(12-23-2021, 03:30 PM)SeldomRite Wrote:

(12-23-2021, 02:38 PM)TheDuke007 Wrote: Harris wasn't awful.  He was 54-46 as GM with the Jaguars.  They were a wildcard team in 2 of his 6 years, but never a division winner and only 1 playoff victory during that span.  His teams typically had a good running games and defenses.  He just made some major blunders in terms of the passing game.  He took a bust in Leftwich at #7 overall.  This was compounded by the fact that it could be considered an unforced error.  Although getting up there in age, the team still had Brunell who was effective.  Brunell continued to have a great year the following year when traded to another team.  Interestingly enough, Brunell actually ended up retiring only one season earlier than Leftwich.  In addition to Brunell, the team also had David Garrard on the roster when drafting Leftwhich.  Leftwich ended up getting cut in favor of Garrard.  Harris also followed up by trying to give Leftwich weapons by taking a wide receiver in the first round in the next two years.  However, he ended up with the extremely disappointing Reggie Williams and Matt Jones.  It should also be noted that because Harris drafted Leftwich, he passed up the opportunity to take Ben Roethlisberger the year following Leftwich.  He did make some nice picks including MJD, Rashean Mathis and Daryl Smith.  Ultimately, the kiss of death for Harris was 2008 where the team had acquired a bunch of extra picks, but used most of them to trade up for defensive ends in the first and second round.  Both of them were busts.  That draft remains the worst in Jaguars history.  Again, overall, he was solid.  Some hits and some misses.  He tended to do well in the second round, but not the first.  He's clearly better than what we've had since him, but also not someone that I would want to rehire.

The Shack years essentially brought the Jaguars to where we are now. The core of success on the Jaguars during the 2005-2007 time-frame was what Coughlin left the team with (Fred, Stroud, Henderson) along with a few decent pickups during Shack's time. Shack's drafting was so bad that by the time MJD was spent the team was pretty barren, and everyone that's followed since has kept on taking terrible players. Gene Smith essentially was just another Shack, a needs drafter that couldn't evaluate QBs and who was throwing good draft picks after bad ones. Caldwell actually did do a decent job of amassing some talent, but he couldn't evaluate QBs, either.

Right now we got lucky that Trevor was a blindingly obvious pick, but he won't work out if the team can't get someone in the building that understands draft value, either.

I maintain my original position that James Harris was a mixed bag as GM.  It wasn't all bad.  A couple of years ago, the media came up with a list of the top 25 Jaguars players of all time.  3 out of the top 10 were Harris draft picks with another 3 of his draft picks making the list.  He also had a free agent signing make the list.  That's 7 contributions to our 25 best players in six years as GM.  This doesn't include Reggie Nelson who went on to have success with the Bengals including multiple pro-bowls.  He drafted at least 4 players that went to the pro-bowl.  If you are comparing him to someone like Caldwell, keep in mind that with an overall winning record, Harris's average draft position was more around the middle of the round.  Caldwell was picking in the top ten in 7 out of his 8 drafts and picked in the top five for each of his first 5 years.  Harris never picked in the top five and entered only two drafts with a pick even in the top ten.  While it is true that he inherited a couple of good players from Coughlin, that's nothing unusual.  Rarely is there zero talent on a team.  Even the 2022 Jaguar's coach will inherit Lawrence, Robinson, Allen and others.  Good GM's keep what is good and fix what is bad.  I find it disingenuous to give Coughlin credit for Harris's winning record given that he inherited a team from Coughlin that had a losing record for three straight years.  I also find the argument extremely weak that Harris is to blame for our current troubles.  First, he didn't leave the cubbard completely bare.  If nothing else, he left 8 players who would either have pro-bowls in their career or would be considered among the Jaguars 25 best players of all time.  Second, even if he didn't, Harris drafts were between 13 and 19 years ago.  Even if he had blown them, we had plenty of time to recover.  How many players from 13 to 19 years ago would you expect to still be playing at a high level today?  That's nonsense.

As for Gene Smith, he was clearly worse than Harris.  Tell me if I'm wrong, but I believe his only pro-bowl draft pick is the punter that he took in the early third round.  He has ZERO players among the Jaguars top 25 list.  Again, ZERO.  Who would even be a consideration?  Put aside where they were drafted and ask the question about who were the three best players he drafted?  I can't come up with 3 quality players.  Alualu just because of longevity?  Maybe Terrance Knighton?  Eugene Monroe?  He's a top 10 pick that we ended up trading for a 4th and 5th rounder.  Gene Smith's drafting was beyond pathetic.  There's no comparison.

As for Caldwell, I don't feel that I need to explain his failures.  It's been said to death on this board.  Any Jaguars fan without his eyes closed should be able to see it.

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