Derrick Harvey Will Shine in 2009

Derrick Harvey was supposed to take Jacksonville to the next level in 2008.

The only thing missing from Jacksonville's team in 2007 was a consistent pass rush. The Jaguars did record 37 sacks that season, which was tied for ninth in the NFL.

However, when it mattered the most in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game against the New England Patriots, Jacksonville couldn't get any pressure on Tom Brady.

Brady was sacked once by John Henderson, but, other than that, Brady stayed upright for the entire game. The result was an impressive 26-for-28 performance and a 31-20 win for the Pats.

With the bitter taste of that loss still in the mouths of the Jaguars' front office personnel, the team set out to shore up its pass rush. Jacksonville traded up to draft Harvey with the eighth overall pick and got Quentin Groves in the second round.

Neither guy lived up to their lofty expectations for different reasons. In the case of Groves, he had trouble gaining weight and keeping it on. By the end of his rookie season, he weighed 251 pounds. He finished 2007 with 11 tackles and two sacks.

This year, he has a target weight of 270 pounds. If he can maintain that weight, he should be much more effective.

Harvey's potential was stifled by his contract holdout. He wanted market value for being the eighth pick, and the Jaguars were reluctant to meet his demands.

The result was a 33-day holdout that ended just 13 days before the start of the regular season, which was not nearly enough time to acclimate himself to the NFL.

In the early going, it was clear that Harvey was not ready for the rigors of professional football. He only recorded six tackles in the first eight games of the season.

Once Harvey got his legs under him, he started to thrive. He finished the season with three and a half sacks, two of which came in the final game of the season against Baltimore.

Now that Harvey has a year under his belt, fans should expect to see Harvey become a dominant force on the defensive line. He possesses ideal size for a defensive end (6'5", 271 pounds) and showed flashes of being a premier pass rusher. I expect him to record double-digit sacks in 2009.