to stay on the field. Plus Matt Jones was waived because he can’t stay out of trouble. And unrestricted free agent Reggie Williams (an 11-game starter last season) is not listed on the team’s current roster. So, the receiver-depleted Jaguars are suddenly feeling a lot better about themselves.

Source: Jaguars.com

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Jaguars Sign Torry Holt

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It seems Jacksonville Jags wide receiver Troy Williamson has been catching everything thrown at him during the team’s offseason workouts, prompting quarterback David Garrard to say:

“He caught everything. He did a great job. He’s so smooth and fluid that he barely looks like he’s running, but he’s always running right by somebody.”

This is good news for Jags fans and I’m happy to hear it, but a word of caution — this is the norm. Troy did the same thing in Minnesota — during practice. It’s when the lights come on and the bullets are flying for real that he drops passes. It was extremely frustrating to watch and I’m sure he was very frustrated during three uneventful seasons in Minnesota (79 catches, 1,067 yards, 3 TDs) where he was the Vikings’ first-round pick (7th overall) in the 2005 NFL Draft. Of course, it’s all in his head. I think Troy has supreme talent. He just has a mental block about catching the ball when it counts. But the Jags are counting on him to make those catches. If he doesn’t, his time in Jax will be a lot shorter than the time he spent trying to “catch” on in Minnesota.

Source: The Boston Globe

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Troy Williamson Catching on in Jacksonville

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It’s official. The Minnesota Vikings’ 2005 Draft was a bust. With the release of defensive end Erasmus James today, the team pretty much wiped their 2005 slate clean. There’s virtually nothing left to show for their choices.

It’s not that their picks were bad ones — at the time. In fact, it looked like a promising group. I thought it was a stretch to take wide receiver Troy Williamson with the seventh overall pick. The Vikes were just trying to replace Randy Moss and, of course, that didn’t work out. Troy couldn’t catch the ball and now he’s biding his time in Jacksonville. But taking Wisconsin DE Erasmus James 18th overall seemed like a great idea. He was going to be the next Jevon Kearse. Not so fast. After scoring four sacks in 15 games during his rookie season, Erasmus had a series of serious knee injuries that cut into his playing time. He tore the ACL in his left knee in Week 2 of the 2006 season. Then, after a long rehab, he returned to the Vikings and played only sparingly in just six games last year. Then he suffered a similar injury to the same knee in Week 13 against Detroit and was once again placed on injured reserve. Vikings head coach Brad Childress was expecting Erasmus to make a full recovery but after he recently failed a physical during OTAs, the team wished him the best and sent him packing.

I’d like to believe another team would give Erasmus a chance. After all, he’s only 25-years-old. But when you look at his injury history and disappointing stats, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would. As for the rest of the Vikings’ 2005 class: Dustin Fox, Ciatrick Fason, C.J. Mosley, and Adrian Ward are no longer with the team. Only second round OT Marcus Johnson remains.

Source: Vikings.com

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Vikings Waive DE Erasmus James

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The Jacksonville Jaguars added free agent wide receiver Jerry Porter from Oakland (six years, $30 million) and traded their 6th round Draft pick (this year) for former Minnesota Vikings wideout Troy Williamson today in an attempt to boost their passing game. Half of the equation will work.

While I like the addition of Jerry Porter — he’ll quickly become the Jags’ number one receiving option — I really don’t like what Troy Williamson brings to the team. He proved to be a first-round (7th overall selection in 2005) bust after three years in Minnesota. The Vikings drafted him hoping his elite speed would make up for their loss of Randy Moss, but he simply couldn’t hang on to the football a lot of the time. Even after an offseason of specialized work (and from what I hear, a lot of it), Troy couldn’t pull it together with only 18 catches for 240 yards in ‘07. The straw that finally broke the camel’s back was in the Vikes’ final regular season game at Denver when Troy had slipped some 20 yards behind the Broncos defensive secondary and dropped a simple catch from QB Tarvaris Jackson that would’ve resulted in an easy touchdown. The Vikings lost the game and missed the playoffs. Jacksonville would’ve done better to avoid Troy and select a wide receiver with their 6th round pick.

Jerry Porter brings veteran leadership to the Jags and should have a number of years left in his career. He’s only 29-years-old despite having been in the league eight seasons already. Amidst revolving quarterbacks last season in Oakland, he managed a respectable 44 catches and six touchdowns. The Jags have suffered through several years of not really having a “go-to” wide receiver (not since the great Jimmy Smith). With Jerry Porter they get that plus enough speed to stretch the field.

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Jacksonville Jaguars Add Wide Receivers, Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson Inked