Fantasy Q&A: Dirk Koetter

When you think of the Jacksonville offense, you think about a tremendous running game and a grossly underachieving pass attack. Last year, Maurice Jones-Drew helped Fantasy owners claim victory after victory and Fred Taylor put up over 1,000 rush yards while the passing game struggled.

Jacksonville has taken some steps to try and change that. For starters, they signed veteran WR Dennis Northcutt and TE Jermaine Wiggins to help bring up the maturity level in their respective receiving corps. Jacksonville also drafted rookie Mike Walker, who has been solid thus far in mini-camp. But they also kept everyone around from last year, not cutting bait on disappointing first-round picks Reggie Williams and Matt Jones as well as restricted free agent Ernest Wilford.

But perhaps their biggest offseason move was hiring Dirk Koetter to be their offensive coordinator. Koetter led a pass-happy attack at Arizona State and is getting his first taste of NFL play-calling with the Jaguars.

Koetter finds himself surrounded with a lot of talent in Jacksonville. The question is, can he harness it and have it reach its potential with Byron Leftwich under center? That's something Jaguars fans have been waiting for since he was drafted, and it's something that Fantasy owners are interested in as well.

Earlier this offseason, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said that the team was going to go vertical. Could you elaborate a little bit on that?

Koetter: Well, not to put words in Jack's mouth, but I would imagine what he was talking about was just the fact that the Jaguars did a very nice job running the football last year, and when teams commit extra defenders to stopping the run game, that opens up some vertical lanes in the passing game that can lead to some big chunks of yardage. That's what every team would like to do, run the ball and throw it off the play-action game.

How often will we see a spread formation to exploit mismatches when you do go into a pass formation?

Koetter: You're always going to have some of that in your package, but if most of your vertical game comes off your play action, then your play action has to come off your run sets. And unfortunately, most of your run sets are in what most people would call a spread formation. The Jaguars of 2006 did a really nice job of running the ball out of either a two-back, one-tight end set or a one-back, two-tight end set. So many teams are trying to spread you out these days that I think there's some value in not being one of those teams and being a team that tries to get you to play the game in a phone booth and then tries to play action over your head.

You mentioned the formations from last year. What changes can we expect in your standard formations for 2007?

Owners would be more than happy with more of the same from Jones-Drew. (US Presswire)

Koetter: I have an idea. The numbers game, as far as keeping only 53 players and having only 46 active guys, will play a big role. Some of that will be dictated by the health of the team, and it looks to me like it comes down to the fullbacks and backup tight ends, who's healthy, and who's contributing on special teams. So we're prepared to go either way, be it with a two-back formation or a one-back, two-tight end formation. It's all just question marks that have to be worked out on your roster.

We've talked to Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, and we understand that the Jaguars are going to use both of them as well as Greg Jones in a variety of roles as part of the running game. But could you give a specific definition to each of their roles as it stands right now?

Koetter: That's a hard question. Going back to last year, they really did a nice job of balancing the workload between Fred and Maurice. That helped both of them -- Fred's body has been through a few NFL seasons now and Maurice, in his rookie season, showed his explosiveness but might not be as effective if he was carrying it 25 times a game as opposed to 15 times a game. Because we do have a couple of proven backs, that gives us the luxury of picking our spots a little bit more for Maurice. Then you add Greg Jones into the picture. Even though Greg didn't play last year, the coaches who were holdovers going back to 2004 are excited about what he can bring to the team not only as a fullback in our two-back set but also in certain situations as a single-back.

So saying something like 'Fred Taylor will be in there on first down' and 'Maurice Jones-Drew will be in there on third down' and 'Jones will be in on the goal line' isn't exact?

Koetter: I think that's over-simplifying it, and I don't think that's doing any of those guys justice. I don't think any position takes the physical beating that a running back does, so what it does is give us options based on their health and how we get to our one-back sets even out of two-back personnel because all of those guys can be split out, put in the slot or put outside the tight end in a flanker position and used in the passing game and still have a guy back there to run. I think all those guys are versatile players, and the ability to move them around and not get painted into a situation where people can just brand us and say 'When Fred's in, we're only going to do this' or 'When Maurice is in, we're only going to do this.' We have to work hard not to get put into that position.

It seems like you have a lot of those guys on your team -- a lot of guys that can play in a lot of different spots on the field.

Koetter: I think that's one thing Jack and GM James Harris and everybody's done a nice job of doing. Mike Tice gets credit for that, too. I go back to this numbers game when filling out your active roster, and versatility is huge. Guys that can play multiple positions and understand if they're in the slot versus if they're in the backfield versus if they're split out, and also apply that to special teams. I think Jack's really built his whole roster that way.

It gives me as a play-caller a lot of confidence in that if a certain guy is banged up one week, and say he's a fullback, then I know my tight ends can play that spot. Whatever concept of plays that we like that particular week, I know we can get to them in more than one way.

I'm interested in what you have planned at tight end because you have George Wrighster, you've got a second-year talent in Marcedes Lewis and you also snapped up veteran Jermaine Wiggins in free agency. What can you tell us about their roles?

Koetter: That's a tougher call right now. What we may have had planned going in we haven't been able to see in OTAs. Going back to 2006, Kyle Brady was used primarily as the blocking tight end and did a tremendous job. George Wrighster had his best year as a pro as the movement tight end, and Marcedes Lewis, who was drafted to be the prototypical every-down tight end, had a lot of issues with a high-ankle sprain that limited his play. So with Brady departing, we want Marcedes to be the every-down guy. We've got Wrighster coming back, but he had offseason shoulder surgery, so he hasn't been available for minicamp. Marcedes was off to a tremendous start in minicamp but has been bothered by a sore hamstring, so he's really been limited here the last half of our OTAs. So we signed Wiggins, and he's really been a blessing because he has experience in all the schemes that we're running, and he's served as a good teacher and mentor with the younger tight ends, and he can play every position -- he really gets it. So it's been a little bit difficult to define roles just because George and Marcedes haven't been out there. Wiggins has gotten more reps than we probably would have anticipated. We've also worked a lot with a young guy named Greg Estandia, out of UNLV, and Richard Angulo, another guy we signed this offseason. Those guys have gotten a lot of reps because of the injuries.

In a perfect world, where Marcedes is healthy, what are your expectations for him?

Koetter: Marcedes played right around 200 plays last year, so he's going to be learning on the fly. But Mike Tice will be coaching him and he has a lot of experience to lean on, and Wiggins can help him. But we certainly would expect Marcedes to develop into one of the top all-around tight ends in football. He's certainly capable of that.

Let's move on to the big guy under center. How has Byron Leftwich looked to you?

Koetter: I think he looks really good. I've been very happy with Byron and the way he's embraced what we're doing system-wise and what we've asked him to do. I like his attitude on the field and the way he comes to work. He's very, very smart and he knows what he's looking at and really sees the field well.

What does Leftwich have to do to earn that contract that he wants?

Koetter: That's for someone other than me to say. Byron will be the first to tell you this, but he needs to stay healthy. If he stays healthy, we're both very confident that he'll play very well.

Is he the perfect quarterback for your system because you know he can connect with those big targets downfield and also hit players in the short area?

Koetter: Well, Byron's an excellent down-the-field thrower. I don't know if there's a perfect quarterback for any system; if you're on top of it, even the things you believe in the most still have to be tweaked and massaged to fit what you have. You can say you want to do anything, but your personnel has something to do with that, and the opponents have something to do with that. If we're able to run the football like we did a year ago and if defenses defend us the same way they did a year ago, that will open up the field. Byron has definitely shown to me that he can make those throws that we need him to make.

I know you've heard rumors about a certain quarterback who has fallen out of favor with his current club joining up with you guys. I won't ask about the player, but is there any interest in expanding the field of competition at quarterback?

Koetter: No. If any other quarterback was to join our team right now, they'd be joining it in a backup capacity. Byron is the starting quarterback of the Jaguars, and it's been well documented that he's going into the last year of his contract, but he's the starter and we would never do anything at this time of year to change that.

Your receiving corps is the most intriguing part of your offense heading into training camp. With Matt Jones appearing to be one of the top guys that you'll use, what are you expecting this year?

Koetter: Matt is similar to Byron in that if he can stay injury-free, his ability as a playmaker will make him outstanding. When he's covered, he's still open because his size and unique ability to go get the football. This guy really tracks the football well and reacts well to where a ball is thrown and be able to catch the ball. I have not seen many guys that can do it like this guy. Now what's slowed him down is him getting nicked up a few times.

Matt has a lot of versatility -- his first year, they used him as a slot receiver and last year they played him more outside, and I think he has the capability to do either. Our expectation is that Matt has to be a playmaker. Matt should be a guy we take shots to every game because he's going to make plays.

You also brought in Dennis Northcutt via free agency, and word is that he's looked good in minicamp. Is it safe to assume he'll do more than just work on special teams?

Koetter: Oh, absolutely. Dennis has really brought a maturity, strong work ethic and a nice set of leadership values to this wide receiver group. He comes to work every day like a true pro, I love the way he talks to the guys, he takes great notes, asks great questions and gives great feedback. And then he's been able to take it on the field, whether in a one-on-one period or an 11-on-11 period and take his experience and execute what he's learned in the classroom in the same day. I think he's setting a great example for our receiver group.

When we brought him to Jacksonville, he was pigeon-holed into being a slot guy, but when you go back and look at all of his film at Cleveland, he also did play a lot outside. This spring, we've worked with our receivers on trying to learn concepts instead of just locking them in to a certain position. We've tried to move them around. Dennis has done a good job in the slot but has done just as well on the outside. I don't see any reason why he couldn't do both.

This might be a tough question for you to answer, but if training camp started today, what would your wide receiver depth chart look like?

Koetter: Yeah, that's tough mainly because all I have to go by is film from prior years, which we've looked at, and these OTAs. You always want to give guys the benefit of the doubt and say, 'OK, we're starting fresh in minicamp.'

The guy that's the toughest to say where he stacks up right now is Reggie Williams. Reggie came in, and on the second day of OTAs, he broke his finger. Reggie's a tough guy, he's played through that, but it's tough for a receiver to catch the ball in his hands with a broken finger. He also has been battling some hamstring issues, so I don't think we've seen what Reggie can do.

We have Jones and we added Northcutt. Ernest Wilford is a very steady player that's done a lot of good things for the Jaguars and will continue to. And we're real excited about Charles Sharon and a couple of our young guys, Mike Walker, who we drafted in the third round, and John Broussard, who we took in the seventh round and has looked good.

But how that group is going to shake out, and the order in which it's going to shake out, I think that's going to spill over into training camp.

Walker's received some rave reviews in minicamp as well. What do you like about him?

Koetter: You can tell that he's been very well coached in college and has really picked up our schemes and concepts quickly. He has strong hands -- you get the ball in his area and he'll go get it in his hands whereas a lot of other guys will let the ball get into their body and defenders will knock it away. Mike has a great knack for getting the ball off his body. He got off to a very fast start but got nicked up over the last couple of weeks. I'm very impressed with how fast he grasped what we're trying to do.

So if Walker puts up a good camp, does he have a chance to start? Just how wide open is the race to start at wide receiver?

Koetter: Injuries may play a factor in it. Your wideouts have to be able to run all day, especially if you're talking about being a vertical, play-action team. And Reggie and Ernest did a tremendous job blocking on the perimeter last year -- some of those long runs our running backs had were sprung by the wideouts. (The depth chart) is probably going to come down to how our receivers develop into roles and how that depth shakes out. That's probably the biggest question mark that's going into the summer. And that's not a bad thing -- we still have some good competition there, and we've purposely moved these guys around to make them learn all of the spots in the offseason.

Coach, do you still have interest in being at the top of a team or college program again someday?

Koetter: I think every assistant wants to be a head coach ... I always tell 'em to be careful what you wish for because it might come true. I'm really enjoying what I'm doing right now, and Jack has a great staff here and has a nice environment to work in and the players have the right attitude. I'm just worried about what we're doing here in 2007, I'm not worried about too much after that.

And with all the football talent you have at your fingertips, your creative juices must be flowing about what you can do with it.

Koetter: There's a lot of plays out there floatin' around in football and we already have too many as it is. I'm real anxious to get into real football where we're not playing against our defense every day and see how it all fits together. I do think that from a talent standpoint, we have got some real good players that make up a great, competitive team. I'm looking forward to the season.