Blake Bortles vs Cam Newton: Week 1 QB duel

Blake Bortles and Cam Newton are the two biggest names coming into the Jacksonville Jaguars vs Carolina Panthers game on Sunday.

Both players could have some impressive days. Blake Bortles and Cam Newton are both big armed, dual-threat quarterbacks who can be the primary weapon for their respective offenses. Whether with their legs or their arms, the two of them are going to be impressive in the 2015 regular season debut.

While quarterbacks don’t actually compete directly against each other, it has been common to compare them through games like the one on Sunday. Can Blake Bortles out-duel Cam Newton? Can Cam Newton inspire a greater offense? In the modern NFL, it all boils down to the quarterback.

More from Jacksonville Jaguars News

So whether we like it or not, it comes down to a duel between a second-year quarterback taken third overall just a year ago versus a former first overall selection with two playoff appearances under his belt.

In my mind, it will rarely get better than this for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While the Jags will face plenty of excellent quarterbacks throughout the 2015 season – highlighted by their Week 3 matchup against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots – this may be the closest “up and coming” duel we will see through the season. Cam Newton is an excellent young quarterback to compare Blake Bortles against and we will see our fair share of favorable comparisons and contrasts in this game.

When looking at the Week 1 matchup between the two, I think it is clear that the experience divide is compensated by Newton’s lack of offensive weapons available to him. With Kelvin Benjamin – his top receiving target – missing the entire 2015 season, the Panthers will have to rely on Jonathan Stewart’s impressive running ability more. Meanwhile, Bortles will have top options Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns to toss the ball to all game long.

Further, the Panthers offensive line is less impressive than the rebuilt Jaguars O-line. While the overall skill is probably closer than most of us Jags fans care to admit, the offensive lines’ abilities seem to favor Jacksonville.

Is that enough to compensate for the fact that Cam Newton is a serious up and coming quarterback in the NFL with more experience than Blake Bortles? Can Bortles rely on a superior supporting cast to outperform his Panthers counterpart? Has Bortles become good enough to compete with Newton outright?

We’ll see how it all shakes out in Week 1 and we will have an even better comparison by the end of the season. For now, however, it’s all up in the air.

Which quarterback do you think will perform better in Week 1?

More from Black and Teal

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News