Some people wanted the Jacksonville Jaguars to pick wide receiver Justin Blackmon in the 2012 NFL Draft, others didn't want them to. Most of these thoughts had to do with Blackmon's ability on the field and how it would translate to the NFL, though.
The off the field issues seemed to surface later, but based on some recent comments did former Jaguars general manager Gene Smith not do his due diligence when investigating Blackmon, especially considering how much of an emphasis he put on character in building the roster?
"Justin Blackmon is a guy we could've considered in the 2012 draft with the No. 5 pick," former Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Domenik said on ESPN, via Charlie Bernstein of JagsInsider. "Shoot, we went all through Stillwater, we went to a bar. We had a scout who went to a bar for two straight weeks and watched if Justin Blackmon did come in or didn't come in. He said that he was in there a lot. That made us decide that was not the player we were going to take. We try to find as much information as possible on a player and sometimes that puts an area scout."
I mean... if I was as simple as that then, man what the hell?
If you remember, the Buccaneers originally had the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the team the Jaguars made the trade with to pick Blackmon. The Bucs knew they weren't going to pick Blackmon because they investigated the issues and didn't think it was worth the trouble, which says a lot coming from the same general manager who drafted guys like Aqib Talib and Mike Williams, who were known off the field issues.
We should hear something on Blackmon's possible reinstatement in the next few months, but if you want to get mad at Gene Smith all over again, there you go.