I really don't see any jobs on the line this season unless the team just has a complete 'meltdown' and goes 2-14 or something close to that. I can't see that happening... but what could happen is the team going something closer to 6-10 to 8-8, which would represent a significantly better performance than we've seen from the Jags in a while. An end of season record along these lines would represent 'validation' for Gus and prevent him from even having a 'warm chair' much less the hot seat. A middle of the pack performance is about all I can realistically hope for out of the Jags this season. Next season, the expectation will be higher.

 

On the flip side, a 'middle of the pack' performance (if we're fortunate enough to achieve it) has it's own down side; namely, it will take us out of getting a top ten draft pick. We've been (unhappily, I might add) recipients of top ten draft picks for some years now. Unfortunately, we've also had a long and storied run of 'bad luck' with many (not all) of our high draft picks. Most recently with Fowler, then Blackmon, Joeckel (jury is still out on him), Gabbert... just to name a few. It should be obvious that if your team is the recipient of such high picks then those picks need to develop into core players for the team. That just hasn't been the Jags fortune, however.

 

So if we turn in a modest middle of the pack type season record like 6-10 this year, it'll validate Gus as a head coach but take away our top ten pick. Given the job that Dave has been doing drafting quality players, I find the specter of not getting a top ten pick not quite so daunting as I might have prior to Dave being here. So all we need now is for the team to actually go out on the field and put up some W's for a change. Vegas already has us at 5.5 wins, so with some good luck for a change, maybe we can do a little better than that even.

 

We'll see.

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