FanHouse Greg Jones

Every Thursday, Pickin' On the Big Ten previews the upcoming weekend's action in The Conference Everybody Loves to Hate.

Oh, it's here. It's finally, finally, finally here. No more depth-chart speculation, no more arguing about who is the best SAM in the conference, and only one more week until the game that will either restore the Big Ten's swagger or send it sobbing into the bathroom. The teams are ready, the stadiums are ready (well, except for Minnesota's), the cheerleaders and bands are ready, the vast charcoal forests of northern Michigan have been shaved to the ground, the beer cows of Wisconsin have been "milked" into millions of brown glass bottles ... it's time for some football, y'all.

So, grab a beverage, throw some cheddarwurst on the grill, and let's take a look at this weekend's action-packed slate of games, shall we?

For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.

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With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
New wide receiver corps! Jacksonville rightly saw a huge amount of turnover at wide receiver this year, jettisoning off-the-field scoundrel Matt Jones, draft bust Reggie Williams, free-agent bust Jerry Porter, and slot receiver Dennis Northcutt. To replace that group, the team drafted three wideouts and brought in veteran Torry Holt to lead this new-look attack. Of the rookies, Jarett Dillard looks like a good bet to eventually start, while Mike Thomas should see plenty of time in the slot. Holt makes for a nice fantasy value pick, and Mike Walker could be a great end-of-the-draft flier that pans out in a big way.

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For the glass-half-full-types: one beneficiary of the Jaguars' decision to part ways with 11-year veteran Fred Taylor: Maurice Jones-Drew. The diminutive third-year player led the team in rushing last season, and, now that he appears to be the feature back, is in line for a raise.

Head coach Jack Del Rio did indicate that fullback Greg Jones can also expect five-to-10 carries a game, but the bulk of the work will fall to the 5-foot-7, 210-pound Jones-Drew, who also answers to Pocket Hercules. As to what he can expect in terms of compensation, the Florida Times-Union's Vito Stellino commences with the speculation:

A year ago, the Jaguars were fresh off an 11-win season, an appearance in the AFC Divisional playoffs, and seemingly primed to make a similar run in 2008. With their franchise quarterback in place, the front office targeted wide receiver and cornerback as two positions of need last offseason. That subsequently led to the team signing Jerry Porter and Drayton Florence.

Twelve months and $23 million dollars later, Jacksonville has seen enough: the club released both players today. Florence defended three passes and didn't register an interception in 15 games (eight starts). That performance is Hall of Fame worthy compared to Porter, however.

Fullbacks are, for the most part, being phased out in modern NFL offenses, but if they're good enough they can still make big money. The Jacksonville Jaguars announced today that they have signed fullback Greg Jones to a contract extension, and Pro Football Talk reports that he'll be the highest-paid fullback in NFL history.

Per PFT, the contract is a five-year, $17.4 million deal, which breaks down like this:
2008: $2.5 million signing bonus, $1.5 million roster bonus, $525,000 salary
2009: $500,000 roster bonus, $2.48 million base salary
2010: $3 million base salary
2011: $3.1 million base salary
2012: $3.4 million base salary

In each year of the deal, Jones gets a per-game roster bonus worth a total of $50,000, and a workout bonus of $50,000. Overall, Jones will average $3.4 million over five years, which is the biggest average value for a fullback's contract in history. The previous record was $3 million a year in the six-year, $18 million deal signed by Ovie Mughelli with the Falcons.

So is Jones worth that kind of money? In the Jaguars' offense, he probably is. He lines up as an I-formation fullback and blocks for Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, and he can contribute as a runner in short-yardage situations. That doesn't necessarily mean Jones would have been able to command that kind of money from another team -- many teams just aren't interested in spending money on a fullback -- but the Jaguars decided that they didn't want to run the risk of losing him.

Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.

This week I sat down with River City Rage of Big Cat Country, a Sports Blog Nation column that covers the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Dan Benton: "A 64% completion percentage, a 103.8 quarterback rating and no interceptions. Did Jaguars fans ever question David Garrard's ability, and did they expect him to play so well so soon?"

River City Rage: "Jacksonville was a nation divided until Jack Del Rio decided to dump Byron Leftwich. We knew that David had moments of brilliance and the ability to make mobile plays, but we didn't know until now that he can also make good decisions. When David threw away the game against the Titans last season, the consensus was that while he was more athletic, Byron knew when to throw the ball away. This season, David has made great decisions, knows when to run the ball, when to throw the ball, and most importantly, to not turn the ball over. I said last season that David could be a great quarterback if he could learn to make his reads and get rid of the ball when there's nothing there. This season he's done exactly that."