Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Nick from Washington, DC:
Finally! The attorney general of Utah is investigating whether the existence of the BCS is a violation of antitrust laws as an unreasonable restraint of trade. It'll be interesting to see if this can take it down.
Vic: There's a simpler way to do it. An NCAA scholarship fits every IRS criterion for taxable revenue. Since the families of the athletes the colleges recruit aren't likely to be able to pay the tax on a scholarship, guess who would have to pick up the bill. Maybe Obama should make the NCAA an offer it can't refuse.
Eric from Jacksonville:
On draft day, if you had the final say for the Jags, who would be your number one draft pick and why?
Vic: He would be the highest rated player on my board, regardless of position, or I would trade down and collect more picks, given the opportunity, of course.
Chris from San Jose, CA:
I found your column through my team's (Chargers) website. Couldn't stop reading it. Thanks! I see you are really leaning the Chargers' way in terms of schedule and now playoffs. I know you're saving your next picks, but I'm curious how you see the Bolts able to score with Sproles as the main back and against that incredible Steelers defense. Would love some hope.
Vic: I don't give hope, I give my honest opinion. How can they score against the Steelers? The last game was 11-10. All they need is 12.
Artie from Portland, ME:
How are the coaches of the Senior Bowl chosen?
Vic: They're selected from teams not in the playoffs that haven't hired a new head coach. In other words, the lower you finish without firing the coach, the better chance your staff has of coaching in the Senior Bowl.
Brian from Atlanta, GA:
As a fan of college football in general, I wanna say Utah should be number two behind the winner of Florida or Oklahoma. They won their games and they deserve it. Your thoughts.
Vic: Spoken as a true college football fan. We're number two, we're number two, we're number two.
Patrick from Killinghall, UK:
For overtime, how about no field goal on the first possession? I think the fact that teams win the toss, drive 30 yards and kick a field goal torques quite a few people off. So, if they disallow a field goal, the coin toss winner would actually have to earn the win with a touchdown.
Vic: How about this idea? Adopt the college system. After the second overtime period, teams have to go for two points. After the fourth overtime period, teams have to go for three points. After the sixth overtime period, each team must present a player to participate in a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey contest. If that doesn't work, then each team must submit an essay entitled, "What's fair about life?" The team with the best essay wins the game. In all seriousness, no matter how you do it, somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose, which means one half of the fans will be happy and one half of the fans will be sad. Does it really matter which it is?
Nick from Wakefield, RI:
Keep the overtime coin toss, but instead of making it a sudden death format, alter it so the entire 15-minute period is played and whoever is leading at the end of the overtime period is the winner. If the score is still tied at the end of the 15 minutes, the game ends in a tie. In playoff games, the current rules of potential quarters 2-4 apply.
Vic: What everyone seems to be missing is that the NFL isn't looking for a way to extend the game, they're looking for a way to end it. It's gone on for over three hours and each team had all of that time to score a win and the NFL also gave each team the two-point option to use in that pursuit. It's time to end this thing. It's time to find out which team can find a way to win; which team can do whatever it takes to win the game. A great defensive team will get it done. It's how we measure greatness. Who can beat the odds and get it done?
Jim from Montgomery, AL:
One simple change to pro overtime: Toss the coin, kick the ball off and if the receiving team scores on its possession, it then kicks off to the other team. If the other team matches the score, then it's sudden death after that.
Vic: This one gets the prize.
Pete from Ormond Beach, FL:
I think it's only a matter of time before some NFL team decides they are going to go for two after every score (besides obvious situations). Do you think this could be successful? What was the percentage of two-point conversions converted this year?
Vic: Twenty-eight of 68 (41.2 percent) two-point conversion attempts were successful in the 2008 season. I'm always looking for new frontiers in football and I think goal-line/conversion offense offers the definite potential to become a new frontier. I'm surprised coaches haven't done more with it; unbalanced lines, bunch, spread and swinging-gate formations. Miami did the wildcat thing but I don't think that's all that creative. If I was a coach, I would experiment with widening the line splits and running.
Matt from Philadelphia, PA:
You raise a good point about the drama of the overtime system, but if it's a new game, why is the game over as soon as one team scores?
Vic: It's a new game that can go on forever or end on the next play. That's the drama. You better give every play everything you have because the next play may be your last. It's a fabulous concept.
Cathy from Jacksonville:
Since Del Rio said that anyone who wants to be a Jaguar will be here in the offseason, how does that affect Matt Jones? Wasn't part of his punishment to be in Arkansas in the offseason? If so, can the Jaguars ask that to be changed?
Vic: You have a wonderful way with words: Your punishment is that you must spend the offseason in Arkansas. No, I don't think that's what the judge said. Jones has stuff he has to do in Arkansas in conjunction with the drug intervention program in which he must participate, but he doesn't have to spend the whole offseason in Arkansas. He's allowed to leave.
Clint from Richmond Hill, GA:
Now that Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno have officially declared for the draft, what do you think of them? If either is available at number eight, do you see the Jaguars selecting them?
Vic: As I've said, I love Moreno and I'm leery of Stafford. As far as the Jaguars are concerned, if either of those players is at the top of their board when it's the Jaguars' turn to pick, then I hope the Jaguars select him or trade down to acquire more picks. I'm not budging on the best available player thing this year. I'm going back to what I believe in and I am going to be vigilant about it. I hate trading up and I wavered too much last season to accommodate all of the people who were desperate to trade up and get a pass-rusher.
Gavin from Vancouver, BC:
What is your take on the Browns hiring Mangini and doing it so quickly?
Vic: When I first heard the report that the Browns might hire Scott Pioli as their personnel director and Pioli would likely hire Kirk Ferentz to coach the Browns, I thought to myself, "Look out for the Browns." I'm not thinking that now. Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it does, I'll revisit the situation.
