In Gene We Trust?
With the NFL Combine kicking off, this is the time of year when Jaguars GM Gene Smith should be at his best. Widely regarded amongst his peers as one of the best scouts in the business, Smith will be entering his third draft season as the team’s GM. Some fans have built him up into a mythic figure with a Midas Touch; but how has his tenure gone so far?
His 2009 draft was solid when it happened and in some ways has gotten better with age. As teams shed more and more high picks from 2009, most pundits have pegged that year as one of the weakest drafts in a decade. The Jaguars managed to find five full time starters and several other contributors out of that group. Terrance Knighton is a budding All-Pro DT. Derek Cox has played well when he hasn’t spent time in Del Rio’s Doghouse. LT Eugene Monroe has been criticized by some, but I think he has played well. RT Eben Britton has been bitten by the injury buy (a recurring problem in “Gene” guys in seems).
His 2010 draft was given a “F” by practically every draft site on the net and the verdict is still out on that one. Smith was somewhat vindicated by Tyson Alualu’s rookie season. However, when 1/3rd of your draft goes down to season ending injuries before the year starts you will have problems. KR Deji Karim dazzled and dumbfounded equally, but it appears he has a bright future. However, DE’s Larry Hart and Austen Lane failed to make an impact.
Outside of the draft, Smith has had something of a mixed bag. Torry Holt and Tra Thomas were solid stop gap veterans who stayed on for one season. Aaron Kampman looked like he was worth what the Jags were paying him until he was sidelined with yet another ACL injury. And of course the infamous Don Carey debacle which led to speculation about whether Gene Smith had been “blackballed.”
Do I believe Gene Smith is an improvement over his predecessor? Yes. Do I think he can do no wrong? No. Let’s not forgot Smith was the head of scouting through out the Shack Harris era. The same era that was plagued with such bad drafting that it left the team with a major rebuilding job. Whether or not Shack simply ignored what Gene was saying, or Gene played a part on that, is anyone’s guess until more evidence comes into the fold.
If free agency occurs this offseason, next season will be “Gene’s Team.” Almost every player who will be starting will either be a Gene Smith pick, free agent, or a holdover that most teams would want (Maurice Jones-Drew, Daryl Smith, etc.) If the team fails to perform, Shack Harris won’t be there to blame anymore.
