Del Rio is Spanish for “hell yes?”

In part one of my “30 teams, only one Daunte Culpepper” series I wrote:

"Jacksonville Jaguars – In the past, Culpepper was Byron Leftwich, David Garrard and Quinn Gray all wrapped up into one player. Now, he could be the worst of the four. Del Rio is Spanish for “hell no” (not really)."

Apparently, I was wrong. According to the Worldwide Leader the Jacksonville Jaguars are indeed interested in Daunte Culpepper. It looks like Mike Tice, the Jags assistant head coach/offense and C-Pepp’s former head coach, has been trying to sell him to head coach Jack Del Rio (who looks almost exactly like Shooter McGavin, by the way) and the rest of the front office.

With Byron Leftwich, who’s pretty good but injury-prone, and David Garrard, who’s also talented, already on the roster this doesn’t exactly make sense. Except it does. The Jags have invested a several draft picks and oodles of money into the team’s wide receivers. The WR core has largely failed despite the presence of an extremely effective rushing attack, and some of the blame has to be directed at both quarterbacks.

Like him or not, Culpepper has the cannon arm to deliver deep strikes to speedy wideouts like Matt Jones and Reggie Williams. He’s also shown the ability to connect with tall WRs — and Ernest Wilford, Jones and Williams are all skyscrapers at 6’4″ or taller — in the red zone. Of course, all this is contingent on him being healthy, which he hasn’t been for several years.

From the Miami Dolphins perspective, any kind of draft pick compensation they can receive for Culpepper at this point would be a bonus. Unfortunately, sources are currently saying that the Jags don’t want to give up even a seventh-round pick for the former Pro Bowler. Maybe the Dolphins will have to cut him?

The other interesting angle is what happens with Garrard. In my opinion, the Dolphins would be stupid to not at least look at him if he gets cut or is put on the trading block, which is likely given Del Rio’s verbal commitment to Leftwich. I know that most fans think that Trent Green will work out, John Beck is the Second Coming and Cleo Lemon is the best back-up ever to play the game, BUT what if none of them work out? Is Garrard not a better, more-proven player than Lemon at this point? That’s all I’m saying.

I would feel much better with Garrard on the roster, given all the uncertainties that surround this team. He is a solid and steady, even if unspectacular, QB. There are far too many of those in the NFL.

We’ll keep you informed on this development.