(05-18-2020, 10:04 AM)NYC4jags Wrote: There were a few threads and many posts spread about the board over the months leading up to the draft that expressed worry about how the front office would approach the team's needs.
Many expressed concern Caldwell would overpay free agents to plug a few holes and reach for needs in the draft missing value on better players in an effort to win now.
By and large, that's just not how it has played out.
Many needs have summarily been addressed, no doubt. But not in the fashion that many alarmists feared in February.
Free agent acquisitions have been strategically moderate investments outside of the Schobert signing and the draft saw very little reaching while still addressing need.
Many see the Henderson pick as a bit of a reach, but the subsequent run on cornerbacks proved it to be at least somewhat warranted. We'll have to see him play to know if the value is truly there for #9 overall.
Johnson, Bartch and Shenault are being heralded by most draftniks as fantastic value picks. Chaisson is considered a very good pick by most.
I just don't see any of the predicted desperation around this offseason that fans feared and it seems clear the Jags aren't acting as if the GM and HC are in a lame duck scenario.
Good thread.
Back at the beginning of the year I was definitely one of the posters who was worried that retaining Caldwell and Marrone under a supposed "win-now" mandate would lead to some damaging short-termism. To be fair, you were absolutely right to point out that Caldwell said he would stick to his team building philosophy, and that's exactly what he has done. Credit to him for that, and to you for calling it.
I think it's become increasingly clear that all the shouting about win-now that Doug and others were doing at the start of the off-season was not as concrete as it seemed. I think Dave realized the best way to get this team's arrow pointing up again was to cull the aging vets with big cap hits, and replace them with as many high-quality and high-character young players as possible. I think Dave is aware that Khan is a very patient owner (arguably to a fault), and Dave knows if he can point to a young, ascending team at the end of next season, that's probably his best chance of continued employment. That idea will horrify many on here, but I understand the logic behind it.
I'm pleased with how Caldwell has gone about the off-season, even if I would have done several things differently myself (as if that matters one iota). I still don't think we are close to a winning season next year, but I do feel the arrow is pointing up again. I think we are in a good position to be truly competitive in 2021 and onwards.
