That's where the BMX part of me doesn't get all of the full suspension guys. BMX dirt jump guys hit 20'+ gaps on "ridged" BMX bikes all day long. It's no big deal. I used to hit 10' gaps myself all day and never even thought about suspension. The tricky part involved in MTBing is just the rocky part in between the jumps. The jumps themselves are nothing to worry about. I actually find that it's a lot harder to hit jumps well with the fork because the stupid squish/spring part of it really f**ks up the natural flow of things. That's why it's weird to me to see all these guys on easy local trails on bikes with 150mm of travel. I tackled everything on them on my ridged 1994 Giant MTB when I first got started MTBing before I got a suspension fork. The fork hasn't really made a difference in the jumps. Just the fast choppy singletrack and the sections that are nothing but 2-5" rocks. Then the suspension fork smooths everything out so that your bike isn't bouncing around and you can just rip across it.

So to make a long story short, jumps and drops are a simple matter of decent technique. The only good a suspension will do there is if you're botching your landings anyway, and need something to smooth them out. I'd imagine a lot of MTBers don't even realize this since they've always ridden the suspension fork. The fork makes a difference at high speed when you're on choppy/rough terrain on flat ground.