Combatting Incompetence: FOX Sports Edition

While we all know that the Jaguars receive very little attention nationally, whenever there is a list ranking the top 32 of something, we know that there will be a mention of the Jaguars.  Unless they completely forget to put the team on the list.

This week, FOX Sports released their list of the top 32 backup quarterbacks.  While I was pleasantly surprised to see Chad Henne sitting pretty at #6, I was more shocked at the horrendous write-up from our dear friend Peter Schrager:

"Blaine Gabbert, how’s that seat feeling? Warm enough for you yet? Early reports from Jaguars’ training camp practice were treacherous. Gabbert reportedly couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean, and there are already whispers about whether Chad Henne will end up being the guy in Week 1. I’ve never been a huge Henne fan, myself, but the skills are no doubt there. At the very least, he’s a formidable NFL quarterback. You can win games with Henne."

I can agree with Mr. Schrager on one thing: I’m not a very big Henne fan myself.  However, everything else in here – from the snide comments about whispers nobody seems to be hearing but him to being able to win with Henne – is about as poor as I’ve read in a while.

To understand why he thinks Gabbert can’t throw a rock into the ocean, we need to turn to Vito Stellino:

While it sounds bad (and is) Vito went on to clarify:

While 1-5 on twelve passing downs isn’t a good thing, it’s certainly better than 1-12 as some people thought.  20% completion isn’t going to cut it in the NFL, but it’s a whole heck of a lot better than the 8% that 1-12 would have been.  Despite early struggles by Gabbert during training camp, he has not been as poor as people think.  A lot of series, especially in 7×7 drills, have led to him completing 2-3 of his passes.

The whispers that are suggested in the short paragraph about Henne taking over for week one have no basis – at least that I have seen around the blogs and Jaguar sites.  It seems that the only whispers where this is happening are coming from FOX and CBS and a few other outlets who are circulating dissent because who wouldn’t after Gabbert’s 2011 season.

While I’m not certain you can label a 13-18 record as a starter as being able to “win with Henne,” it’s pretty obvious that the disdain for Gabbert seeps through a solid evaluation of the quarterback position in Jacksonville.

Sometimes it’s tough being a Jaguars fan, the media who does little research and likes to draw random conclusions always makes it worse.

– Luke N. Sims

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