Former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard is one of the most underrated players in franchise history, helping lead the Jaguars to one of their last true sustained eras of success.
While the Jaguars struggled in the past keeping stars happy, Garrard always had a smile on his face as the leader of the Jaguars' offense under Jack Del Rio.
Now 15 years removed from his final starting season with the franchise, Garrard received consideration as the best player to ever be drafted at No. 108 overall in NFL history -- losing out on the spot to four-time All-Pro offensive lineman Jahri Evans.
"Evans gets the nod for his 169 starts with the Saints, which included four straight first-team All-Pros from 2009 to 2012. But a couple franchise cult heroes deserve mention below Evans -- Jaguars QB David Garrard (2002) and Jets WR Jerricho Cotchery (2004)," ESPN's Ben Solak said.
In terms of how Solak determined where players fit in his rankings, he made sure to give some context ahead of the massive endeavor.
"I took "best" to mean some combination of "most talented" and "most successful." As is always the challenge in debating the bestness of football players, any argument that exclusively looks at Super Bowl wins and All-Pro nods is insufficient and lacks context," Solak said.
"Similarly, any argument that leans solely on individual player stats and film impressions is lacking as well. I generally tried to use historical accolades to contextualize career-long production. Peak season performance and single-season record-setting also mattered to me; this isn't just a measure of who played the longest but also who played ... well, the best. And of course, rings matter because rings always matter. But there's no formula here. There's my read on each pick, levied as fairly as I could make it. Disagreement is expected."
It makes sense why Garrard was even a candidate to land on the prestigious list. He had a winning record as the Jaguars' starting quarterback, which not many people have been able to say. He also provided the Jaguars with a stable force at quarterback and made one of the most important plays in franchise history in the playoffs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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