Quote:Surely you can understand any hesitation on giving credit to coaching after what we've seen this year. I hope it keeps up. I really do. But aside from winning 8-10 of the remainder of the games I don't think Gus should stick around. Which is what posed my question. Is it simply the talent or is it coaching. If the jags pulled off the victory in wk 1 and 3 and didn't get blown out wk 2 I'd say it would be both talent and that the coaching was as bad as we thought. But Gus is going to have to win a lot to be changing people's mind that the team can win despite him.
I understand your hesitation but allow me to reprise how we got where we are. They knew initially we needed some specialized players for that defense.
Year 1: they landed cyp in the 2nd and Gratz in the 3rd. 3 more secondary prospects late in the draft. Cyp struggled but they maintained it was because we were never able to pair him with the requisite FS. Gratz always seemed more of a fit as a cover 2 corner than a pure 3 or man corner. Three others flamed out one way or another but not surprising considering their draft position. They supplemented with FA where they could. The first draft saw selections on both sides of the ball.
Year 2: we saw a more concerted effort towards the offense at the top of the draft. In the 4th and 5th they took chances on a CB who tore his ACL the year before and an undersized LB who dropped in part because of weed. More FA supplementing.
Year 3: again balanced selections between offense and defense with the crown jewel an athletic and violent DE/OLB from Florida. The next defensive selection wouldn't come until the fourth on the oft injured safety James Sample. More FA supplementation.
Year 4: the draft overwhelmingly focused on the defense. We knew going into the year there were still some key spots that needed filling. We were able to get all of those positions filled either through this draft or in FA. The defense told us in the off-season once they gel look out.
Talent has certainly played a part, but I would counter this holds true for any defense or offense. Think about where we were ranked last year and where we are now. I know a lot of ppl want Gus fired but it seems he and Caldwell knew it was more prudent to grab offense early as to allow them to develop and that it wouldn't take nearly as long for defense once they had their players. There have been rather dubious penalties called in each of the four games. That's not an aspect of coaching. There also have been some dumb penalties but they were also from young players. Come next year, bortles will be in year 4 and the defense will add depth. It will be extremely hard to beat us. Lack of experience is going to bite is this year but it won't be the problem it was for us next year.
