Quote:It's crazy we could've sat the kid IF we hadn't been betting on Henne to hold the fort. That's what causes me to question all faith in this new regime. They expected Henne to hold the fort?

I'm not sure what you mean by "hold the fort."

 

They expected Henne to fill the starting role up to the point when Bortles was ready to go.  They weren't expecting Henne to be some sort of dominant starter who was going to hold off Bortles once he was ready.  Even Henne understood his role.  He was nothing more than a seat warmer who happened to know the playbook. 

 

It was pretty clear from the start this year that the eyes of this franchise were focused on making the next significant jump in 2015. 

 

2013 was about blowing it up and beginning the rebuilding process through the draft.  They didn't blow a ton of cap on free agents because they wanted to build as much of the foundation of this team as they could through the draft.  Still, they identified a couple of solid free agents who have proven themselves, one of them now a cornerstone player on the defense in Marks.  

 

2014 was focused on continuing to build through the draft.  Free agency was again used as a tool to find young players who were on the rise, sign them to reasonable deals, and then let them prove whether they were capable of being a part of the foundation for the future.  The exceptions were signing Bryant and Clemons.  They were brought in to bring veteran leadership and a firm understanding of the defense Gus wanted to run here. 

 

2015 is going to be a big year for this team.  They'll have a good draft picks in every round of the draft, and they're going to have one of the biggest war chests to spend in free agency (and they will have to spend it).  I fully expect to see this team make significant improvements next year.  In the meantime, the number of young players getting quality experience this season will be well along in proving their value (or not) to this team.  In the end, I thing the foundation of this team will be in a much better place at the end of this year than it was a year ago, and I think a year from now, we'll see that proving itself on the field.  If not, we're back to the drawing board, and I don't think most here want to start over again. 

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