In both 2013 and 2014, Caldwell's moves suggested he had no faith in the possibility of us doing well. Our 2013 draft was filled with high ceiling/low floor players and of course our first spent in 2014 on a player who shouldn't have seen the field. Free Agency was filled with minor moves some of which worked out better than they could've hoped for while a couple others...not so much.
This season, Pay attention to who Caldwell brings in. It will tell us alot about the internal expectations of our front office/coaching staff. They can spew the "We expect to win it all" crap all they want but the moves do not lie.
So far we got:
- Entire revamped offensive coaching staff w/ two coaches in particular being beneath what they deserve. (Three imo)
- Passing camp created by Bortles for offense
Obviously the above two have little to no influence from caldwell but so far it tells me atleast the coaching staff thinks its time to get after it. What does Caldwell think? The draft and FA may tell us.
This is the prove it year. Nobody has patience in the NFL. You are pretty much expected to turn even the lowest teams into playoff contenders within 2-3 years or else you get canned. Heck, the Browns would be looking for their 3rd coach already had they hired Bradley when we did. Personally, due to the youth of the team and the tremendous upside a lot of these young players have shown flashes of, I think Bradley will deserve at least another year as long as the team wins at least 5 games. I think he needs help by acquiring some nice veterans to pair with the young players. We are only a few key players at our weakest positions from being really good. Sign a quality RT, TE and hopefully McCourty and we could easily approach .500.
I don't know that Caldwell's moves this year will reveal any "magic tea leaves" or anything, but...
Dave has already stated that they will be more aggressive in free agency and that he will have the luxury of not "needing" to start his draft picks.
Those statements already tell us that he has some real faith in a few of his acquired players and draft picks moving forward - as well as faith that he'll add a few good pieces in FA.
So - I don't really think the 2015 FA and draft will tell us too much more than he's already made clear, but it will probably confirm those statements.
Quote:I don't know that Caldwell's moves this year will reveal any "magic tea leaves" or anything, but...
Dave has already stated that they will be more aggressive in free agency and that he will have the luxury of not "needing" to start his draft picks.
Those statements already tell us that he has some real faith in a few of his acquired players and draft picks moving forward - as well as faith that he'll add a few good pieces in FA.
So - I don't really think the 2015 FA and draft will tell us too much more than he's already made clear, but it probably confirm those statements.
I see talk as just that. Talk. The media (and as a result, fans) get the run around by all GMs/Coaches/athletes in every sport. Caldwell has been more outspoken about his plans than any GM I've ever seen but he does so in a crafty way to further some Agenda. Remember the QB talk prior to 2014 draft? He fabricated all of it just to make sure teams didnt leapfrog him to bortles. Browns notably felt safe not trading up and it cost them.
So yea, Hopefully he is saying the truth but his actions as you said will confirm them.
NYC4jags is dead on.... couldn't have said it any better myself.
This is make or break for Gus Bradley at least IMHO. Caldwell might be safe for year four. But it's ultimately up to Khan. But after only eight wins over the last two years. They've got to make some significant strides in 2015 to warrant keeping Bradley around for 2016. I don't expect us to be a play-off team. Still too many questions on offense right now to feel comfortable. However, this team has to be flirting with .500 all year. I expect a 7 - 9 record at the MINIMUM this year. Anything short of that and it's probably over for Bradley and/or Caldwell.
Quote:In both 2013 and 2014, Caldwell's moves suggested he had no faith in the possibility of us doing well. Our 2013 draft was filled with high ceiling/low floor players and of course our first spent in 2014 on a player who shouldn't have seen the field. Free Agency was filled with minor moves some of which worked out better than they could've hoped for while a couple others...not so much.
This season, Pay attention to who Caldwell brings in. It will tell us alot about the internal expectations of our front office/coaching staff. They can spew the "We expect to win it all" crap all they want but the moves do not lie.
So far we got:
- Entire revamped offensive coaching staff w/ two coaches in particular being beneath what they deserve. (Three imo)
- Passing camp created by Bortles for offense
Obviously the above two have little to no influence from caldwell but so far it tells me atleast the coaching staff thinks its time to get after it. What does Caldwell think? The draft and FA may tell us.
Disagree with this assessment.
In 2013, Luke, Cyp, and Gratz were the opposite of what you said we went after (high ceiling, low floor). If anything, those three guys were your classic high floor/low ceiling.Just looking at the 1st two picks of that draft, the players of HC/LF options would have been Fisher or Lane Johnson at T and Swearinger at SS. For all intents and purposes, Luke/Cyp/Gratz were supposed to start right away, and were penciled as starters without really any competition.
In 2014, I'll agree that Blake was supposed to sit. But the two WRs really had no one ahead of him other than Cecil. Keep in mind that we found out after the draft that the team knew Ace was going to be suspended. So at the very least, they were relying on one of the rookie WRs to be a starting WR immediately. The attempt to sign Mack to a lucrative teal doesn't quite fit the narrative.
I think, in both years, Dave severely overestimated the production that his rookie draft picks can give.
I will agree that this year is critical, and I would hope he doesn't fall for the same trap of overly relying on his "gems" of draft picks once again. We need starters who have proven themselves capable of playing in this league.
I would it rather take us 3-4 years to rebuild completely rather than end up like the Lions who haven't seen the playoffs in forever prior to this season. Im willing to give Caldwell time if he has a good plan in set, it's way better than firing Gus next year and starting to rebuild again.. Give it time, but this years FA/Draft will tell us prior to the season what we are capable of doing if this team improves over the offseason. Heavy offense FA and heavy defense drafting, the plan sounds great, we can find gems like we did last year and it will improve our defense a lot.
Caldwell, in charge of personnel, preached a complete rebuild and did just that to his word. On the outside, an owner may give him 4 years to show playoff-level performance from the start of his rebuild. Caldwell has now completed year 2. In my mind, he can't wait until the end of year 3 to produce in year 4; ideally, I am sure he wants a powerful free agent group to gel for a year before year 4 season is upon him. That gives these guys a chance to really learn a new system with new coaches and teammates in year 3, and then truly excel in year 4. He won't get to year 5 if it doesn't work.
If he is going to spend in free agency, Caldwell must spend it this offseason.
I think Caldwell will infuse this team with some talent this offseason. I don't think Gus Bradley can survive another year with the worst offense, and the 7th worst defense in the league. I think our Offense has to at least be out of the bottom 5, and our defense has to be out of the bottom 10. And that has to be accompanied by more than 4 wins.
I'm sorry but I don't think this is Bradleys prove it year. I honestly think they will give him as much time as Caldwell. 4 years IMO.
If you think about it, Bradley's time started when Blake was drafted. So that was year 1 we are going into year 2 with Blake, if he does become a good QB this year at least better, Bradley stays and if he stinks or is worse then you gotta change the coach. But honestly I don't see Bradley getting fired at all, we will come together and be a great football team.