While Jaguars nation has been giddy over Bortles being named starting QB, USA Today reporter Nate Davis questions the wisdom of the decision, not by assailing Bortles, but the lack of surrounding talent.
Davis offers a pretty good analysis of the situation by comparing Bortles' situation with other rookie starters.
Here is the link.
http://q.usatoday.com/2014/09/27/blake-b...no-talent/
I will say I disagree with one element of his analysis: the rookies at receiver have proven capable of producing at this level at least so far.
I think he knows what he is talking about.
A fair question is did Jaguars' brass really have much choice?
We all saw what happened the 2nd half of the opener, the entire Washington game, and the first half last week.
That sort of production could not be sustained without alienating every Jaguars fan.
This is fair, but with Ace Sanders coming back next week and Cecil Shorts, I'm good with his relieving talent. I still think Gerhart is a talent that will get it together soon. It's his O-Line that will be tasking for him
Quote:A fair question is did Jaguars' brass really have much choice?
We all saw what happened the 2nd half of the opener, the entire Washington game, and the first half last week.
That sort of production could not be sustained without alienating every Jaguars fan.
No they didn't have a choice at this point they had to play Bortles. However David is at fault for not having more talent on this team surrounding bortles. It's year two no excuses David dropped the ball.
Quote:While Jaguars nation has been giddy over Bortles being named starting QB, USA Today reporter Nate Davis questions the wisdom of the decision, not by assailing Bortles, but the lack of surrounding talent.
Davis offers a pretty good analysis of the situation by comparing Bortles' situation with other rookie starters.
Here is the link.
http://q.usatoday.com/2014/09/27/blake-b...no-talent/
I will say I disagree with one element of his analysis: the rookies at receiver have proven capable of producing at this level at least so far.
He insinuated that Gabbert wouldn't have failed in Jacksonville regardless.
Good article, good stats, but I'll go ahead and discard the opinion.
Quote:No they didn't have a choice at this point they had to play Bortles. However David is at fault for not having more talent on this team surrounding bortles. It's year two no excuses David dropped the ball.
That is tough.
How much talent can a GM realistically be expected to bring to a team in two off seasons?
Yes he turned over the roster and ultimately the play is his and Bradley's responsibility, but given how little he had to work with coming in, I don't think it was possible to be a contender at this stage.
I expected the O line to struggle. I did NOT expect the defense to struggle THIS badly.
Quote:No they didn't have a choice at this point they had to play Bortles. However David is at fault for not having more talent on this team surrounding bortles. It's year two no excuses David dropped the ball.
You're kidding, right? He was supposed to have fixed a talentless roster already? Unrealistic expectation.
Quote:A fair question is did Jaguars' brass really have much choice?
We all saw what happened the 2nd half of the opener, the entire Washington game, and the first half last week.
That sort of production could not be sustained without alienating every Jaguars fan.
Based on how inadequate the offense has been aside from the early part of the first game of the season, no, they didn't really have a choice.
Quote:That is tough.
How much talent can a GM realistically be expected to bring to a team in two off seasons?
Yes he turned over the roster and ultimately the play is his and Bradley's responsibility, but given how little he had to work with coming in, I don't think it was possible to be a contender at this stage.
I expected the O line to struggle. I did NOT expect the defense to struggle THIS badly.
Agreed. People think that it's easy to rebuild a roster from the foundation up in less than 2 years, and I'm left scratching my head. They really did tear it down last year, and not all of the parts they brought in were intended to be long-term fixtures. In fact, most of the guys they brought in were really band-aids the team was hoping they could limp by with until they did find the true fix at each position. With such a comprehensive rebuild required, anyone who thought it was going to happen quickly was setting unrealistic expectations.
They've said year three is the point where their efforts need to start showing us something. Hopefully they're right.
It's hard to agree with most of this. Half of those QB's are game managers who were on good teams.
They also conveniently leave out Cam Newton. Although his team was not great and their record proved it, Cam had a very impressive season with little to no help around him.
Quote:He insinuated that Gabbert wouldn't have failed in Jacksonville regardless.
Good article, good stats, but I'll go ahead and discard the opinion.
I saw that.
I disagreed with that assessment (witness Gabbert's woeful performance in preseason with a far more talented 49ers team), but that line isn't enough to make me disregard the entire opinion.
Quote:He insinuated that Gabbert wouldn't have failed in Jacksonville regardless.
Good article, good stats, but I'll go ahead and discard the opinion.
Agreed.
Invoking Gabbert into any conversation about Bortles is just lazy.
Gabbert stunk because he was a terrible quarterback. Bortles has given us no reason to think he will fail like that.
Quote:It's hard to agree with most of this. Half of those QB's are game managers who were on good teams.
They also conveniently leave out Cam Newton. Although his team was not great and their record proved it, Cam had a very impressive season with little to no help around him.
I think that's the point.
If you want a rookie QB to have immediate success, he needs talent around him.
This article had so much detail I couldn't believe it came from USA Today. Lot of truth.
This may sound completely "homer", but I believe Bortles truly makes everyone around him better (which is a sign you might have a good one). Certainly compared to what Henne has done. Scares the hell outta me that I am feeling that cursed word of false hope: optimistic.
I think the "lack of talent" thing is overblown. Shorts, 2 highly touted 2nd rounders. The o-line is a concern, but the rest should sort itself out.
Interesting that NE got Tim Wright for a late rnd pick. We could have used some depth at TE. It's been Lewis then a huge dropoff for years
Quote:I think that's the point.
If you want a rookie QB to have immediate success, he needs talent around him.
Makes sense but even if Blake individually had a good season I think most of us would be thrilled, nobody is expecting this team getting anywhere near playoff contention.
If Blake is the answer everything else will soon fall into place, as it has for the Panthers.