Fred Taylor Fan Site

Sites like ESPN and Sportsline are coming out with their NFL Power Polls this week. The Jaguars are getting a ton of respect from the national media. CBS ranked the Jaguars #3 overall and ESPN ranked the Jaguars #5. The high ranking is mostly attributed to the excellent running game anchored by veteran Fred Taylor.

Fred Taylor may be old by running back standards, but he shows no sign of slowing down. Fred’s been working out hard this off-season in South Florida just like has has the past few years.  Taylor wants to come into camp strong and ready to win a Superbowl. The Jags are a trendy pick this year for the Superbowl, so let’s just hope it doesn’t get to their players’ heads.

The Jaguars OTA practice schedule starts today. The practice isn’t open to the public, but Fred Taylor will be there.

In a recent interview with Jaguars.com Fred Taylor hinted that he could retire in just two more years. “I’m going to have a better season. I’m on a mission. I’m just trying to catch Jim Brown and then we’ll close the curtains.” Taylor has rushed for 10,715 yards in his 10-year career. Brown rushed for 12,312 in nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Taylor, therefore, needs 1,598 yards to move past Brown and into eighth place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. Most likely that will take him two more years, but if he continues where he left off in 2007, Fred could get 1600 yards next season.

It’s pretty scary trying to picture the Jaguars without Fred Taylor, but you can’t fault the guy for wanting to get out of the game and enjoy time with his family. “I can play as long as I want. I really believe that. But I’m not going to play as long as I want. I watch these older players walk around. I don’t want to walk around like Shack Harris. I want to enjoy my family and my kids. There’s going to be an end one day. I want to honor my contract but that would be in a perfect world. Twelve years would be ideal,” said Taylor.

Good news for the Jacksonville Jaguars (and Fred Taylor). Both Jack Del Rio and David Garrard have been extended this offseason. Del Rio for five more years and Garrard for seven. This benefits Fred Taylor by keeping stability in the coaching ranks and at the quarterback position.

Fred Taylor’s late career dominance may be slightly due to David Garrard. With Garrard at the quarterback position, team defenses can’t stack the box. Garrard can play in the shotgun and nuder center (something Leftwich couldn’t do). This really opens up the running game for Fred Taylor.

With these two positions locked up for the future, I can only predict another great season for Fred in 2008.

The Jacksonville Jaguars recently extended full-back Greg Jones to a nice new contract, giving him the most money of any fullback in the NFL. Greg Jones was a pro-bowl first alternate in 2007, and should continue to be a stud fullback for many years to come.

This is great news for Fred Taylor, who loves to run behind Greg Jones coming off the line. Jones picks up all the defenders and clears the field for Freddy to gash through. It’s important to keep the chemistry of the backfield intact. You can’t just plug in any old full-back and expect to be as successful. It takes a lot of time to build trust and to know where your teammates will be on the field.

The 10-year veteran was a rookie all over again at this years Pro Bowl in Hawaii. While the AFC did lose the game 42-30, Fred Taylor lead his team in carries. Too bad it was only 3… but still. He had 3 carries for 15 yards. One of his carries came on the 5 yard line in which he took it to the 1. Coach Norv Turner tried to get Freddy in the end zone, but it just didn’t happen.

Everyone was happy to have Fred at the Pro Bowl. “You could see how truly excited he is and he’s not taking it for granted,” said Manning, an eight-time Pro Bowler. “He’s deserving. I think a lot of players around the league are happy Fred is over here. What a great player he is. I’ve played against him since my freshman year in college. I know.”

Fred Taylor had a blast while in Hawaii. In the pre-game interview, he said he brought 38 people with him. It must have been a great trip for him and his family and friends. Congrats once again to Fred.

Every time Fred Taylor is asked when he will retire, he always responds with “when I pass Jim Brown on the all-time rushing yards list”. The reach that milestone would prove to Fred that he has had one hell of a football career.

Fred Taylor is currently at 10,715 career rushing yards. Jim Brown ended his career with 12,312 rushing yards. That means Fred is only 1500+ yards away from reaching Jim Brown. Realistically, Taylor won’t reach that mark in 2008. I mean he could if Maurice Jones Drew gets hurt, but the way the Jags split carries, Fred just won’t get the amount of carries needed to reach 1500 yards. So that puts Fred reaching his goal in 2009 at the age of 33.

With only one active player ahead of him on the all-time rushing list (Edgerrin Jame is at 11,617), Fred could retire in the top 10. That is an absolutely amazing thing considering how much time he missed during the prime of his career. Fred has missed 30+ games due to injury in his career. Let’s say we cut that in half and he only missed 15. If Fred averages about 84 yards per game, that’s 1260 extra yards he would have if he had only missed 15 games in his career instead of 30. It’s just mind boggling how good this guy is when he’s playing.

I hope Fred continues to play after he passes Jim Brown, but I guess that will just depend on how his body is holding up at age 33. Not many backs play into their 30s.

In the same year as his first ever NFL Pro Bowl, Fred Taylor has also been voted the FedEx Ground Player of the Year. All of this at the age of 31. WOW! Fred was up against some big names like LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson. It is a huge honor for him to win this award. By winning, FedEx will donate $25,000 to Wolfson’s Children Hospital in Downtown Jacksonville.

Here’s what NFL.com had to say about Fred Taylor

Taylor led the Jaguars to an 11-5 record and the number five seed in the AFC by rushing for 1,202 yards (fifth in the AFC, ninth in the league) over only 223 carries (5.4 average) and scoring five touchdowns. Taylor helped the Jaguars finish strong by finishing his season with five 100-plus yard games in Weeks 12-16, with one of his best performances coming at Pittsburgh, rushing for 147 yards over 25 carries and scoring one touchdown to beat the Steelers 29-22. This year, Taylor became the 21st running back in history with 10,000 yards rushing (10,715). Taylor was nominated for two FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week awards in 2007, winning once.

This year’s Pro Bowl in Hawaii is schedule for February 10th, the week after the Superbowl. I wonder how early Fred plans on flying out there? I’m guessing he leaves first thing Monday following the Superbowl. Since this is his first trip to the Pro Bowl, he’ll want to spend a lot of time out there and enjoy everything Hawaii has to offer. With the Pro Bowl less than 3 weeks away, you know he’s getting anxious.

We’ll have more to report when news comes out.

Fred Taylor and the Jacksonville Jaguars witnessed first hand the awesomeness of the New England Patriots on Saturday night. The Jags hung in there the 1st half going into the locker room tied 14-14, but ultimately fell to the Pats 31-20. Taylor rushed the ball 13 times for 47 yards and had no receptions.

It was hard for the Jags to get Taylor involved in the game. They were taken out of their element and forced to throw the ball early and often. Taylor was no doubt very frustrated and saddened by the loss. He really gave it his all this year and still came up short. I just hope Fred can bring that same intensity to the field in 2008.

Brady was near perfect, completing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns. Those stats are simply amazing. Although it didn’t help that Mathis and the rest of the secondary forgot how to tackle. And I thought the Jaguars defense was supposed to be good?

Oh well, the game is over now. Fred had an awesome season. Probably a top 3 season in his career. Next stop… Hawaii.

Fred Taylor is up for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award. Fans can cast their vote on the NFL.com Voting Page.

They don’t currently tell you who is leading the voting, but he is up against LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings. All players are worthy of this award. Somehow I don’t think Fred Taylor will win it, though. For one, he plays in such a small market and two, his yearly stats weren’t as good as Tomlinson’s or Peterson’s.

But that’s why us Jag fans need to rally the vote. Pass the link on to all your friends and family. Fred’s already going to the Pro Bowl, now let’s get him the FedEx Ground award too!