Senior writer John Oehser's five takeaways from Jaguars General Manager David Caldwell's appearance Wednesday on Jaguars.com LIVE with J.P. Shadrick and Oehser …
1.The plan is playing out. Caldwell won't say the building process is complete; general managers don't talk that way. "We still have a ways to go," the Jaguars' third-year general manager said Wednesday on Jaguars.com LIVE. "By no means are we ever going to be satisfied where we're at." But the roster is improving and Caldwell said the plan he put in place when hired in January 2013 is being followed. "The first two years we were going to try to stack a couple of good draft classes together, and stack a couple of good decisions in the draft," he said. "Then, in Year Three you fill with some bigger-market free agents and next year still have the ability to add another big, big free-agent class in the offseason. Then, hopefully, you have a window there for three, four or five years there where you can be successful."
2.Flexibility was key.Much has been made of the Jaguars being able to draft for talent and potential rather than need this past weekend in the 2015 NFL Draft, and Caldwell said that was indeed the case. Whereas in his first two drafts more selections than ideal were based on need, Caldwell said the team was able to draft for value this year, particularly in Rounds 3 and later. "The (South Carolina guard) A.J. Cann pick (in Round 3) and the (Louisville safety) James Sample (in Round 4) pick may not have been glaring needs for us at the time but we felt they were really good football players and that the value was great," Caldwell said, also citing Round 5 wide receiver Rashad Greene from Florida State and Round 6 defensive tackle Michael Bennett of Ohio State. "Our D-line was probably one of the best aspects of our team last year and now we get better with Mike Bennett. We felt like once we got through the first two picks if we came out with (Round 1 edge rusher) Dante (Fowler Jr.) and (Round 2 running back) T.J. (Yeldon) we could go wherever the draft took us." …
3.The rookies may get to be rookies. Caldwell has talked often about getting the roster to a point where not as many rookies need to play as prominent roles as has been the past two seasons. Ideally, most drafted rookies – particularly after Round 1 – play reserve roles and special teams much of their first year. That hasn't been the case with the Jaguars the past two seasons, but Caldwell said it feels like rookies taken later in this draft could get time to develop if necessary. "We're closer this year than we've been in the past," he said. "You look throughout the year last we were starting nine, ten rookies at one point in time. Some teams had zero or one and that was out of injury need. That's where you want to be. You want your first-round pick to be starting or playing a prominent role and your second-round pick to be in a rotational role. The rest of them – playing out a need, or injury or if they beat somebody else that's great, but you don't want to have them start as we have the past two years." …
4.Allen Robinson is progressing nicely. Caldwell said second-year wide receiver Allen Robinson has progressed well this offseason after a stress fracture in his foot kept him out the final six games of his rookie season. "He's doing very well," Caldwell said. "He's jogging now and running. No setbacks. Everything's really good. You may see him at the last minicamp (June 16-18). If not, he'll be ready to go for training camp for sure."
5. Special teams could get a boost.While much of the offseason has focused on offense and defense, Caldwell said special teams could benefit from the personnel moves, too. Caldwell said the additions of right tackle Jermey Parnell and Cann could help on field-goal block protection, while veteran free-agents Sergio Brown (safety) and Dan Skuta (linebacker) are "A-plus" special teams players. "Our coverage units should be a lot better," Caldwell said. "The influx of this youth is going to help us, too." …
5(a).Untapped potential.Caldwell said he's excited about seeing how wide receiver Neal Sterling, a sixth-round selection from Monmouth, competes at the NFL level. "I know a lot of people probably aren't giving him a chance," Caldwell said, "but we feel like he's got some measurables where he can come in and have a real good chance at making this team." …