(09-27-2021, 04:33 PM)Mikey Wrote:

(09-27-2021, 12:59 PM)TheO-LineMatters Wrote: I am quickly losing faith in this team. I never liked the Henderson selection and was very vocal about it. I was one of the many, many, many people on this board who were banging the table to draft Tristan Wirfs. It seemed like such an obvious choice at the time and Henderson seemed like just as much a reach as Chaisson was with our other pick in round one. We missed out though and I finally accepted it, knowing there was nothing I could do. I wanted Henderson to succeed and prove me wrong. Now, here we are with a terrible secondary and out of nowhere, we trade Henderson for a so-so TE and basically, the equivalent of a 4th round pick once the 3rd and 5th offset. Just another wasted first round selection by this team and yet another example of holding onto a guy (Caldwell) too long and letting him set this team back yet another year by his bad decisions. It's just so depressing.

Now, I have to ask, how long before we ditch K'Lavon Chaisson? He has been a disaster since coming here and only has one sack since turning pro. IMO, he and Henderson were such odd first round choices that I have to question whether Caldwell knew his days were numbered in Jacksonville and decided to tank that draft on purpose? His selections just seemed like such huge reaches.

Despite this, it still seems like we could have gotten a straight up 3rd round selection for Henderson, even if Dan Arnold were involved in the trade given Henderson's very limited time in the NFL, . He is young and still shows some potential. He certainly shows better ball skills than what I have seen from Tyson Campbell, although I will admit, that isn't setting the bar very high. I guess the confirmation that the Henderson pick was so bad, this early into his career, is a real letdown. Even though many of us believed it from the moment he was drafted, finally seeing him traded away for so little, finally made it hit home. We have wasted so much time and dug ourselves into such a deep hole over the decades that it almost seems hopeless. I'm still a HUGE Trevor Lawrence supporter and see tons of potential in him, but this team is so void of talent around him. It just seems like a never ending process of filling holes created by draft picks that never panned out.

I think we've banged this drum before, but Caldwell's biggest fault was overvaluing position especially early in his drafts. Henderson and Chiasson alike were reactionary picks to compensate for other, better players we failed to keep here long term.

The argument came up earlier, who was worse, Gene or Dave, and really you have to point to Gene - We have had no core team to build upon for so long that we continually over-draft to fill gaping holes in the roster, which not only robs you of better players that may not fill as glaring a need, but also allows other teams to acquire those better players and remain flexible in future drafts. And because of this, we are still in this endless cycle, pursuing players to fill a void rather than picking long-term value we can consider fixtures.

They both had their flaws. The current regime has their flaws. Until we can consistently get talented guys who can play, and want to do so in Jacksonville, we'll be repeating this song and dance every couple of years. It sucks, but dammit, I'm in love with this stupid laundry.

Go Jags.