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QB David Garrard, Jacksonville Jaguars

HT: 6-1, WT: 237, Born: 2-14-1978, College: East Carolina, Drafted: Round 4

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Garrard looked comfortable running the offense, especially early in the game. He showed good touch on intermediate and deep passing plays, including a well-thrown 47 yard pass for a touchdown where the receiver caught the ball in stride, and a short pass to the corner of the end zone that was caught but knocked out of the receiver's hands thanks to a good defensive play. Garrard used his athleticism judiciously, and stayed in the pocket in the face of pressure trying to make plays with his arm on several occasions and only ran from the pocket when he absolutely had to. He seemed very poised and had his team in position to either tie or take the lead late in the game by engineering a drive that ended as a result of Jones-Drew losing the ball inside the Titans' ten yard line after having it inadvertently kicked loose by a teammate.

Week 2 - Garrard played well, and when given time to pass was precise on his passes, which were mostly intermediate in distance. He was comfortable and accurate throwing a variety of passes, whether they were over the middle or along the sideline, and showed a knack for identifying the open receiver and trying to get the ball to him. Garrard was forced to display his athleticism several times, as the Falcons were able to disrupt several of his passing attempts. He ran judiciously, breaking tackles and making defenders miss when he escaped the pocket. Although he didn't lead his team to many points, he kept them in the game and led them to victory by maintaining his poise.

Week 3 - Garrard managed the game well by following the game plan of attempting mostly short with some intermediate passes and running very well when his number was called in addition to using his athleticism to evade pass rushers. Apart from the gaffe he made when spiking the ball at the one yard line instead of calling a timeout, Garrard played well and was a big factor in Jacksonville winning. He did not take many risks passing the ball, but was accurate on the throws he attempted. Due to the conservative nature of the play calling, he did not utilize his wide receivers much, as only seven of his 20 passes were directed towards wide receivers, none in the second half.

Week 5 - Garrard managed the game well by utilizing mostly short with some intermediate passes. He did an excellent job of finding the open receiver and not forcing passes to his primary targets. As a result he spread the ball among a lot of different receivers, although Dennis Northcutt was the most targeted player. Garrard showed an ability to throw accurately on the run, completing several passes on plays designed for him to roll out of the pocket. He also showed a willingness to hang in the pocket and wait for a receiver to get open, and did not take off running every time his protection broke down. Although he only connected on one of the three deep passes he threw, he showed excellent touch and accuracy on all of his other throws.

Week 6 - Garrard had another solid game and still has not thrown an interception yet this season. He completed 22 of 34 for two touchdowns and was able to gain another 26 yards scrambling out of trouble and away from the dangerous Houston pass rush. He is clearly in charge of this offense and yet he is still growing into the role of NFL starting quarterback.

Week 7 - Garrard threw the ball pretty effectively while he was in the game, though he was unable to engineer any scoring drives. Three of his first five passes were directed to Ernest Wilford, but after that, Garrard spread the ball around and did not seem to favor any particular receiver. He did a good job taking care of the ball and had no turnovers, though obviously in limited action. The one time he was sacked resulted in the ankle sprain that knocked him out of the game, and the Jaguars passing attack nosedived after that.

Week 11 - Garrard returned from injury and showed immediately how much better the team is with him than without. He led scoring drives on each of Jacksonville's first three possessions, despite facing an early relentless pass rush from the Chargers. As the game went on, however, the pass rush went from relentless to occasionally disturbing to completely non-existent. Garrard took full advantage of the lull in pressure by picking apart the San Diego secondary. He never locked on to any one guy for very long, spreading the wealth evenly amongst his receiving corps. It was made much easier for him when San Diego's secondary forgot to cover people on a couple of occasions. Garrard really made some outstanding passes downfield, showing a lot of zip and a surprisingly good precision. He again managed to go through an entire game without throwing an interception, and remains the only starting NFL quarterback not to throw one in 2007. It was his seventh consecutive game without one, which is a new Jaguars team record. What's more, he wasn't sacked even once by the Chargers, a team known for its ability to get to opposing quarterbacks. About the only thing we didn't get from this game is how well Garrard can move around. He ran just five times for four yards and never really broke out into the open field, so it was tough to get a gauge on how well his ankle is responding to playing. He did sneak for a first down run on fourth down early in the first quarter, so the team is at least willing to put him in situations where contact can occur. Hopefully, the lack of contact on him in this game will help him to recover that much quicker. Garrard's only negative on the day was a propensity for almost turning the ball over. On three separate occasions, he had passes deflected either at the line or by defenders downfield and nearly intercepted, only to have the ball fall harmlessly to the turf. He was bailed out on these particular plays, but more often than not passes like that will be intercepted by the defense.

Week 12 - David Garrard continues to play at a high level and appears to have the full confidence of his team. The fact that there was controversy when the Jaguars named him the starter over Byron Leftwich now seems odd. Garrard completed 23 of 37 for 296 yards and a touchdown and is still the only NFL quarterback this season that has yet to throw an interception. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers and showed poise in the pocket.

Week 13 - Garrard threw very accurately and exhibited very good touch on a wide variety of passes. He showed very good touch and arm strength on passes up the middle, along the sidelines, as well as whether he was in the pocket or throwing after rolling out of the pocket on designed plays. He looked to stand in the pocket longer to give his receivers a chance to get open, and did not look to run very often, except in short yardage situations. Of his five incompletions, only one was as a result of him completely missing an open receiver. Garrard attempted several passes in the intermediate range, and as a result, targeted his wide receivers more in this game than his tight ends. He had an apparent interception that was returned for a touchdown called back due to a false start penalty, and threw his first interception of the season, but did not let that affect him, as he proved to be very accurate and kept his team close up until the end.

Week 14 - Garrard went 20 of 36 for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He did a great job managing the game and put together six scoring drives for Jacksonville. Garrard led the Jaguars on four drives of nine plays or more. They controlled the ball and ate up minutes on the clock. He hit Reggie Williams on a 22 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. At the beginning of the second half, after Foster fumbled, Garrard hit Matt Jones in the back of the end zone for a six yard touchdown. Earlier in the game, Jones made a catch right along the back line of the end zone but just could not get both feet in bounds.

Week 15 - Garrard did not have his best game when it comes to accuracy, but he threw a season high three touchdown passes and led his team to victory in a challenging road environment. Garrard completed just over half of his 33 passes. His 12 yard touchdown pass to Ernest Wilford put Jacksonville up shortly before halftime. He found Reggie Williams wide open for a short three yard touchdown to punctuate the Jaguars' long 20 play march to open the second half. Garrard hit Dennis Northcutt for a 55 yard touchdown on the first play of Jacksonville's next drive to give the Jaguars a 15 point lead. Garrard threw his second interception of the season. He was attempting to hit Greg Jones on the play, but the pass sailed high and was picked off by Anthony Smith, who returned it deep into Jacksonville territory.

Garrard ran for only eight yards on one scramble, but did a nice job avoiding sacks by moving around the pocket. His other run was a sneak that converted a fourth and one into a first down. He was credited with a loss of one yard on two kneel down plays to end the game.

Week 16 - Garrard was picked off for only the third time this season. Beyond that, he was almost perfect. He was one yard shy of 200 with two passing touchdowns, and also showed how dangerous he could be on the ground, adding another TD. He spread the ball around nicely, showing no favored receiver, and generally looked like the undisputed leader of his team out there.

Week 18 - Garrard struggled on the night, completing only nine of his 21 passes for 140 yards -- including two interceptions. He did have a touchdown pass to Maurice Jones-Drew. He also was able to orchestrate the game winning drive, which included an impressive 32 yard scramble on fourth and two. Pittsburgh sacked Garrard four times and pressured him often.

Week 19 - Garrard threw very accurately and exhibited very good touch on a wide variety of passes. He showed very good touch and arm strength on passes up the middle, along the sidelines, as well as whether he was in the pocket or throwing after rolling out of the pocket. He also showed good accuracy and arm strength on a couple of passes where he threw the ball sidearm to get around pass rushers. Garrard did however have two turnovers that proved costly. One fumble was recovered by the defense at Jacksonville's 29 yard line that the Patriots turned into a touchdown, and his interception came late in the game that cost his team a chance to pull within a field goal.