Now Blackmon, well I will be the first to admit that I was not the biggest fan of him entering the draft and thought that we could have traded down,collected picks and stocked up on defensive players. However, once he was chosen I decided to be 100% behind, much like how I was with Del Rio after every disappointing season that he was not fired. I have hope that Blackmon will develop, blind senseless hope, but hope none the less.

I understand the point of the article, and frankly it was a very good one. The point of my comment (rather long winded like this one) was that we are in rebuild year four and with how the season has turned out its setting the stage for rebuild year one all over again.

Enter this season I had very high hopes, number six defense, MJD, Gabbert entering year two, a new receiving corp that looked great in the preseason and a new coaching staff (void of Dirk “one track mind that can’t adjust” Koetter). This season is a disappointment because it was expected to be the jumping off point for success now, unfortunately it has become the jumping off point for success (one can hope) in the future after rebuild.

I agree with the drop off from the defense. Matt Roth and Drew Coleman are both certainly missed. I think the movement to youth, especially at depth positions, was a very poor move there. But I think that reflects a rebuild mentality more than their signings did the year before. I’d like to see them around, but they aren’t anymore. Chris Prosinski is obviously a failure and should try playing at Wyoming again.

The Guy Whimper extension was one of the dumbest moves in pro sports. I’m sold on Brewster and learning to like Bradfield (though they both have a lot of development left). Britton was good in his first season and never panned out – he needs to be excused ASAP. I’m also not a fan of Will Rackley, whenever he gets back next year.

I disagree with the receiving corps though. I think that Shorts is really coming on, I have faith that Blackmon can be a good NFL receiver – most rookie receivers struggle, after all – and I think that Michael Spurlock is finally a special teams player with actual receiving talent as well (unlike Osgood and Thomas – if Thomas ever had special teams skill). We’ll see if Spurlock is still around though. If Gene Smith is still there he might just cut him for the hell of it (ie. Coleman). I like Laurent Robinson’s effort and think he just needs to find a groove in his new home. I’m not sold on Kevin Elliott (actually leaning the other way) and it’s obvious that Jerry Sullivan needs to teach these guys how to use their hands.

I think Smith will probably be gone at the end of the year, yes. I just think that some pieces he has brought in deserve credit. He definitely won’t be putting the icing on the cake though, no matter how much his half-good players outperform their small-school potential.

The point of this article isn’t Smith’s ability to draft some good players and a lot of bad ones though. It’s more that it’s apparent that whether this is rebuild year 1 or year 4, we’re being left behind.