Here's hoping that James ' Shack' Harris has a terrific retirement. His contributions are appreciated and will be missed on this end.
Interestingly, on the NFL Total Access program, it was mentioned that Shack was the key in the Jaguars selection of MJD.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/li.../24095407/
Shack was great at finding bigtime talents having landed several of the Jaguars best post-Coughlin era players. His drawback was that when you looked past those few select great players, the rest of his acquisitions tended to be complete wash-outs. I always figured him for a guy to swing for the fence as opposed to a guy who plays it safe with plenty of solid players but nobody great to speak of.
Quote:Shack was great at finding bigtime talents having landed several of the Jaguars best post-Coughlin era players. His drawback was that when you looked past those few select great players, the rest of his acquisitions tended to be complete wash-outs. I always figured him for a guy to swing for the fence as opposed to a guy who plays it safe with plenty of solid players but nobody great to speak of.
The Jaguars 2nd Round selections when Shack was a key part of the organization were very impressive. Some of those picks such as Rashean Mathis and MJD are good examples of what you expressed when looking at the positive side of the coin.
One thing I've wondered about is how much better off the Jaguars would have been if there was someone on the football side of the operation at the top of the chain of command of the organization instead of having no clear cut personnel decision maker when Shack and JDR were in the organization.
Yea it got to a point I wanted them to trade ever year their first round pick to get more 2nd round picks. All 1st round picks where busts.
How did he get the nickname Shack?
Quote: The Jaguars 2nd Round selections when Shack was a key part of the organization were very impressive. Some of those picks such as Rashean Mathis and MJD are good examples of what you expressed when looking at the positive side of the coin.
One thing I've wondered about is how much better off the Jaguars would have been if there was someone on the football side of the operation at the top of the chain of command of the organization instead of having no clear cut personnel decision maker when Shack and JDR were in the organization.
If things were to have played out under the scenario you mentioned its possible the Jags could've winded up with Terrell Suggs and Big Ben based on numerous rumors that they would've been the selection had we had a personnel guy in charge to make final decisions.
Shack was amazing when it came down to 2nd round selections but the selections made in the first rounds set us back numerous years, especially the Derrick Harvey trade which ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back.
Shack was Albert Einstein compared to the clown that replaced him.
Quote:If things were to have played out under the scenario you mentioned its possible the Jags could've winded up with Terrell Suggs and Big Ben based on numerous rumors that they would've been the selection had we had a personnel guy in charge to make final decisions.
Shack was amazing when it came down to 2nd round selections but the selections made in the first rounds set us back numerous years, especially the Derrick Harvey trade which ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back.
I remember reading if the Vikings had not let the clock run out while trying to trade with the Ravens, Baltimore would have picked Byron Leftwich. We moved up two spots because of Minnesota's failure to submit a card after 15 minutes -a move that allowed us to beat the Ravens to Leftwich. Baltimore then had to go a different direction and picked Terrell Suggs. If the Vikings did not let time run out on them, would we have Suggs now?
Shack's picks have looked better and better the longer he's been away from Jacksonville.
I wish him a happy and healthy retirement. However, he missed on too many important picks in Jacksonville to be considered good while here.
Quote:The following site provides the answer on page no. 258:
https://books.google.com/books?id=VXI-AA...is&f=false
Say what you want about him as a GM (and he did do some good things here), but the man was a trailblazer on the field. I'll bet he was also one of the league's first black GM's (or highly positioned front office personnel at the very least). Congrats on a great career in football, Shack.
Good for him. I do wish we had better luck in the first round with him but he really wasnt as bad as some people thought. But things didnt get better once he left....
The thing that Shack missed out on was his misreading of Byron Leftwich, and then trying to feed the guy top notch weapons. I really felt like Shack fell in love with Leftwich and that led him into thinking that Byron could become the big time leader for the team. Once Shack had him, he needed to get him weapons and the rest is another chapter in Sad Jacksonville Wide Receiver drafting.
I am glad though that he has strung together a nice career. I always liked Shack, even if I didn't always agree with his moves.
Quote:The thing that Shack missed out on was his misreading of Byron Leftwich, and then trying to feed the guy top notch weapons. I really felt like Shack fell in love what Leftwich and thought that he could become a big time leader for the team. Once he had him, he had to get him weapons and the rest is another chapter in Sad Jacksonville Wide Receiver drafting.
I am glad though that he has strung together a nice career. I always liked Shack, even if I didn't always agree with his moves.
If Leftwich's release could be just a little better then it would have been a matter of hitting on those picks. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a WR to save our lives back then. Soooo bad.
Quote:Shack's picks have looked better and better the longer he's been away from Jacksonville.
So why couldn't he make great first round picks
in Jacksonville?
Quote:So why couldn't he make great first round picks in Jacksonville?
Too many reaches and knuckleheads. But his picks second round on were pretty solid.
Quote:Shack was Albert Einstein compared to the clown that replaced him.
Gene Smith gets a worse rap than he deserves. His capabilities were maybe overhyped, but he was not bad as a talent evaluator. He obviously didn't have a solid plan of how to build a winning football team that could withstand the injuries that he would face. He got too caught up in trying to build a team that was tough in the trenches and didn't understand what it takes to win in the "new" NFL until it was too late. Ultimately, he missed on quarterback which is the fatal blow, but you gotta pick a guy at some point. And you only got like 3 years.
(Plus, he won the same amount of games in his first season as Caldwell won his first two.)
*ducks*
Quote:If things were to have played out under the scenario you mentioned its possible the Jags could've winded up with Terrell Suggs and Big Ben based on numerous rumors that they would've been the selection had we had a personnel guy in charge to make final decisions.
Shack was amazing when it came down to 2nd round selections but the selections made in the first rounds set us back numerous years, especially the Derrick Harvey trade which ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back.
The two players you mentioned in the first paragraph certainly would have changed the Jaguars fortunes if they went on have similar careers that they did with Baltimore and Pittsburgh, respectively. Other than the promise that Reggie Hayward displayed before the Achilles' injury, a consistent edge rusher is something the Jaguars seemed to have lacked since Tony Brackens was playing at a high level.
The Derrick Harvey trade looked very promising on paper. The Jaguars looked like they were getting a key missing piece and the value on the traditional draft pick chart was heavily in the Jaguars favor. There's no question that the disappointment of the team's 2008 Draft class led to major change in the organization.
Quote:Say what you want about him as a GM (and he did do some good things here), but the man was a trailblazer on the field. I'll bet he was also one of the league's first black GM's (or highly positioned front office personnel at the very least). Congrats on a great career in football, Shack.
I have great respect for Shack. I certainly appreciate his contributions with the Lions the last 6 years and while he was with the Jaguars the team had its two best seasons this century.
I recall watching Shack as a QB with the old Los Angeles Rams. Shack's arm strength ranks in the top tier of QB's I've ever seen. In the Doug Williams and John Elway class. While Chuck Knox had a very good coaching career, I'm not sure why Pat Haden eventually became the starting QB for the Rams over Shack. From a talent standpoint, there didn't seem to be any comparison.