FanPost

Should Khan give Gene Smith the pink slip?


If it's still "in Gene we trust" for you, you have more faith than I do.

After 3 drafts, the man has yet to pick up a surefire hit. His best player as of now is Terrence Knighton. The second best is probably Tyson Alualu who might have been better this year had he not been hampered by a knee injury. The other two top 10 picks, Eugene Monroe and Blaine Gabbert, are sources of great controversy for fans. I, personally, thing Monroe is a good left tackle but not "top ten draft pick" good. It's still too early to judge Blaine but man, I sure would have more faith in Gene if the kid had really shown us something this year.

There have been no late round hits with Gene. In fact, many of those late rounders are just flat out gone. Tiquan Underwood, Scotty Mcgee, and Larry Hart are all off the roster. Two of those didn't even make it to a second season and Hart was even a 5th rounder!

Let's talk wide receiver, since Underwood came up. This area has been hugely disappointing. Usually, in their third year, wide receivers really start showing something, as was the case with Sidney Rice. Mike Thomas really failed to do that this year and was only average the past two years. Jarrett Dillard hasn't even had a chance, he's had so many injuries.

On to pass rush. This has also been a source of great frustration the past few years. Since bottoming out at 14 sacks in 09 then barely improving to 26 in '10 (still tied for 2nd to last in the league), the Jags are getting a better pass rush but haven't gotten that "it" guy who requires extra attention and has that speed and strength off the edge. It's essential if a 4-3 defense is going to dominate and Gene Smith knows that.

But what about free agency? Gene Smith was aggressive in FA this past year mostly because he had to. He hadn't been able to get the starters he needed in the draft so he had to get 5 starters from free agency (Poz, Session, Landry, Roth, and Lowery). The previous year, he made a bad judgment call and signed Aaron Kampman, who is old and plagued with injuries.

Gene has also been disappointing as a draftnik. While Ted Thompson and Bill Belichick always seem to end up with more players than they had picks at the end of draft weekend, Gene always has less. And to what end? Those players haven't been worth two picks each have they? Derek Cox? Only average when he isn't injured. Gabbert? Too soon to tell. Will Rackley? Ha! Not this year.

I've talked a lot about injuries and it's true that none of those are Gene's fault. But none of these players have proved to be great when they were healthy either.

Gene signed a three year contract extension but that was under Weaver. Khan might attract a better coaching prospect if the coach has the option of installing his system without Gene's input. So should this extension be ignored and let Gene go?

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