Quote:I think another thing worth considering, which those lists do not, is how many of those "replacement level" players were STILL direct upgrades at the position.



2013 and 2014 Free Agents should, honestly, largely be ignored. There was no expectation for those guys to come in and create a winning franchise. They were basically brought in to fill out the 53, fill a slot until they could be replaced by a better player.


Fowler - Not having a great "1st" season, but you can not call a DE a "miss" in his first season. That's just being stupid. He may, and I could even go so far as to say likely will, turn out to be a miss, but you can't slap that label on in 9 games.


Bortles, 2015 vs 2016... which is closer to the real Bortles. 2015 showed promise, 2016 was regression... how much of that is him vs the Coaching Staff? Tough questions.



Caldwell gets a 2nd coach. No question in my mind. Yes, he had a "part" in retaining Gus. I think it's pretty obvious that Shad was in his ear on that one, though, especially given Shad's insistence on keeping him through the end of the season. He wants to show stability, and if I'm Dave, I'm honestly not looking to rock that boat w/ my boss.


I honestly believe Dave and Shad have had the conversation... I believe they had it LAST year, and that Shad determined he wanted to see it through with Gus, give him the "show me" year.


He didn't show.


Gus will be gone, Caldwell will have a 2nd HC, and all eyes will be on him. If it doesn't improve under another HC, then you have to look at Dave.


None of this is saying that Dave isn't part of the problem. None of it is saying Bortles isn't part of the problem.


It's saying that Gus is so GLARINGLY the primary problem, that it's hard to fairly evaluate anything else until he's out of the picture.