Jacksonville Jaguars to Start Chad Henne Against Colts
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars need to do something to spark a change in what has been the most ineffective and unwatchable offense in the NFL over the first 2 weeks of the regular season. While the simplest and, quite frankly, most logical thing to do would be to start 3rd overall pick Blake Bortles, the team has opted to give milquetoast veteran Chad Henne another shot this week against the Indianapolis Colts.
Jaguars announce that Luke Bowanko will start at center, Sam Young will start at right tackle, and Chad Henne remains starting QB vs. Indy.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) September 17, 2014
While I have liked a majority of what general manager David Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley have done over the course of the last 2 seasons, I refuse to blindly accept this as the best decision. There is absolutely no sufficient rationalization for starting Henne over Bortles right now. The argument is as simple as this: Bortles is just a better quarterback right now. Even Chad Henne knows he’s a lame duck right now.
Henne says he understands a QB switch will be made if there's not enough wins, says he's playing better than in past "not overly great."
— Eugene Frenette (@GeneFrenette) September 17, 2014
Henne "we need to win" for him to hold off Bortles.
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) September 17, 2014
It might seem melodramatic, but the decision to start Henne absolutely extinguishes any excitement fans have about the home opener. There’s little reason to think the offense can score enough points to beat the Colts, and it will be doubly disheartening to see such a promising young quarterback on the visitor’s side while Bortles sits on the bench.
We can at least take solace in the hope that Henne might not make it through the whole game on Sunday. Just the fact that Bradley has subtly acknowledged the consideration to start Bortles means Henne probably isn’t immune to a mid-game benching. We can only hope.