(05-01-2020, 11:06 AM)knarnn Wrote:

(05-01-2020, 10:12 AM)iHaunting Raven Wrote: We also blame Fournette to TC but give credit for every good pick from 2017 to 2019 to DC (Allen, Chark, Minshew).
Also TC was the one who gave Bortles the extension and signed Foles, Dave Caldwell the GM had nothing to do with that.

I think it would serve you well [and all of us for that matter] to catch up before continuing your argument. Here is the article I referenced that provides a lot of insight:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/how-j...o-seasons/

Quote: Coughlin also made some strange personnel decisions -- such as drafting running back Leonard Fournette fourth overall with Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes on the board, and letting receiver Allen Robinson walk in free agency. But there were many more issues with him as well. 

.....

[font=proxima-nova, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The team passed on taking Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft for Fournette -- a move made by Coughlin, who loved big backs -- and decided to stick with Bortles. When Bortles helped get them to the title game, they made the mistake of giving him a contract extension. Bortles was benched in 2018 and released after that season. [/font]


The Jaguars panicked last spring and paid [font=proxima-nova, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Nick Foles a four-year deal worth $88 million with a signing bonus of $45 million, and Foles lost his job to sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshewafter he returned from a broken clavicle he injured in Week 1. That benching marked more lost millions on the quarterback position. [/font]
[font=proxima-nova, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

If only they had drafted Watson or Mahomes, right?

But Coughlin's love of big backs dates back to his early days with the team when he tried to trade two first-round picks to move up and take Penn State running back Curtis Enis. The [font=proxima-nova, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Bears kept the pick, took Enis fifth overall, and Coughlin bristled because he didn't get his power back. [/font][/font]

In fairness to Coughlin. Fournette was a pretty highly touted RB coming out of LSU. He kept getting compared to Adrian Peterson. And additionally. If you go back and look at some of his play from his rookie year I don't think anybody would have thought he was the wrong pick. 

The guy clearly has break away speed when he's able to get past the LOS. And he did show some toughness with the infamous "come on and get it" wave to that Steelers Safety. I don't know if maybe all of the added injuries, weight cutting and what have you changed his game?

But at one point he was facing more 8, 9 man fronts than any other RB in the NFL because everybody knew this team wasn't going to beat you in the passing game. My problems with him are his immaturity, which he seems to have maybe overcome, and his injuries. And I think at some point even Marrone was pretty much questioning his willingness to play through or work through some of those injuries. 

He's not a GREAT back. But he's NOT terrible. They force fed that poor guy last year and they seldom took anybody else out for a spin at the RB position. I think I saw Armstead show up in Denver and against the clots in the final home game of the year and that was virtually it. I don't recall seeing anybody else other than Minshew really run outside of Fournette. 

That's on coaching. Not Fournette. And the offensive line has been horrendous since 2018. Between the injuries, the penalties and the lack of push in the ground game and the lack of pass protection it's just been sloppy for me. 

Was he the right decision? Of course not. You never take a RB, especially in THAT deep of a class over a franchise QB like Watson, who was coming off an impressive national championship comeback win against Alabama and he had the accuracy and numbers coming out of Clemson. Or, a guy like Mahomes who was putting up gaudy numbers even in a system designed to create such numbers for two years in a row. 

But, that's not Fournette's fault nor his problem that he ended up a Jaguar. And I think he's tried to get better as a young man. And I think he'll show up big time for the Jaguars this year.

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