It's always funny to look back on things with 20-20 hindsight, but it's educational in getting to see who got things right early. Let's start with the 2015 preseason, the beginning of Gus's third season at the helm of the ship. People were expecting at least a .500 record thanks to the easy schedule the Jaguars were facing, and they were half right, the Jaguars did face a historically easy schedule, but a .500 record with Gus leading the way was a bit much to ask. Still some of us saw the problems coming well ahead of time and others didn't.
Heading into 2015 almost 3/4ths of the fanbase that bothered to vote still believed in him, I think this post speaks for itself:
https://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/to.../?p=520501
Remember when people thought that Gus was attracting blue chip free agents? The message board 'members.
https://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/to.../?p=744094
By the second week of the 2016 season 90% of the fanbase had seen the light.
https://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/to...ey-merged/
How would the last two seasons have turned out if the Jaguars had followed my advice in the 2015 offseason and canned Gus and hired Marrone to be the head coach then? Probably would have won their first division title in 2015, but probably would have cost us the chance to draft Ramsey and Jack, so I guess there's that consolation at least.
Blake's mechanics went awry and his arm was soon shot. I don't feel any coaching change would have done all that much to salvage the situation.
Last year we went head first with a passing game genius at the OC spot, and I still believe Oley is that much. Oley's entire outlook depended on Blake's arm remaining strong, and that's where everything went wrong. Blake couldn't even throw, but Oley has one huge fault... he knows absolutely nothing about rushing in the NFL. He's by far the most inept coach I've ever seen when it comes to running the ball, and it's clear he's really at best a top-of-the-line QB Coach despite Blake's issues. Henne certainly was not an option even for a snap, so we kept on passing with Blake at the helm. Watch the Raiders game again. It's just sad watching Blake trying to throw in that game, and he had over 50 attempts.
So even with Marrone we were sunk in 2016 due to Blake's arm. The defense at least kept us in games. This year, should Blake's arm go out there might be a slim shred of hope that we'll have Brandon Allen backing up and capable of taking over. But should that somehow fail to be the case, at least we'll have Fournette to lean on as well as coaches who understand the run game. Morever, because of the balance added with the run game, we hopefully never have to worry about his arm experiencing fatigue and subsequently injury again.
BTW, listening to Marrone he was saying he plans for Blake to throw even more this offseason than last year saying "the more he throws, the better..." suggesting it will only make his arm stronger. I don't want to second guess him here, but I do hope he has a plan to ensure we don't witness a third episode of arm fatigue.
Quote:Blake's mechanics went awry and his arm was soon shot. I don't feel any coaching change would have done all that much to salvage the situation.
Last year we went head first with a passing game genius at the OC spot, and I still believe Oley is that much. Oley's entire outlook depended on Blake's arm remaining strong, and that's where everything went wrong. Blake couldn't even throw, but Oley has one huge fault... he knows absolutely nothing about rushing in the NFL. He's by far the most inept coach I've ever seen when it comes to running the ball, and it's clear he's really at best a top-of-the-line QB Coach despite Blake's issues. Henne certainly was not an option even for a snap, so we kept on passing with Blake at the helm. Watch the Raiders game again. It's just sad watching Blake trying to throw in that game, and he had over 50 attempts.
So even with Marrone we were sunk in 2016 due to Blake's arm. The defense at least kept us in games. This year, should Blake's arm go out there might be a slim shred of hope that we'll have Brandon Allen backing up and capable of taking over. But should that somehow fail to be the case, at least we'll have Fournette to lean on as well as coaches who understand the run game. Morever, because of the balance added with the run game, we hopefully never have to worry about his arm experiencing fatigue and subsequently injury again.
Does Blake have arm problems in 2016 if Marrone is coach and the whole team and gameplan are different? Maybe not. Still I think the biggest difference would have been in 2015, not 2016.
Remember this gem?
https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/01/06/housto...l-playoffs
Bradley and co seemed to never have good preparation or gameplanning, and it's why the team continually lost against teams it either matched in talent, or had more talent than.
Quote:It's always funny to look back on things with 20-20 hindsight, but it's educational in getting to see who got things right early. Let's start with the 2015 preseason, the beginning of Gus's third season at the helm of the ship. People were expecting at least a .500 record thanks to the easy schedule the Jaguars were facing, and they were half right, the Jaguars did face a historically easy schedule, but a .500 record with Gus leading the way was a bit much to ask. Still some of us saw the problems coming well ahead of time and others didn't.
Heading into 2015 almost 3/4ths of the fanbase that bothered to vote still believed in him, I think this post speaks for itself: https://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/to.../?p=520501
Nice job comparing Marquis Lee to Cecil Shorts in that thread. LOL
Look at me look at me!!!
Hey I said blowing up the roster and expecting a successful rebuild in year 4 was fools gold back in 2012. Wish i was wrong but caldwells arrogance set him up for failure from the start. Hopefully coughlin can steer him back in the right direction.
Bradley's teams were never prepared. Almost always had the wrong approach against each opponent evident in the 1st quarter.
The small number of games that we won, it would be a combination of the other team not taking the Jags too seriously (each win against the Titans) or a complete collapse (Giants home game). Even the big blowout of Indy, the 1st half was a struggle.
It's actually sad that you can almost remember details of each win during the Gus era since they were too few and far in between.
Quote:It's always funny to look back on things with 20-20 hindsight, but it's educational in getting to see who got things right early. Let's start with the 2015 preseason, the beginning of Gus's third season at the helm of the ship. People were expecting at least a .500 record thanks to the easy schedule the Jaguars were facing, and they were half right, the Jaguars did face a historically easy schedule, but a .500 record with Gus leading the way was a bit much to ask. Still some of us saw the problems coming well ahead of time and others didn't.
Heading into 2015 almost 3/4ths of the fanbase that bothered to vote still believed in him, I think this post speaks for itself: https://jungle.jaguars.com/index.php?/to.../?p=520501
The posts in that thread are more telling than the poll.
The thread is littered with folks saying that Gus had little excuse not to push .500 (or better) in 2015 or he's probably (or certainly according to some) not the right guy.
I guess if you want to feel some affirmation for having no hope for him to come around a little sooner than myself and a host of others, then you've achieved your goal. Cheers.
Personally - I feel good about rooting for the guy to eventually come around in 2015 - even though in October 2016 I knew there was absolutely no way it was going to happen. I guess I just find it more enjoyable to root
for the coaches and players on my team than to give up on them only 2 years into their tenure.