The 2016 season was a huge disappointment for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Many experts saw the franchise as a potential darkhorse to make the playoffs, but they failed to meet the expectations. It was so bad, that the Jags finished the year with a 3-13 record. They were the second worst team in the AFC, which is saying a lot. As a result, once again they’ll have a high pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Most fans believe the Jaguars should draft the best player available. After all, they have a lot of needs to address, such as the offensive line, the running back and more depth on defense. However, they would be wise to land a top QB prospect. Chad Henne isn’t getting any younger, and Blake Bortles might not be franchise quarterback many expected.
The signal-caller entered the 2016 season following an impressive sophomore campaign, in which he threw for over 4,400 yards with 35 TD, 18 INT, an 88.2 passer rating and a 58,6 percentage of completed passes. Sure, those aren’t elite numbers, but they evidenced that Bortles was going somewhere. But in 2016 he took a massive step back. He only had 3,905 yards, 23 TD, 16 INT, a 78.8 rating and a 58,9 completion percentage. He improved on his accuracy and reduced the interceptions for the third straight year, but he threw less yards and less TDs. That’s not a winning formula, especially when there’s no running game like happens in Jacksonville.
So the main question becomes – should the Jags stick to Bortles? And I say they should.
He’s 24, so there’s time on his side yet. But the Jaguars need to decide quickly what they’re going to do with him. They have three competent receivers (Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee) so they need to find a QB that can make plays. We don’t know if Bortles is that guy, as he has evidenced only flashes of his talent in his three years as a pro. But there was some improvement in the final games when Doug Marrone took over as the head coach.
Marrone will have an entire offseason to work with Bortles. And the four-year QB will have time to learn the new system, one in which he looked quite comfortable towards the end of last season. But he needs to step it up soon. If not, we’ll soon start talking about who’s going to be the quarterback of the future in Jacksonville. Again.