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Jacksonville Jaguars Receive ‘F’ in 2012 NFL Draft Re-Grade

By Daniel Lago

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In the leadup to the 2015 NFL Draft, we’ve already gone ahead and looked back at how bad of a first round pick Blaine Gabbert was, and all the players the Jaguars passed on in the 2011 NFL Draft. Keeping that theme in mind, let’s take a look back at the 2012 NFL Draft, the final nail in Gene Smith‘s coffin as general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports originally gave the Jaguars a ‘B-‘ grade immediately after the draft, but in his re-grade he isn’t nearly as encouraged by the returns of the team’s draft selections.

"Jacksonville Jaguars2012 Grade: B-The Skinny: They traded up in the first round to land receiver Justin Blackmon, a move that certainly hasn’t paid off for off-the-field issues. He is serving a league-imposed suspension for violating the substance-abuse policy. They took Andre Branch in the second, and he’s nothing special as a pass rusher. The rest of the draft produced little.How I did: Not good. I liked the move to get Blackmon. But who knew he would have so many problems? When he played, he showed why they made the move. My questionable move was taking punter Bryan Anger in the third round. He’s a decent punter, but he’s a punter. I made linebacker Brandon Marshall my third-day gem, and he is coming off a good season with the Broncos."

I can’t really argue with Prisco’s grade here, considering how poorly Justin Blackmon has worked out so far in the NFL. Andre Branch has become serviceable, but he hasn’t come close to living up to the athletic potential he showed coming into the league from Clemson. Bryan Anger is a punchline at this point, and the best player from the draft in Brandon Marshall is starring for a different team now.

The real comedy in this whole exercise is that this draft, which deserves an ‘F’, isn’t even Gene Smith’s worst draft class. The 2011 draft class might go down as the single worst draft class in the history of football, if only for the horrific play of Blaine Gabbert. We can all only hope this is the last offseason where we have to once again dig up the repressed memories of the worst regime in franchise history.

Next: Jaguars grab an RB in 3-Round Mock.

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