(07-20-2017, 05:01 AM)Treestone Ice Wrote: Only GM in NFL history to have 5 consecutive top 5 picks. 3 are confirmed busts imo. IDC what way you try to spin it, this guy is plum terrible.

Who are the three confirmed busts?

Are we talking Joeckel, Bortles and Fowler?

Joeckel qualifies as a bust.  Not sure if Bortles and Fowler do just yet.

Bortles had his rookie year, a second year where he threw for over 30 TDs, and a down year last year where he still had a positive TD to INT ratio.

Fowler blew out his knee 30 minutes into his first rookie minicamp and missed his first season.  Last year, his first on field action, he notched four sacks, which puts him on par with Beasley in Atlanta, who had four sacks his rookie year.  Granted, he has a lengthy and dubious off field resume, but I don't think under these circumstances you can fairly qualify him as a certified bust yet.

But your post begs a line of inquiry.

Were you to pit Gene Smith's last team against this year's Jaguars, which team would win?  Which would you consider to be the more talented roster, either comparing just the starters or 1-53?

Granted, I understand a GM's mandate is definitely NOT to build a roster that best Gene Smith's, but to best the rest of the league as well.  But what are we to make of the consensus from media observers that ours is a talented roster?

I submit despite the uneven performances of our first round picks, Caldwell has done a good job improving the roster overall.  I believe his true failure lies in three areas:  1) hiring Bradley; 2) not focusing enough on special teams (by his own admission); and not adequately addressing interior OL.

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