<span style="font-family:Impact"><span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Scott Starks ready For Starting Role</span></span>By Michael Smith[Made up last name]Scott Starks didn't take up football in the crib, but he came close.As a one year old baby boy, he was introduced to football by his older, 7-year old brother.When [Scott] Starks was 8, he knew football was his thing, and it was something he wanted to do for his life.As a high-schooler he was an outstanding QB, was then switched to tail back, then to linebacker. He then went on to college and was changed to a defensive back for the Wisconsin Badgers.Starks not only has a chance to be in the NFL, but has a chance to start his first ever game, vs the Seattle Seahawks on Sep. 11.Starks is battling for the left cornerback spot(right CB taken by Mathis) with second year pro,Chris Thompson, and seven year vet, Kenny Wright. David Richardson was supposed to be included in the battle, before his was sidelined with an ankle injury.The 5'9" CB is not new to the NFL type caliber wide-outs. He experienced highs and lows at Wisconsin, in which he started 48 of 51 games for the Badgers, against some future NFL stars.Put in the lineup in his freshman season at Wisconsin, Starks was burned by all-star wide reciever Charles Rogers,who had 5 catches for 206 yds and 2 TD,Rogers now plays with the Detroit Lions.Starks' upside. He rebounded to intercept passes by future NFL quarterbacks David Carr and Joey Harrington while starting 26 consecutive games before being benched for one game during his junior season for inconsistent play. Starks then returned to the Badgers' starting lineup and finished second in the Big Ten Conference with 19 passes defensed.In consecutive games during his senior year, Starks recovered a muffed punt to set up a victory-clinching touchdown against Ohio State and then had a memorable game against Purdue. He and another player hit Boilermakers quarterback Kyle Orton, now a Chicago Bears rookie, causing a fumble that Starks picked up and ran 40 yards for the winning score with 2:36 left.Starks' new job is to compete for thes starting job for Jacksonville."That's a big decision,'' Jaguars assistant head coach/secondary Dave Campo said. "We'll start the guy we think gives us the best chance to win, whether he's a veteran or a first-year player. A lot of times, it may not be just what we see, in other words, production, but it's who you trust. Hopefully, we'll have a good handle on that by the time we have to make the decision.''Starks started the Jaguars' preseason opener Saturday night against the Miami Dolphins. Thompson will start this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Wright, who played with the first unit the first week, will receive another look the next week against the Atlanta Falcons.The Jaguars will then decide which player will start in the regular season.Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio will make that call, but it won't be a surprise if he listens closely to Campo's advice. The assistant gave Starks a positive review for his work in the preseason opener."I thought he did a good job under the circumstances,'' Campo said. "He was a little bit inconsistent on some things, which is natural for a rookie. But he made some plays. He was in on three tackles and three assists. I was pleased with the effort."Said Starks: "I got a chance to learn some things. I made a couple of mistakes and learned from the mistakes. I did some good things and some bad things and, fortunately, all the bad things are correctable.''Starks' most obvious mistake came when he missed Ricky Williams twice on the same play. However, Starks brought down the Dolphins running back with an open field tackle on another play.According to Campo, Starks was supposed to have help when he whiffed on Williams."There were supposed to be a couple of guys in the alley, so Ricky had a lot of territory to maneuver in,'' Campo said. "So that was tough. But coming back, Starks probably should have made the tackle."Starks tried not to dwell on it."You have to take it to the next play in this league," he said. "Everybody gets beat. You have to be confident. If you're not confident, you're going to be out second-guessing. If you're doing that, you're not going to be successful." _____________________________________________________________________My first article.
