(12-25-2018, 08:16 AM)KodiakJag Wrote:

(12-25-2018, 01:54 AM)Bullseye Wrote: High round draft picks every year?

As I recall, the criticism is that Caldwell misses on too many first round draft picks.

Let's look:

2013-Joeckel-MISS
2014-Bortles-MISS
2015-Fowler-MISS
2016-Ramsey-HIT
2017-Fournette-???

So there is a definite hit in one out of five first round picks.

So Jalen Ramsey and Ramsey alone is responsible for the turnaround from 2016 to 2017?

The Joeckel pick is forgivable.  It was his first pick and filled a huge need.  It's not Dave's fault the guy was destined to be a bust.
Ramsey was a no-brainer pick.  He had legitimate star talent and was in a position of need.  You would have made that pick, and so would 90% of the fans on this board.
The Bortles, Fournette, and Fowler picks are what hurt him.

If you take a QB that high in the 1st, you better have no doubts about his throwing ability.
If you pick a RB  ''    ''     ''     ''     '', he better be the next Walter Payton.  Durability issues in college should have been scrutinized better.
If you pick a DE   ''    ''     ''     ''     '', he shouldn't have character &/or off-the-field issues.

...and if you pick a head coach, he should have a fully functional cerebrum and the ability to make the most of the talent he has in addition to being able to actually coach on game day.

All of this is fine but is largely besides my point.

People are saying the high draft choices are the only reason the team made the turnaround.

There were five top 5 draft choices in the Caldwell era.  If you remove the busts/questionable picks as factors in the Jaguars run in 2017 (not knowing, for the moment, how Bortles Fowler and Fournette can be removed as factors in that run, but nevermind that now), you are left with one guy-Ramsey.  Every other pick-from Jack to Lee, Linder, Cam Robinson and Cann, to Ngakoue, Aaron Colvin and Telvin Smith-are all guys every other team in the league could have drafted, but didn't.  Every other free agent-from Bouye and Campbell, Church and Gipson, Omameh and Parnell all could have been signed by other teams but weren't. How in the world can you exclude them, too?  

Were they busts and not factors in last year's run?


Gene Smith had a slew of high draft choices too.  Was there a playoff run during his tenure?  Smith's picks weren't as high as Caldwell's? Maybe not, but at what point do high draft picks not become advantageous?  There were teams with lower draft picks that got more out of them than Gene Smith and had playoff runs.  There were GMs that had lower draft picks whose tenure did not end in rosters completely devoid of talent the way Smith left the team.

Furthermore, why should Caldwell be penalized for functioning effectively within the system the league established to promote competitive balance?  Heck, to listen to many of you, Caldwell is to be castigated for not trading down in the first round, eliminating the very advantage you assert was key to the team's turnaround.

But I understand that surpassing Gene Smith isn't exactly an impressive feat.  Let's compare the Caldwell era Jaguars roster to the Raiders of the similar era.  They had almost as many top 5 picks during that time (3) as the Jaguars.  In fact, I will even concede:

• The Raiders trade down in 2013 from #3 overall down to around 11 was better strategy than staying at 2 and taking Joeckel
  
• The Raiders' selections of Khalil Mack and Derek Carr in 2014 was better strategy than Caldwell's pick of Bortles that year
  
• The Raiders' selection of Amari Cooper was better than Caldwell's choice of Fowler in 2015
  

How many of you would have eagerly switched rosters with the Raiders after last season?  I'd want to see the analysis.

The high draft pick argument is disingenuous and does not reflect what transpired here.

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