Is Jacksonville, Florida fantasy football hell? Most likely. The 2010 Jacksonville Jaguars, past Maurice Jones Drew, have almost nothing worth batting an eye at. Many wouldn’t touch most of the team with a 10 1/2 ft. pole.

As hard as it is to believe, this squad could be even worse than the 2009 edition. After Torry Holt left for the Patriots, the closest thing to a name on the receiving staff is Mike Sims-Walker, who isn’t exactly striking fear into the hearts of the league’s defensive backs these days. He is fairly big at 6’2, 214 lbs, and he is coming into that mythical third season in the NFL, but if he starts blowing up early, he’ll be doubled up as soon as humanly possible. It’ll take a surprise year from the #2 WR, currently Mike Thomas, to open the offense up. Thomas is only 5’8, but does have good hands, so maybe he’s the answer… wouldn’t bank on it.

The other receiving option is Mercedes Lewis, who went for 518 yards and one TD last year. He’s not a bad player… just not too great on your fantasy roster.

The short game in Jacksonville starts and ends with MJD, and that’s set in stone.

The real problem with the Jags, in my opinion, is the relatively conservative play calling in the offense, probably due to the lack of pass protection and an obviously weak receiving core. Oddly enough, the Jags O-Coordinator Dirk Koetter was so obsessed with having Andrew Walter air the ball out when he was the coach at Arizona State University that when Dennis Erickson took over, all he could talk about was returning to the schools running roots. In 2007 the presumably head coach mandated conservative play calling worked out and Dave Garrard only threw three picks the whole season. Things have obviously changed in Jacksonville, and Garrard followed up that great season with two extremely lackluster seasons, filled with many sacks and few touchdowns.

Honestly, as bad as the Jaguars are on offense, I would be a bit worried about even drafting Maurice Jones Drew. In all reality he’s probably a lock to be a top 3 RB, but with the offense as bad as it is, it’s hard to imagine that teams will be looking at anyone but him. If 2009 was an indicator, then things will probably be fine, Jones-Drew is young and durable, but it’ll be harder and harder to find running room when everyone one the field is looking at him.

Look to pick Maurice Jones Drew in the top 3 overall of your draft (Gridiron Experts currently have him placed at 2), and maybe Mike Sims-Walker as a mid round pick, but certainly after you’ve picked up all the names that you can expect guaranteed production from. I wouldn’t reach for Dave Garrard until the late rounds, as he is, at best, a backup fantasy QB. If the last two seasons are an indicator, you can expect him to throw for around 3,500 yards, toss 15 TD’s, run for 2 more, throw about 12 INT’s, and get sacked 42 times.

Don’t forget that the Jags have almost no fan support either, which can’t make for a great moral boost. Vic Ketchman, editor of Jaguars.com, said in an email pleading to the Jacksonville community, that “This is save the whale and, from my perch, the whale is struggling to live.” So yes, Jacksonville really may be football hell, and if things keep going their current course, hell will probably be moving to LA.