One thing I don't agree with is this whole notion of throwing a rookie QB out there too soon will damage his confidence or ruin his career. Do people really buy this? I certainly don't.
I can't think of one QB who's ever started as a rookie and had it ruin his career. Sure, most rookie QBs struggle and rarely do they go out there and light it up. Peyton Manning had his share of difficulties his rookie year and they went 3-13 I believe. Did that ruin him?
Do you know why guys like Blaine Gabbert, Joey Harrington and Andre Ware sucked in the NFL? Because they sucked. No amount of time on the bench learning the offense and playing behind a veteran would've ever changed that.
Do you know why Aaron Rodgers is good? Because he's a good QB. It's really that simple. Was his development behind Favre beneficial? Possibly. However, if Favre wasn't there and he was thrown into the fray his rookie season he still would've ended up being an All-Pro QB. Why? Because he has the goods.
Gabbert was never, ever going to be any good. He sucked then and he sucks now for SF. If patience and development and all that was true, he'd be good now right? Especially behind QB "guru" Jim Harbaugh. Why is he bad? Because he doesn't have what it takes.
I can't believe people buy into this notion of throwing a guy out there too soon will somehow ruin a guy. I don't buy it.
I'm not saying start Bortles from day one. I think the o-line is still a mess and there's no reason to push Henne out of the way. I think Henne is serviceable for now. However, I do say start him in week 5 or 6 and see what he can do. He's not sitting the entire season guys. Sorry.
Henne looked serviceable, but Bortles is on a different level than Henne. Another real difference is between Alex Mack and Brewster. Both our starting wideouts are rookies, one undrafted. It doesn't look good
Its time to pop the Bortles:
<a class="bbc_url" href='http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2014/8/15/6005489/blake-bortles-jaguars-starting-qb-chad-henne'>http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2014/8/15/6005489/blake-bortles-jaguars-starting-qb-chad-henne</a>
Quote:It was essentially the best of Chad Henne on Friday night, which is one of the reasons the Jaguars should be reconsidering their plans for the quarterback position. On a night Henne looked relatively good, Bortles looked better.
I'd say this, it's easy to dismiss a guy for failing by saying he sucked but name some guys who have sat and didn't play well? I can't think of many. I couldn't think many 22-23 year olds could handle that type of pressure.
Peyton is a horrible example because he was groomed since he was able to stand on two feet
Quote:Is say this, it's easy to dismiss a guy for failing by saying he sucked but name some guys who have sat and didn't play well? I can't think of many. I couldn't think many 22-23 year olds could handle that type of pressure.
Peyton is a horrible example because he was groomed since he was able to stand on two feet
Agreed. I'm not saying to definitely keep Bortles on the sidelines, but chalking it all up to "that guy would have sucked anyway" is lazy. How can you know that? You can't. Truth is, you don't know for sure if David Carr, as an example, would have been successful with some time on the bench.
I think the argument for sitting Bortles is becoming harder by the day.
But I thought the reason for sitting Bortles was to knock the flaws out of his game, teach him the play book and a number of other things. I don't mind waiting, if the end result is a better Blake Bortles.
There are signs that the limited coaching he's had over the summer have improved him already. Let's have more of that !
And at the end of the day time is on our side and there is no need to rush him into action. Playing Bortles now might win us more games, but with the rest of the team still a "work in progress" I'm really not expecting us to go far this season.
I really don't think this a being done out of fear of "ruining Bortles" it's about giving him all the tools he needs.
Quote:I think the argument for sitting Bortles is becoming harder by the day.
But I thought the reason for sitting Bortles was to knock the flaws out of his game, teach him the play book and a number of other things. I don't mind waiting, if the end result is a better Blake Bortles.
There are signs that the limited coaching he's had over the summer have improved him already. Let's have more of that !
And at the end of the day time is on our side and there is no need to rush him into action. Playing Bortles now might win us more games, but with the rest of the team still a "work in progress" I'm really not expecting us to go far this season.
I really don't think this a being done out of fear of "ruining Bortles" it's about giving him all the tools he needs.
This is what I think. I'd rather him sit then start day one as a top 8-12 qb than start now as a top 24 and fight to make it to the top. Let's just put him in a position to succeed rather than see if he just over come all the troubles of the team.
Quote:Agreed. I'm not saying to definitely keep Bortles on the sidelines, but chalking it all up to "that guy would have sucked anyway" is lazy. How can you know that? You can't. Truth is, you don't know for sure if David Carr, as an example, would have been successful with some time on the bench.
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Definitely. Some guys were just never put in situations that were stable from the start. I don't think Blaine was a good qb but I still can say he was not in a stable situation when we drafted him.
I agree but I don't think they are holding him out to perserve his confidence, I think they want him to have fully mastered his new footwork/throwing motion before being thrown out there because like coach Fisch said, he regressed during the game with his mechanics compared to how he did in practice, he doesn't have the muscle memory yet.
That being said the way he's playing i'm not so sure mechanics are an issue
Quote:I think the argument for sitting Bortles is becoming harder by the day.
But I thought the reason for sitting Bortles was to knock the flaws out of his game, teach him the play book and a number of other things. I don't mind waiting, if the end result is a better Blake Bortles.
There are signs that the limited coaching he's had over the summer have improved him already. Let's have more of that !
And at the end of the day time is on our side and there is no need to rush him into action. Playing Bortles now might win us more games, but with the rest of the team still a "work in progress" I'm really not expecting us to go far this season.
I really don't think this a being done out of fear of "ruining Bortles" it's about giving him all the tools he needs.
Very good point.
Quote:I agree but I don't think they are holding him out to perserve his confidence, I think they want him to have fully mastered his new footwork/throwing motion before being thrown out there because like coach Fisch said, he regressed during the game with his mechanics compared to how he did in practice, he doesn't have the muscle memory yet.
That being said the way he's playing i'm not so sure mechanics are an issue
Exactly the same as it was at UCF.
I think this mechanics and footwork thing is so blown out of proportion. And he doesn't look the least bit overwhelmed out there. If he had as many serious issues as some people seem to be inferring, we certainly would have been able to see them.
I don't see what purpose making him sit would serve.
Start the kid. He didn't regress last night. If anything, he's proved why he's ready to start now.
Now he's going to get reps with the starters for the Detroit game. I can't be the only person who see's what's going on can I?
Quote:I think this mechanics and footwork thing is so blown out of proportion. And he doesn't look the least bit overwhelmed out there. If he had as many serious issues as some people seem to be inferring, we certainly would have been able to see them.
I don't see what purpose making him sit would serve.
Completely blown out of proportion.
I mean every rookie QB has to come in and work on his footwork.
But then again, we are moufff bweeetherssss.
Henne has shown his ceiling time and time again. To expect anything better is a dream. Gus is essentially settling for mediocrity by naming Henne the starter before Blake even showed what he could do. Its frusturating as a fan, but you have to have faith in the coaching staff and trust they know what they are doing.
Quote:Exactly the same as it was at UCF.
That's probably why he's not "ready" in the coaches' eyes
Quote:That's probably why he's not "ready" in the coaches' eyes
You don't just go around changing a Qbs throwing motion on a whim. I haven't heard Bradley, DC, or JF say a thing about his throwing motion and them trying to change it.
I had no problem with him sitting for a while when I heard they were 'overhauling' his mechanics. When he played his first game I was expecting to see some glaring deficiencies.
I haven't yet.
He's ready in my book.
Dave and Gus get paid a lot of money to evaluate talent, and get that talent ready to peform. They were the ones who drafted Bortles with the third pick--a choice that left many of us scratching our heads. They were right and many of us were wrong.
Maybe they'll change their mind if they think Blake is ahead on the learning curve. But I trust their judgement. And I hope they won't cave into the fans and go against that judgement (like Wayne Weaver did when the fans wanted Coughlin out).