What happened with these guys? Grading Gene Smith (Part II)

Fred Taylor:

Source: Yardbarker

I’m not going to lie; I was shocked as I assume was every true Jaguars fan was when Fred was released by Gene. Many thinks he is the best player in franchise history- I think he is in the Top 3. I was frustrated and angry over Gene for that move; but of course I know why he did it. The torch was passed to Maurice Drew. Soon Fred signed with the Patriots; to archive 2 big goals: Get a ring and pass Jim Brown in total rushing yards. He was a big, big playmaker for New England in the first 4 games. He scored 2 TDs; and has a 100+ yard game against Atlanta. He suffered an ankle injury against the Ravens in Week 4. That sidelined him for almost the rest of the season. The irony is; he returned against his old team; the Jaguars on Week 16. And in the last game against the Texans he scored another 2 TDs. He had absolute little playtime in the Wild card game against the Ravens in the playoffs. Fred can still play; and I hope he will reach one or maybe 2 of his goals in his career. Grade for letting him gone: B-

 Drayton Florence:

Source: Yardbarker

What? The last member of the “disaster FA trifecta of ‘08” got better grade as Fred Taylor?  Yeah. And I know from who we talking about. Let me remind everyone how much Florence cost to the Jaguars: Florence was signed to a six-year $36 million contract with $13 million in guaranteed money. And then he performed very poorly; without a single interception; and only 3 PDs. Now you can understand why usually Gene doesn’t sign high priced FAs. That is the reason. Aaron Kampman was signed because a; when he is healthy he can play; and b; the Jaguars don’t have any free agents from which they can get extra draft picks next year. Despite all of that,  Drayton has a quite good year with his new team; the Buffalo Bills. The Bills defense was very awful if you count out ex-jaguar Marcus Stroud; Paul Posluszny; and last year’s rookie sensation Jarius Byrd. So in this environment Drayton played not as bad as we would think after ’08. He played 14 games; he started 13. He recorded 60 tackles; 11 PDs; and 1 interception. It is almost the level of play he showed as a Charger in San Diego. He had 1 year left in his contact which was in total of $6 million which is I think the right price to pay him Shack Harris…Grade for letting him gone: C+