Getty ImagesThe Jaguars traded up to the fifth pick in this year’s NFL draft to select receiver Justin Blackmon, and so far Blackmon hasn’t shown Top 5 draft pick ability: Blackmon has just 13 catches for 119 yards and no touchdowns through five games.
But Jaguars General Manager Gene Smith says he still believes Blackmon can play. It’s just going to take some time for him to play at the level you’d expect of a Top 5 pick.
“He’s still learning how to play as an NFL wide receiver,” Smith told the Florida Times-Union. “Obviously the rules are a little different, where you can’t have physical contact after 5 yards that you can in college until the ball is in the air. The corners are obviously better in terms of getting his release off the line. Just overall as a young receiver, just the details of the position, the better he gets at that, the more opportunities he’ll have to make plays in our offense.”
If the Jaguars are going to turn their season around, they’ll need Blackmon to start making plays in a hurry.
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“Jaguars still learning how to be an NFL team” .
Bust big time good luck with all that.
If the Jaguars are going to turn their season around, they’ll need to get rid of Gene Smith.
I am quite certain that if he were on a better team you would see him putting up better numbers.
and Gene Smith is still learning to be a GM….
Blackmon was a beast in College at OK State, Dez Bryant was a beast as well…. Same school. Neither plAyer has been able to adjust to the NFL.
Conversely, AJ Green was a beast WR at Georgia and he has done just fine in the NFL with the Bengals.
Where does the problem lie? With Oklahoma State for not preparing them, players leaving college too early, or lack of discipline in the Dallas Cowboys locker room and coaching staff. Dallas is a marque NFL franchise with the worlds most high profile image, stadium, and owner. They should be performing at a much higher level and Dez should be contributing more than 3 dropped balls per week.
Justin Blackmon has similar production issues, he just plays for a team with nowhere the level of exposure of Americas Team – The Dallas Cowboys.
Blackmon will be fine once he gets a QB to throw him the ball.
As for Gene Smith… The fact that he still has a job is the biggest joke ever. Can’t draft, can’t find good free agents and yet he still gets to keep a job. Khan needs to fire him ASAP, it’s inevitable but no point in waiting till the season is over
I’ll give you the condensed version Justin:
You run, You catch ball!
See Ball. Catch Ball. LOL
Can anyone name the Jacksonville Jaguars QB that throws to him?
Over the summer, I watched film on both Dez and Justin and the stark difference between the two is that Blackmon caught a lot of passes wide open. Dez did too but he also did a lot more after the catch and OKST utilized him more in reverses, and the short passing game. Plus, Dez was more physical. That translates better to the NFL. I also so got the sense that he was a better overall athlete. I’m not surprised that Justin has struggled because speed alone will not translate.
Justin blackmon is a beast…Blaine gabbert, the jags and CO. Not so much..if he Waz wit a decent qb he’d be puttin up numbers right now.
Gene Smith is an entry level scout with a GM title.Look how well the Falcons offense is doing without Malarkey.Atlanta fans were cheering when the jags hired him.
Does anyone really think that Blackmon is the problem in Jax?
This guy looks more and more like T.O. every week.
In Gene we Trust (but it’s waning)
Kinda hard to get better when you have yo gabba gabbert as your QB. You look at the giants, manning car turn any WR to a star.
Blackmon has actually been playing well and getting open these last couple weeks. The problem is gabbert picking a receiver before the snap and locking onto him.
Really…. Blackmon needs to play better, Ha…. No maybe a QB that can throw the ball to him or any reciever…!