I am looking at both of Caldwell's drafts on paper and looking at the 1st one thinking, "what is the hell was he thinking", then I look at his 2nd one and think "wow, this could end up being the best draft in franchise history".
I am very curious how this next draft will go. This past draft was so weird because 2 of the guys we got would have never been available at their respective positions had it not been for injury, and I still can't figure out why in the heck Telvin Smith fell as far as he did.
I am curious to see if the output from the next draft is more inline with his 1st or 2nd draft.
Telvin's knock was that he was too small to be an NFL linebacker. I read a couple of things on him after we drafted him that said he'd be better suited as a safety. Whatever the reason, I'm glad he did. He's gonna be a stud.
The idea was to hit on more than you miss. With Caldwell, I think this is coming to fruition. It is frustrating having them mature at different rates though and causes this board to explode with (insert player name) SUCKS! Fire (insert coaches name)!
Don't assume Joeckel and Cyprien can't get it together. Labeling either as busts in only their 2nd (Joeckels 1st at LT) year is knee jerkish and foolish
Cyp has had two straight awesome games.
There was a huge talent difference available between the two drafts. Last year was historically good, while two years ago was historically bad. Luckily, it appears Caldwell took advantage of last years strong draft.
The two most important things a team can have, IMO, are a franchise QB, and a competent GM who can identify talent. At this point, there is a possiblity we have both which is huge. The future could be bright. Looking forward to the draft and hopefully to win some games next year.
Quote:Don't assume Joeckel and Cyprien can't get it together. Labeling either as busts in only their 2nd (Joeckels 1st at LT) year is knee jerkish and foolish
Cyp has had two straight awesome games.
I'm not, yet, but it is pretty amazing how "NFL Ready" this draft class was versus the 2013 one.
2013 was considered a weak draft and 2014 was considered a strong draft.
Definitely playing out that way for us.
I will say though that at least it looks like we got some solid contributors and maybe even some long terms starters in 2013. You can look at some drafts in this franchises history and not find one even solid contributor.
Quote:I am looking at both of Caldwell's drafts on paper and looking at the 1st one thinking, "what is the hell was he thinking", then I look at his 2nd one and think "wow, this could end up being the best draft in franchise history".
I am very curious how this next draft will go. This past draft was so weird because 2 of the guys we got would have never been available at their respective positions had it not been for injury, and I still can't figure out why in the heck Telvin Smith fell as far as he did.
I am curious to see if the output from the next draft is more inline with his 1st or 2nd draft.
Don't forget, both Aaron Colvin and Telvin Smith played for Gus at the Senior Bowl. So he had a whole week of practices and interactions to get a good grasp of who they were as players and people.
And right now, they both look like home run picks in the 4th and 5th rounds.
Quote:Don't forget, both Aaron Colvin and Telvin Smith played for Gus at the Senior Bowl. So he had a whole week of practices and interactions to get a good grasp of who they were as players and people.
And right now, they both look like home run picks in the 4th and 5th rounds.
If Whisenhunt gets fired, we may coach the Senior Bowl again
All of the above are good reasons as to why our 2014 class looks alot better than our 2013 class.
Im still expecting the sophomore slump from our later round draft picks of this year though.
I haven't given up on Joeckel or Cyp yet. Bosseli needs to show Luke the weighroom. I'd like to see how Cyp performs when we can actually use our cover 3 scheme with a FS not named Evans. DRob, McCray, and Gratz aren't too shabby. Ace has been an absolute nonfactor this season
Yeah I wouldn't give up on Joeckel and Cyp yet. Joeckel needs to an offseason in the weight room and put on 10 pounds or so and Cyp can't be judged fairly until we get a better FS. He's had back to back seasons of 100+ tackles so he's not bad obviously, he just doesn't make the type of impact plays you'd like as far as forced fumbles, interceptions, sacks, etc. Maybe that comes next year.
Quote:I'm not, yet, but it is pretty amazing how "NFL Ready" this draft class was versus the 2013 one.
to be fair the 2013 draft was considered to be a poor draft so it was always going to be inferior
as it goes
starting caliber corner mccray
back up caliber strong safety evans (i dont think he is a free safety just being forced into that role)
split reps speed back denard robinson
bust....ed for drugs ace sanders
back up corner/ starting nickel -dwayne gratz (i think the way he plays the run makes him ideal for this role but we shall see)
jurys out but cyp has had two good games so hopefully he is starting to put it together whilst joeckel is still working it out at one of the hardest positions in football.
that leaves you with 2 undecided
1 starter
1 back up
2 role players
and a bust
it all really depends on joeckel and cyp putting it together or falling apart
Kind of weird how the mid-round picks of that first draft fell off after good rookie seasons. Gratz kind of came down, and after a pretty good rookie season Ace has just slipped away into the abyss, and I honestly think Denard is just a good rotational guy. It does not mean they can't turn it around but it leaves a lot to be desired at this point.
Quote:Kind of weird how the mid-round picks of that first draft fell off after good rookie seasons. Gratz kind of came down, and after a pretty good rookie season Ace has just slipped away into the abyss, and I honestly think Denard is just a good rotational guy. It does not mean they can't turn it around but it leaves a lot to be desired at this point.
It's really not. Its what happens when young guys are forced into action due to lack of available options...they do enough to show flashes and everyone just assumes they'll develop from there and make an even bigger jump. It doesn't always happen. Like has been said many times, Gene's first draft of Monroe, Britton, Potroast, Cox, Jennings, Thomas, and Miller looked like a slam dunk of a draft. But then some of them never improved, some got injured, and three years later we're asking what in the world happened.
Success in their rookie years doesn't always guarantee stardom, same as lackthereof doesn't always make them a bust.
Dont forget the undrafted rookiee signed Named Allen Hurns. I think that is even more of a steal then Colvin, Colvin was a 50/50 risk that paid off, H could have come off ACL surgery and been RG3 not very good. Hurns was just simply a good get.
What's wrong with the 2013 class exactly? If anyone here can name 5 2013 draft hauls that are definitely better than the Jags class, I'd love to see it.
Also don't forget that in 2013 when Caldwell got hired he inherited Gene Smith's Scouting Department and let them go after the 2013 draft.
So this is the reason why the 2013 and 2014 draft classes were so "Jekyll and Hyde". And the way it looks so far I am very optimistic about this
up coming draft seeing how its going to be Caldwell's guys and not Smith's guys conducting the scouting reports.
*Go Jaguars!
Quote:Also don't forget that in 2013 when Caldwell got hired he inherited Gene Smith's Scouting Department and let them go after the 2013 draft.
So this is the reason why the 2013 and 2014 draft classes were so "Jekyll and Hyde". And the way it looks so far I am very optimistic about this
up coming draft seeing how its going to be Caldwell's guys and not Smith's guys conducting the scouting reports.
*Go Jaguars!
Source? I'd love it if this was the case.
I think Caldwell is the type of GM that will find talent irregardless of round. With that said the 2013 draft was terrible for everybody. To be honest looking back at that draft Cyp probably would be top 15-20 of all the guys in a redraft. This year however was so packed with more talent all around. Even if their is no true top 5 guys, some one still has to get drafted in the top 5. Telvin fell because he failed a drug test like right before the draft.
But there are guys like him every year. Dennard who the pats got was a top 15 CB but had off the field issues and got him iirc in undrafted free agency. Same as A. Foster. He was a top 10 pick his self but his off the field stuff (mainly attitude) caused him to go undrafted. Caldwell just does his homework and has a good idea of what to do and when to do it. I remember people thought Linder was a reach and now looks like he should have been taken in the 20's in the first round.