November 8, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; Indianapolis Colts outside linebacker Jerry Hughes (92) sacks Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert (11) during the second quarter at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It’s no secret that the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line was lacking in 2012.  It was a rough season for Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne under center.  Things like this happen to bad teams on occasion.  We need look no further than the Arizona Cardinals to see just how terrible a season can become due to poor offensive line play.  The 2-14 Jaguars just didn’t get a chance to win four games early like the Cardinals did.

In looking at the problem we can see if the quarterback or the offensive line was at fault.  Well, more importantly, Pro Football Focus can look at the numbers and give us what they perceive as accurate from their well trained eyes.  Gabbert and Henne were sacked 22 and 28 times, respectively.  We’ve had a field day suggesting that the quarterback play could be better.  We’ve looked at the best numbers available as to how the quarterback does better with more time.  The truth is, however, that the team just wasn’t that good at protecting their quarterback…and according to numbers from Neil Hornsby of PFF, most of those sacks are on players not under center.

Gabbert and Henne accounted for all of one sack and one pressure on themselves all season long.  In 705 dropbacks Jaguar quarterbacks actually outperformed many others…by not harming themselves.  Henne is the only quarterback with 300+ attempts who, according to PFF, didn’t get sacked, hit, or pressured because of himself.  Hornsby notes that this is in no way a “positive” indicator of quarterback play as some players at the top of the list may hold onto the ball longer to make something happen.  So, Horsby took a look at the small sample size that is quarterback play when holding onto the ball for four seconds.

Blaine Gabbert landed at ninth in “rating per dropback.”  Chad Henne landed at 21, just below the NFL average.

We’ve made excuses in the past about how the team has problems and how this is so much bigger than just the quarterbacks.  As the offensive line has improved this offseason, I think we’ll see better quarterback play.  There’s no way that Gabbert and Henne are able to hold onto the ball for more than four seconds on every dropback, but with some better play perhaps they can become those guys that make something happen.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims

May 13, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert (11) and Chad Henne (7) chat as they walk off the field after organized team activities at The Florida Blue Health

Competition is the theme for the Jacksonville Jaguars and that is no more true at any position than at quarterback.  Blaine Gabbert must prove he is the man in year three while Chad Henne is trying to prove that he is still relevant in the NFL.  Gabbert may be the “favorite” to get the job to most of us observing the battle, but it is really a close competition between the two quarterbacks.  The closeness of the competition is most prevalent in the splitting of snaps for the players.

Per Gregg Rosenthal, the Jaguars’ quarterbacks are splitting reps with the first team evenly.  Head coach Gus Bradley had this to say about the competition:

We’re rotating by period. There’s a lot of competition, and they’re battling it. Everything we do, we’re trying to create some sort of competition for our team. Hopefully as OTAs go on, we get more and more of those situations to evaluate them. I think once we get pads on and see how they react in different situations, it will become more clear.

Gabbert and Henne are the leaders in an underwhelming quarterback competition featuring two players who couldn’t secure the 2013 job during the last season.  Undrafted free agents Jordan Rodgers (surgery for sports hernia) and Matt Scott likely won’t be pushing for the starting job any time soon, but OTAs may make us all want to see more of them as time goes on.  The Jags need a strong quarterback and they have struggled to have one since Mark Brunell was passed over in favor of Byron Leftwich.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims

Will Jaguars will have opportunities in 2013, but expect balance. Source: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

When a coach makes the jump from college to the NFL there is always a level of similarity between what the coach did with his college players and what he implements at the professional level.  There are also a number of new things.  Whether it is a coach like Chip Kelly who is a certified football mad scientist or simply a Jedd Fisch jumping from one offensive coordinator gig to the same role with the pros, there is bound to be some similarities and some differences.

Unlike Kelly, Fisch is moving from a less noticed offense (I never thought I would say that about the Miami Hurricanes) to the NFL and brings with him a level of mystery.  For Kelly it was always “what will he do this week?”  He had the national attention as a head coach at the University of Oregon.  Fisch, however, was quietly putting together a strong, well organized offense in Miami.

So, what was he doing down there?  What will he bring with him to the Jacksonville Jaguars?  What will the NFL force him to change?

The most noticeable thing about Fisch’s offense with the ‘Canes is that they were balanced.  Miami ran the ball more in Fisch’s first season but then switched to passing more in year two.  While this is usually indicative of either playing ahead or behind, the 6-6 (2011) and 7-6 (2012) records don’t really show a powerful team either bullying opponents into submission with a strong running game and clock management or constantly playing catch up with the passing game.  The goal, it seemed, was to rely on the running game, particularly when ahead, but to be as balanced as possible when trying to get ahead.

Fisch played close games in losses, but won games by an average of 16.7 points over his two seasons with the Hurricanes.  The ‘Canes 12 losses over Fisch’s two seasons were by an average of 10 points.  The two major outliers (losses of 39 and 38 points in 2012) draw the average up from 5.1 points behind.  Miami wasn’t a high flying offense under Fisch, but they did manage to either grind the opponents down with the running game or to put it out of reach with the passing game.  Here is the best strength of his offense in Miami, his ability to scheme for advantages.

College quarterbacks aren’t all Geno Smiths.  Some of them aren’t all that great.  Fisch had Jacory Harris in 2011 and Stephen Morris in 2012.  He managed to make both look good.  Harris completed over 60% of his passes and Morris came close.  Most impressively, his quarterbacks played smart.  Morris racked up 21 touchdowns to just seven interceptions just one year after Fisch coach Harris to an impressive 20:9 ratio.  Harris was undrafted in 2012 and is a free agent in the big leagues while Morris figures to be drafted at some point in 2014.  While a lot of touchdowns were scored by the passing game, the average of 1.8 and 1.9 passing TDs per game in two seasons was only slightly above the 1.5 and 1.6 rushing TDs per game in those same seasons.

The point is that Fisch, while not tooting his horn, was able to run an effective attack with quarterbacks who aren’t widely acclaimed as big weapons.  Fisch plays to their strengths, either winging it or using the quarterback as a game manager, and he relied on the running game when it was suitable.

By all accounts, the Jaguars figure to be a fast temp offense under Fisch.  There will be some no huddle, there will be some “sugar huddle,” and there will be balance.  The NFL will likely up the tempo for Fisch’s offense from Miami, but that’s a good thing.  I think, based on Fisch being a balanced collegiate coordinator, that the Jaguars have an enigma entering 2013, and that’s a good thing.  The team has been predictable for too long and with a coordinator playing to the strengths of the team with a balanced approach, they can finally rely either on the game manager abilities of their quarterbacks (let’s be honest, Blaine Gabbert isn’t a game changer) or they can rely on the running back stable to shoulder the load.

Then again, this offense is completely under wraps and I could be completely off.  I think he could really let Gabbert wing it, as he has in college in some games, but I’m seeing a bit more cautious, balanced approach as the probable product on the field.  As much as this is a quarterback driven league, if you don’t have the quarterback to drive the team then you rely on the running game.  Fisch demonstrated he can do either during his time in Miami, but whether he can rely on someone like Gabbert in 2013 is completely different.  Fisch used some gimmicks and aggressive approaches in some games (check the ‘Canes vs North Carolina video) in college, but I think the NFL will force that to be toned down a bit.

- Luke N. Sims

Feel free to leave comments on here or visit us at Facebook or Twitter!

You can also find me on Twitter @LukeNSims