Leftwich Released: Garrard Becomes a Top 10 Fantasy QB

The release of Byron Leftwich was surprising, but not only because he is a former first-round draft choice who went into Training Camp as the starter.  The move was surprising because of new Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, who was brought in to make the Jags more of a passing offense.

Koetter, the former head coach at Arizona State, produced some very exciting offenses over the last few years at the college level.  Of course, he also had some very impressive quarterbacks, most notably new Nebraska starter Sam Keller, who transferred from ASU after losing his starting job last season. 

For all the talent Jags starter David Garrard has, he is anything but a passing quarterback.  He has a mediocre career passer rating of 78.3, accumulated primarily over the last two seasons.  And while his 18/13 TD/INT ratio over his career is not terrible, he struggled to keep the ball away from opposing defenses last season with nine interceptions in an eight-game timespan.  Garrard does reiterate the Jaguars' old ways of running the ball, though, with 250 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in 11 games last season. 

The fact is that Garrard was clearly the better quarterback during the preseason with a passer rating more than 35 points better than Leftwich (113.4 to 77.3), and the quarterbacks were given equal opportunity to compete. 

Still, the Jags were only 4-5 with Garrard starting last season.  Whether that record is Garrard's fault remains to be seen, but the Jags are taking a risk by letting Leftwich walk if Garrard doesn't work out.  On the other hand, Garrard harnessed the new offense in the exhibition season.  It remains to be seen what the offense will do for the team as a whole, but it certainly gives Garrard more upside as a fantasy quarterback since he will get more chances to throw.  Thus, Garrard becoming a top 10 fantasy quarterback this season should not shock anyone.

Let's hope the move works out for the Jaguars, if for no other reason than the fact that they were my preseason pick to win the Super Bowl.