(07-24-2017, 11:00 AM)The Eleventh Doctor Wrote: Let's be fair.

How many people were hoping we'd take Joekel?

Bortles and Fowler are the two that are fair to complain about.  And let's be honest... Blake could still pan out.  Give him a Defense in 2015, and we probably would have made the playoffs.  Also: The only QB I'd rather have from that draft is Derek Carr, and he wasn't taken until the second round.  So 2 other GM's went other QB's than Carr before Carr was taken.  And other GMs passed on him too, when they probably shouldn't have.

Fowler has been disappointing though, given that we could have had Leonard Williams.  A real miss by Caldwell there.  I think that's the pick you can truly complain about.  A lot of people wanted Williams too.  I know I did.  I even drafted him in my first fanspeak mock draft.  Fowler's not a TOTAL headscratcher, but we could have had so much better.

In the end, winning solves everything.  Nobody will care who we draft as long as there's more W's than L's.  Of course drafting helps get there.

I agree with your thoughts on Luke J. He was the consensus best player in that draft class so Caldwell gets some leeway on that one. When it comes to Bortles and Fowler, they are another story. Just about everyone had us deciding between Mack and Cooper. If he stays healthy, Mack will end up in the Hall of Fame. The Bortles pick was something Gene Smith would have done since he had to show he was smarter than everyone else by taking a surprise pick. I have no faith Blake will be on this team after this season. Regardless of how many pieces they put around him, I just don't see it. Sure hope I'm wrong for the team's sake plus he seems like a pretty good guy.

The Fowler pick was almost as puzzling. It wasn't like he was a great pass rusher in college and Leonard Williams was sitting right there when they picked. Although Williams may not be on the same level as Mack, he can certainly become a pro-bowler. Fowler's behavior, both on and off the field, tells me that his prognosis is not much better than Blake's. Ramsay was a great pick, but Stevie Wonder could have made that pick. He deserves no credit for that one.

The Jaguars have been perennial losers for several seasons because of one main reason- they rarely have hit on first round picks. Caldwell's percentage of failure on these picks (not counting Fournette, who can be very good) is 75%. Unless the team has a dramatic turnaround this season (at least 8 wins) and Bortles shows much improvement, I expect Caldwell to also be gone.

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