Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Quote:Are these threads for real? Do these people know anything about football?

Enlighten us please, is the plan flawed or are we in for a historic turn around by the start of next season?

I don't like to sound like a broken record but that's just where this team was.


Let's that the defensive scheme. Usually a coach comes in and evaluates the roster. Then they identify the guys to build a system around. The issue with Gus' approach was that there was no players to build around when he came here. Well you still have to play so I feel he decided to implement a system rather than build around. I know Daryl Smith would have helped a little but can you truly build a system around a 31 year old linebacker.


Now the oline I can kind of see where the bad steps were taken but again what talent was on the o line to to build a scheme around? Monroe was solid but not dominant. We can argue is it was smart to trade him. I think there are cases on both sides but I'm not sure either can be definitively right.


Maybe this will take longer than 3 years. I never heard a time line so it's nothing set in stone. I really don't know anymore. I guess this is what resolve is. To you keep the course and see what happens in the end or do you blow it up because you haven't gotten instant result bmto begin with.



Since were in it I'll say let's just see it through. If it doesn't work in the next year or two then we all get to bad mouth Caldwell and be happy to do it all over again. At this point I'll exercise my hope as a fan because right now there is nothing left to defend or fight.


I can only hope it works out right.

Quote:Enlighten us please, is the plan flawed or are we in for a historic turn around by the start of next season?

I am currently doing research on a thread I am going to start, but let me say this.

 

Just because a team is in the midst of a horrible record doesn't mean it's definitely headed in the wrong direction.

Quote:I don't like to sound like a broken record but that's just where this team was.


Let's that the defensive scheme. Usually a coach comes in and evaluates the roster. Then they identify the guys to build a system around. The issue with Gus' approach was that there was no players to build around when he came here. Well you still have to play so I feel he decided to implement a system rather than build around. I know Daryl Smith would have helped a little but can you truly build a system around a 31 year old linebacker.


Now the oline I can kind of see where the bad steps were taken but again what talent was on the o line to to build a scheme around? Monroe was solid but not dominant. We can argue is it was smart to trade him. I think there are cases on both sides but I'm not sure either can be definitively right.


Maybe this will take longer than 3 years. I never heard a time line so it's nothing set in stone. I really don't know anymore. I guess this is what resolve is. To you keep the course and see what happens in the end or do you blow it up because you haven't gotten instant result bmto begin with.



Since were in it I'll say let's just see it through. If it doesn't work in the next year or two then we all get to bad mouth Caldwell and be happy to do it all over again. At this point I'll exercise my hope as a fan because right now there is nothing left to defend or fight.


I can only hope it works out right.

 

that's fair enough.  of course we have to let it play out because blowing it up now is not an option.  We're a young team, and they need time to gel.

 

I can, however, disagree with the way Caldwell is going about this rebuild.  You can't go into a season with Chad Henne, Marcedes Lewis, Cecil Shorts, and Toby Gerhart your veteran playmakers that are responsible for putting points up.  Especially knowing Marcedes and Cecil can't stay healthy.  It is a laughable team on offense we're trotting out there, and only Bortles developing IN SPITE of Caldwell's ridiculous team will save their jobs and this franchise.

Quote:that's fair enough.  of course we have to let it play out because blowing it up now is not an option.  We're a young team, and they need time to gel.

 

I can, however, disagree with the way Caldwell is going about this rebuild.  You can't go into a season with Chad Henne, Marcedes Lewis, Cecil Shorts, and Toby Gerhart your veteran playmakers that are responsible for putting points up.  Especially knowing Marcedes and Cecil can't stay healthy.  It is a laughable team on offense we're trotting out there, and only Bortles developing IN SPITE of Caldwell's ridiculous team will save their jobs and this franchise.

 

So what TEs and receivers were available that would have made upgrades?

 

What WRs should we have gone after?  We DID go after Emmanuel Sanders and didn't get him.  We actually signed Doss, and he's been hurt.

 

We drafted Lee, Robinson and signed Hurns, who despite yesterday's poor performance, has actually been pretty decent.

 

It isn't as if Caldwell has made no effort whatsoever to upgrade the skill positions.

Quote:When we hired Caldwell the plan was clear a total rebuild. Tear it all down, design a scheme, build a team around the scheme. Didn't matter if some players here where serviceable we where going to a zone blocking team on offense and a hybrid team on defense. Two years later and we are failing on both fronts miserably.


Maybe the problems not coaching or talent but an insistsnce on only bringing in players for a specific scheme. Why don't we or haven't we simply brought in talent and developed schemes around who we have.



To me the problem is at the top, that's Caldwell. It's not popular to say but who else is responsible for building this roster? Are we passing up talent because it doesn't fit out scheme? That's simply a luxury we can't afford. It also feels like a backwards way to go about building a franchise.

 

While I'm as unhappy as anyone at the long string of losses and poor performances, I don't believe they will last forever. Believe it or not, we may very well have the foundation of a really great team right now! It's like a green apple on the tree; just because it's green doesn't mean it's 'bad'... it just means it's not ready yet. Our time is gonna come again when these 'green' rookies learn their trade and get up to speed. There is simply no substitute for experience....

Look at the box scores from the 1995 win over the Houston Oilers.  An expansion team with a mix of veterans and rookie first picks and compare that to this team.  It sure seems like this team has more upside than the cast of characters from the 1995 team.

 

Patience sucks but that is what is needed.  It is even harder to be patient because we are at the 7 year mark for futility.  We have honestly had a decade a freaking decade of piss poor talent evaluation.  Honestly does it seem like we can fix this with 2 drafts and 2/3 roster turn over?

Quote:So what TEs and receivers were available that would have made upgrades?

 

What WRs should we have gone after?  We DID go after Emmanuel Sanders and didn't get him.  We actually signed Doss, and he's been hurt.

 

We drafted Lee, Robinson and signed Hurns, who despite yesterday's poor performance, has actually been pretty decent.

 

It isn't as if Caldwell has made no effort whatsoever to upgrade the skill positions.

 

you're right - there wasn't much in free agency to be had.

 

I would've liked us to get Hakeem Nicks if Sanders decided to go elsewhere.

 

Or Moreno istead of Toby.  Or maybe another offensive lineman so that our offense isn't doomed from the start...  

Quote:you're right - there wasn't much in free agency to be had.

 

I would've liked us to get Hakeem Nicks if Sanders decided to go elsewhere.

 

Or Moreno istead of Toby.  Or maybe another offensive lineman so that our offense isn't doomed from the start...  

 

They "tried" to get the best center on the market.  I give them some credit for attempting that move.  Honestly it was a troubled approach because the Browns had good cap space as well.

 

The 2013 draft was low on the talent side and a weak class compared to what was potentially there in 2014.

Gus hasnt been close to as good a coach as JDR

Quote:you're right - there wasn't much in free agency to be had.

 

I would've liked us to get Hakeem Nicks if Sanders decided to go elsewhere.

 

Or Moreno istead of Toby.  Or maybe another offensive lineman so that our offense isn't doomed from the start...  

 

I felt like Nicks was a very major gamble given his issues in NY the previous season. There was no guarantee he'd return to form after his injuries. In fact, despite being a fan of his for awhile now, I actually thought he might be done. I think shying away from him under the circumstances wasn't necessarily the wrong thing to do imo.

 

I don't think it'd matter who we had toting the rock behind this line that can't run block. For all the crap Toby gets as a runner (and some of that is definitely justified) he is surprisingly decent catching the ball out of the backfield, so at least for all his struggles, he can do something good every once in a while. I personally had high hopes for Gerhart that simply aren't being fulfilled. I saw him run in a couple of games where AP was hurt and seriously thought he was the real deal.

Quote:I do think he is better, but that's not saying much.


What worries me most is that they are both supposedly defensive coaches that put teams on the field that have poor tackling fundamentals.


Gus has improved the team considerably from where we were. The jury is still out...Bortles just got in there. We'll know more by season's end, and by this time next year. He's not going anywhere imo.

I don't think he's better than Jack I just think he has a better situation with a better qb. I didn't want Gus to be the coach in the first place. I wanted Caldwell's buddy Roman. I think when you bring in a rookie qb the coach should be somebody experienced on the offensive side who works with qb's. 

Quote:I don't think he's better than Jack I just think he has a better situation with a better qb. I didn't want Gus to be the coach in the first place. I wanted Caldwell's buddy Roman. I think when you bring in a rookie qb the coach should be somebody experienced on the offensive side who works with qb's.

I wasn't a big fan of the Bradley selection either, and felt as you did with respect to Roman, if it was going to be a rookie coach. But I wanted an experienced NFL coach myself, like Reid, or even Chucky or Lovie. Mostly because JDR had gotten so far away from every statistic in football, getting progressively worse in category after category.


I particularly disliked selecting college level coordinators to boot. And, I don't care for a room full of rookies on the team either, and said as much along the way.


BUT, things had gotten so out of hand in so many areas.. off-field issues, crummy coaching and drafting, the list was endless.


Thankfully, nearly all of that is gone. I like Caldwell, despite my disagreeing with a number of things, and I feel the same way with Bradley, with less certainty.


One thing I can say...at least they have a plan! I think they handled the Qb situation very well (flame away).


This season always has been about keeping realistic expectations. I see improvement..


What we need to see is consistency as we improve each fundamental. A little better in each category, while avoiding regression. Otherwise, it will be a decade more of floundering to reach the kind of Excellence required to win in the NFL.


The key to it all is here in Bortles in my opinion. In a mere 1 1/2 years with the new group, that is rapid progress indeed!


I am patient because I think there is hope, where with JDR and Harris (and particularly Mularkey) it was hopeless.

Quote:you're right - there wasn't much in free agency to be had.

 

I would've liked us to get Hakeem Nicks if Sanders decided to go elsewhere.

 

Or Moreno istead of Toby.  Or maybe another offensive lineman so that our offense isn't doomed from the start...

I'm not trying to call you out or anything but Nicks hasn't exactly been stellar on one of the leagues best passing teams and Moreno has been out for a month. People would be going nuts over them if they were here.


Taking a more general outlook, it's not always as easy as "get someone better", and you have to remember in FA you have to actually convince these guys to come play for what's widely regarded as the least talented roster in the NFL.

Quote:I think people are simply tired of the losing.

 

I get it because I am too.

 

But simply being tired of the losing doesn't change the reality of the task before Caldwell-both when he started and now.

 

Thats very true. But I would think that people would remember Gene Smith and simmer down.