Blake Bortles has everything on the line this year and he stepped up in London
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars will sink or swim with quarterback Blake Bortles in 2017, and his performance this year will determine how the rest of his career goes.
It was a little over a month ago that it appeared the Jacksonville Jaguars were going to mail in the 2017 season.
Why?
It was all about the quarterback. In the modern NFL, you need a functional quarterback to be successful and everyone outside of Jacksonville was convinced Blake Bortles was not good enough to keep this team competitive. Bortles had just wrapped up a reportedly awful training camp and preseason, one in which is he was actually benched for Chad Henne in the pivotal third preseason game.
It was shocking when Doug Marrone came out and named Bortles the starter before the 4th preseason game. There was little reason to expect the team to go far with such a big question mark at quarterback.
It was only one game, but Bortles’ week 3 performance (4 touchdowns and no interceptions) is an indication that maybe the Jaguars can make some noise this year.
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The narrative around Bortles is going to be fascinating this year. In week 1, the Jaguars won with very little responsibility placed on the 4th year QB. The team won with a strong running game and a defense that absolutely smothered the Houston Texans.
In week 2, the Jaguars were extremely conservative and it ended up putting them in a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of. The team needed Bortles to bail them out in the second half and he couldn’t.
In week 3, it appears offensive coordinator Nate Hackett decided he can’t hide Bortles – instead he needs to give him the opportunity to affect the game. And boy did he ever.
The talent has always been there with Blake, it’s just been about consistency. His play in the coming weeks is going to determine whether or not Bortles will be a starting quarterback next year and beyond.
Bill Barnwell over at ESPN recently touched on this, as he tabbed Bortles as one of the players with ‘everything on the line’ in 2017.
"Short-term deal: $8 millionBreakout deal: $65 millionDifference: $57 millionAre we sure Bortles isn’t a zombie? Left for dead after losing his starting job during the preseason, Bortles got the gig back when Chad Henne wasn’t much better with the starters in Week 3. He was a virtual bystander during Jacksonville’s dominant victory in the season opener against the Texans, going just 11-of-21 for 125 yards and a touchdown pass. The Jags will try to win this way all season, but chances are that their defense won’t sack the opposing quarterback six times in the first half….If Bortles excels, the Jags would almost assuredly want to give him a long-term deal to keep him around for years to come, which would take in excess of $20 million per season."
It’s way too early to discuss whether or not Bortles can earn a long-term extension, but it’s on the table. If the Jaguars win the division and make the playoffs, there’s a good chance it’s because Bortles played like an average to above-average quarterback.
Ultimately, I think the only way the Jaguars even consider signing Bortles to an extension after this season is if he wins a playoff game. Again, this is a ways away but if Bortles can carry some momentum back from London, watch out.