Quote:Are you telling me Gus Bradley's only fault is that he hasn't had enough time? Not like bad personnel hiring, poor clock management, or inability to make halftime adjustments?


Talk about baffling.

We have had top draft picks, huge cap space, an owner willing to spend, pretty much anything a head coach needs to be successful.


I'm all for development, and realizes it takes time, but in year 3 of a rebuild,if you are getting destroyed by an easy schedule/ back up QBs, it's not development. Literally, the only thing that has developed ( the only thing that hasn't been a joke actually) are players named Blake, Allen, and Telvin. Everything else is a joke.


We had a brand new football team in 96 and only lost one more game than we did this year. Carolina had like 8 wins or something in their first season. Turning around a football team does take time, but seriously, besides the players I mentioned earlier, what has developed?



Dude got an extension and you know what his supporters had to say?


" it's not a big deal, it won't save him from being fired".


Yea. Awesome head coach.


BTW, what's keeping us from being the worst team in the league now? Is there a team we would play that would make you feel like victory was guaranteed?


Not me.

No I am NOT saying Bradley's only fault was not having enough time.  You can certainly question the hiring of his coordinators, and perhaps some of his adjustments in game.  What I DO suggest is that his faults as a coach are NOT the primary reason why the team has struggled in his tenure.  The lack of talent from the top to the bottom of his roster has been the primary culprit. 

 

An examination of this team's first round draft picks from 2003-2012 shows exactly what Bradley and Caldwell were facing.

 

2003 QB Byron Leftwich

2004 WR Reggie Williams

2005 WR Matt Jones

2006 TE Marcedes Lewis

2007 S Reggie Nelson

2008 DE Derrick Harvey

2009 T Eugene Monroe

2010 DL Tyson Alualu

2011 QB Blaine Gabbert

2012 WR Justin Blackmon

 

That represents ten (10) years' worth of first round picks that should have formed a competent, credible nucleus of veteran talent around which to rebuild.  Right off the bat, before Caldwell has even arrived in 2013, five of them are gone.  Of the remaining 5 first round picks, Marcedes Lewis has been an average at best starter much of his time here, as was Monroe.  Alualu stunk and is a decent backup at best.  Gabbert was on the roster when Caldwell arrived, but was already well established as a bust.  Of those ten picks, only Justin Blackmon had any semblance to a guy you could label as a building block, but he has a serious substance abuse issue.  He had been suspended his first and second years, and has been suspended indefinitely now.

 

But the first round isn't the only round in which to find talent.  In fact, during Shack Harris' tenure, the second round picks were often very successful.  Let's look at those picks.

 

2003  CB Rashean Mathis

2004  FB Greg Jones

          LB Darryl Smith

2005  T Khalif Barnes

2006  RB Maurice Jones Drew

2007  Justin Durant

2008 DE Quentin Groves

2009 T Eben Britton

2010-N/A

2011-N/A

2012-DE Andre Branch

 

While that record of success with draft picks is better than the first round picks, notice what happened.  The picks from 2003-2007 were the most successful, but by the time Bradley and Caldwell got here, Mathis was in his 11th season and way past his prime.  Greg Jones was gone, and Darryl Smith was in his 30s and past his prime.  MJD was finished.  Justin Durant was gone.  The second round from 2008 on was an unmitigated disaster.  We didn't even have 2nd round picks in 2010 (due to the Derek Cox trade in 2009) and 2011 (due to the trade up for Gabbert).  Groves, Britton, and Branch have bombed.  So again, instead of having key positions filled with reasonably talented and experienced players, we had nothing resembling any basis for a young nucleus.

 

Let's suppose the marquee positions of any football team are QB, LT, pass rushing DE, and CB.  Those are typically the most important positions to fill on a team and the ones most difficult to find.

 

Upon his arrival, Caldwell had to fill:  QB, LT, pass rushing DE, and CB at the marquee positions, to say nothing of

 

RB

WR x2

LG

C

RG

RT

DT (at least 1)

LB

CB x 2

S (at least 1)

 

That's at least FIFTEEN (15) new starters the team had to come up with the day Caldwell and Bradley arrived.

 

This brings me to the points I made to you previously.

 

How many starters can you realistically expect a team to obtain through a draft?  For argument's sake, I threw out the number 7, but most reasonable people know that was not a realistic expectation.  How soon could you expect the rookies to play well?  While there have been some instances of rookies coming in and making immediate impact, the fact is, it usually takes a while for rookies to adjust to the NFL game-even assuming you hit on the pick (see Stroud, Marcus; see also Bortles, Blake; Watt, J.J.).  The point is, if you were to endeavor to build the team through the draft under the circumstances presented here, it was going to take a while.

 

(cont'd)

---