The Jacksonville Jaguars’ current front office is one we’ve heavily scrutinized, however, the regime behind it was probably worse. Although it’s been a while, everyone can recall the days of Gene Smith where the Jags almost missed on all of their picks. Of course, the most notable of Smith’s many selections was quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who was taken over the likes of players like J.J. Watt, Ryan Kerrigan, Cam Heyward and Cam Jordan to name a few.
To add more fuel to the fire, the team’s coach at the time, Jack Del Rio, apparently was in the dark about Smith’s draft plans. In a recent interview with ESPN 690 AM, the former head man of the Jags revealed that he didn’t even know Gabbert was going to be the selection on Draft Day. In fact, he didn’t even have the young gunslinger from Missouri graded as a first or second-round pick.
Talk about dropping a bomb.
As we all know, Gabbert’s selection is one that certainly didn’t help Del Rio, who was on the hot seat already. He didn’t even make it to the month of December as then owner Wayne Weaver fired him and made defensive coordinator Mel Tucker the interim head coach.
The crazy thing about it all is that Smith’s tenure and selection of Gabbert didn’t just cost Del Rio his job, but it also took a while to recover from as the Jags weren’t able to make the playoffs until 2017, five years after he was fired.
So when you find yourself upset with the current front office, always remember it could be worse Jags fans.
