Jacksonville Jaguars Midseason Rookie Recap: Blake Bortles
By Daniel Lago
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Heading into their bye week after a brutal loss in London, the Jacksonville Jaguars are a little more than halfway through the 2014 NFL regular season. The bye week also means it’s time to step back and briefly evaluate how some of the players have performed so far. The second year into a massive rebuild, the most interesting players to look at of course are the young guys who should eventually be the foundation for this team.
Over the course of the week, we’ll be taking a look at all of the rookies playing roles for the Jaguars right now. We’ll start with the undrafted guys and work our way down all the way to the first round pick.
We’ve made it through all 7 rounds and now it’s time to tackle the big fish – first round pick Blake Bortles.
After enduring one of the worst quarterbacking eras in the history of football, the Jacksonville Jaguars moved on from former first round pick Blaine Gabbert and looked to the 2014 NFL draft for either a replacement or a young project to stash for development. Very few analysts and fans expected general manager David Caldwell to select a quarterback with the 3rd overall pick, but he shocked the world when he selected Blake Bortles out of UCF. With that, he and head coach Gus Bradley were inexorably tied to the young signal caller from Central Florida
It’s been up-and-down, but here’s how Bortles has fared so far statistically in 2014 according to our friends over at Pro Football Focus::
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Head coach Gus Bradley turned to Bortles when the Jaguars were at their lowest – during the second half of a blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts in week 3. The Jaguars were in disarray and could do absolutely nothing on offense with Chad Henne at the helm. Bortles came in and immediately provided a spark, and the team has improved tangibly in almost every aspect of the game. After averaging a (-25) point differential in the first 3 weeks of the season, the Jaguars have averaged a (-7) point differential over the past 7 games. Is all of that improvement due to Blake Bortles? No, but his presence has done more than just improve the passing game. It’s helped improve the perception of the offensive line; it’s helped Denard Robinson emerge as a top running back; it’s allowed the defense to breathe a little and stay off the field.
With all of that in mind, Bortles has still been far from perfect, especially from a statistical perspective. Most troubling has been his penchant for throwing costly interceptions, specifically in the red zone. Despite not starting until week 4, Bortles leads the league with 14 interceptions, and a handful of those have been downright indefensible.
Bortles has the look of a long-term, franchise quarterback who just needs time to develop. Hopefully we’ll see some more flashes over the final 6 weeks.