Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

Quote:So you don't think David Caldwell shares any of the responsibility for the team's record despite him having decimated the roster before Gus even ever coached a game?

really, it was Gene Smith who 'decimated' the roster. All Dave did was clear the mess out and start over.

Quote:I'd say they cover the spread but it's under 43


I don't see both teams scoring more than 21

 

 

Me neither. I got the Jaguars winning 21-20.

Quote:That Mularkey team was so bad it needed to get blown up, it was necessary. Dave's biggest problem was that the Jags needed some veteran leadership on the team during Gus' first year and there just wasn't any to speak of. Marcades Lewis should have been able to be one of the leaders, but he just wasn't. It really showed when they lost their first 8 games and they were just getting blown out.

 

Gus' actually did a respectable job in the 2nd half of that first year with a really bad team, by posting a 4-4 record for those last 8 games. Yes. he beat some really bad teams, but the Jags were a really bad team too, led by the one and only Chad Henne.

 

The team only won 3 games the next year, but they did have to start a rookie QB after 3 games, because of the performance of the one and only Chad Henne.

 

Now here we are deep into year 3 and despite everything that has worked in the Jags favor this year, Gus finds himself at 4-7 and has lost several winnable games, yes I said winnable games, even for the Jags.

 

Now there are 5 games left and Gus really needs to be able to win a few of them and end the season with more wins (and I don't mean 1 more) this season then he had in his very first season and with a much worse team.

 

Come on Gus, can you do it?

 

 

I agree with you here, and I do think Gus can win these games. He better win at least two of these last five, but I'm holding out hope for more. It kills me how close we've were in at least three of our losses where just a little better execution on a few downs and we'd have won. Interestingly, it was the same for the 1996 Jaguars. They lost some incredibly close games right at the end to start out 4-7. Then it's like something clicked. Much like how we saw Julius Thomas just turn it on against the Chargers, Natrone Means and Tony Brackens came to life. From that point until the end of the nineties, we were spoiled by wins.

Quote:really, it was Gene Smith who 'decimated' the roster. All Dave did was clear the mess out and start over.

 

 

True, although it appears Dave was so freaked out by former Gene Smith players that he also got rid of a few he should have kept meaning even more good new players are needed to start turning things around. I suppose that was bound to happen with a new takeover.though. Just look at how much good talent the Eagles just flat out dumped since Chip Kelly got there.

Quote:I agree with you here, and I do think Gus can win these games. He better win at least two of these last five, but I'm holding out hope for more. It kills me how close we've were in at least three of our losses where just a little better execution on a few downs and we'd have won. Interestingly, it was the same for the 1996 Jaguars. They lost some incredibly close games right at the end to start out 4-7. Then it's like something clicked. Much like how we saw Julius Thomas just turn it on against the Chargers, Natrone Means and Tony Brackens came to life. From that point until the end of the nineties, we were spoiled by wins.

 

Can Gus win at least 2 or 3 of these next 5 games? Yes, it's possible. Gus does have a much better 2nd half record then he does first half record.

 

It's just a matter of, will he?

 

Yes, the way the Jags got to 4-7 this year definitely reminds longtime Jags fans of how the Jags got to 4-7 in 1996, eerily similar, but unfortunately Tom Coughlin isn't walking through that door to lead the Jags for the next 5 games.

 

There's a big difference between Tom in his 2nd year as Jags HC and Gus in his 3rd year as HC.

Quote:True, although it appears Dave was so freaked out by former Gene Smith players that he also got rid of a few he should have kept meaning even more good new players are needed to start turning things around. I suppose that was bound to happen with a new takeover.though. Just look at how much good talent the Eagles just flat out dumped since Chip Kelly got there.

As I recall from what I read about it at the time, the idea wasn't just to remove the non-productive players but to basically give the 'new regime' a complete fresh start. Certainly, there were one or two players that, in retrospect, we now wish we had hung onto, but at the time we couldn't know that. My sole intention from my first post was a response to the notion that the situation we've been in for years now is due to Dave Caldwell. That simply isn't true; we are still struggling to recover today from what Gene Smith wrought on this team. It was bad enough that it required a radical 'ectomy' to fix it.   

Quote:As I recall from what I read about it at the time, the idea wasn't just to remove the non-productive players but to basically give the 'new regime' a complete fresh start. Certainly, there were one or two players that, in retrospect, we now wish we had hung onto, but at the time we couldn't know that. My sole intention from my first post was a response to the notion that the situation we've been in for years now is due to Dave Caldwell. That simply isn't true; we are still struggling to recover today from what Gene Smith wrought on this team. It was bad enough that it required a radical 'ectomy' to fix it.   

 

The part in bold is an interesting take I hadn't really considered. I guess we couldn't have known that Rashean Mathis would have lasted as long as he has, or that Jeremy Mincey was about to blossom into a rather dominant DE. Perhaps there was no way to know that Brandon Marshall would be a stellar starting MLB or that Justin Forsett would turn into one of the league's best RBs. However, there were some moves I feel he should have known about. I feel he should have known that Terrance Knighton was one of the best NTs in the league while Alualu and Branch were nothing special. I feel he should have known that Daryl Smith was one of the best OLBs in the league with plenty of game left in him. And I feel he should have known that Dwight Lowery was a fantastic starting FS the likes of which we've yet to acquire.


 

I also feel like he handled MJD wrong by practically dissing the RB leading to him being out of shape, unproductive, injured and eventually out of the league after a one-year sitnt with the Raiders, and that's on Caldwell not Bradley for refusing to work with him on his contract situation. Had Caldwell simply worked with Jones-Drew to where the RB would have been with the team throughout every offseason, he might still be a Pro Bowl caliber RB for the Jaguars today instead of a talking head on NFL Network. I could be wrong, but that's how I feel. His college teammate is still here.

I still can't believe how highly overrated Terrance Knighton is by some on here, and MJD was done after the dreaded lisfranc injury to his foot. He got run into the ground be Del Rio and co. during that season where he had the most rushing yards (thx to Shady McCoy getting hurt), and it was good on Dave Caldwell to know it and make the right business decision. After all, MJD was under contract making decent money.


Daryl Smith sure, he could've helped us out big time. I still can't fault Caldwell for not paying a 32 year old LB.