Before the 2015 draft, the Jaguars didn’t close the door on receiver Justin Blackmon, the fifth overall pick three years ago. After the 2015 draft, G.M. Dave Caldwell provided a more definitive assessment of Blackmon’s future with the franchise.
Via Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union, Caldwell told Sirius XM NFL Radio on Monday that the team’s decision to draft two more receivers should provide an indication of the situation.
The Jaguars added Florida State receiver Rashad Greene in the fifth round, and Monmouth receiver Neal Sterling in the seventh. There’s a chance that one, or both, won’t make the 53-man roster. Regardless, the message via the selection of two receivers is that the Jaguars are no longer holding a spot for Blackmon.
And for good reason. He last played in October 2013, and there’s no indication that he has remained clean long enough to get reinstated. There’s no indication, as recently noted by Big Cat Country, that Blackmon even wants to be reinstated.
It’s another reminder that plenty of those 32 guys about whom draft experts have been raving for the past few months will end up washing out of the league, for one or more of many possible reasons.
Making Blackmon’s situation even more unfortunate is the fact that he doesn’t lack the talent. His brief NFL tenure includes a 236-yard game in November 2012 and 326 total yards in his first two games from his most recent — and quite possibly final — NFL season.