We're being told Blake Bortles is being given time to develop this season, while Henne leads the team through the campaign. The right decision.
But assuming it turns out that way and Bortles isn't suddenly thrust into the action, what are the limits of learning from the sideline ?
He'll get the chance to learn the playbook, work with experienced players and have his mechanics tweaked by the coaches. But are there some things you can only learn from competitive matches ?
Or can 99% of it be leant without leaving the training field ?
He'll learn the invaluable lesson of how to throw 3 tipped balls a game, how to shine in garbage time, and how to never throw more touchdowns than interceptions for an entire career.
First off let's start out by saying all qbs coming out of the draft have some issue or another. That's why they are considered prospects. They all have different issues and all enter different situation for the team that drafts them. So let's look at Blake.
Blake was a junior coming out and played 2 years in a college style variation of a pro style offense. He had no qb coach as well. He has mechanical issues in his foot work. Not major issues but things that can linger that can affect his accuracy and arm stregth if not corrected.
He also is going to a team with 4 new starters on the offensive line, a totally new back field and a revamped receiving corps with two rookies.
Now on to the question; the foot work issues are things you want ironed out prior to playing. This needs to be his new mechanical ability and basacically be his nature to do as such. It's easy to do it in practice but once the pressure is on and fatigue sets in people tend to throw all that learned behavior out the window and revert back to what they do naturally, unless he develops this skill to be his new natural behavior.
This is not something you can focus on during the season because the focus is installing game plans and practicing that for the week. With being the back up he can have a few more reps focused solely on the development process. Almost like an extended training camp. I don't think anyone feels he can't learn anything from playing day one but that is not where he is in his developmental process.
Now add the situation the current team he came to is in and it goes a little deeper than just his on short comings.
Quote:Ask Aaron Rodgers.
Or this
Quote:Ask Aaron Rodgers.
Yeah the nfl has know patience for development now... crazy
Maybe we should have sat Gabbert for 3 years.
Quote:Ask Aaron Rodgers.
Fair point.
So how did Aaron Rodgers pick up the necessary skills before he took to the field in competitive action ?
This isn't a criticism of our plan for Bortles (as I said, it's the right thing to do). But I'd be interested in finding out what you can and can't learn on the practice field.
Quote:We're being told Blake Bortles is being given time to develop this season, while Henne leads the team through the campaign. The right decision.
But assuming it turns out that way and Bortles isn't suddenly thrust into the action, what are the limits of learning from the sideline ?
He'll get the chance to learn the playbook, work with experienced players and have his mechanics tweaked by the coaches. But are there some things you can only learn from competitive matches ?
Or can 99% of it be leant without leaving the training field ?
I'm pretty sure the team's plan this season is to make sure that Bortles is as fundamentally sound and acquainted with the playbook as possible. They want him to be really accustomed to taking the center exchange and keeping the proper footwork and throwing motion.
I imagine once he does hit the field he will still have growing pains, but I think this is really just about preparation for the basics and making sure the team around him is ready to play without letting guys have free runs at his knees.
Quote:Maybe we should have sat Gabbert for 3 years.
Might not have been a bad idea looking at how it turned out.
Quote:Maybe we should have sat Gabbert for 3 years.
If the Jaguars had followed that plan would JDR and Gene Smith still be here?
Quote:Fair point.
So how did Aaron Rodgers pick up the necessary skills before he took to the field in competitive action ?
He completely reworked his footwork and throwing mechanics so that he became a much stronger and more accurate thrower. He significantly improved his lower body strength to allow him to better drive the ball (he was not a hard thrower coming out of college). He learned the weekly work preparation and nuances of film study, game planning and game plan installment needed in game week preparation. He learned the strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of players/coaches around the league, particularly becoming familiar with division opponents he would face 6 times a year. He completely learned the terminology and progressions of McCarthy's offense backwards and forwards so it was second nature by the time he took the field. And he spent time daily throwing ot his WRs to develop timing and chemistry in practice.
As opposed to being a starting QB, where you put in 60-70 hours a week just trying to implement the gameplan and preperation for the current week's opponent.
Quote:Maybe we should have sat Gabbert for 3 years.
We should have. It could have hardly turned out any worse than it did.
Gene Smith had to sacrifice his development to keep his job and threw him out there to appease a stupid owner and a section of stupid fans. Shocking that a 20 year old who didn't play in a Pro Style offense in college was completely overwhelmed.
He would have won us a superbowl in 2016 right?
Quote:He would have won us a superbowl in 2016 right?
Nobodody is saying that cause super bowls are won with teams. But it might have turned out better than 5-6 career wins
I think his development has more to do with the coaching staff fixing his minor issues in practice instead of throwing him to the wolves and hindering that development. Once the coaches have mechanical things worked out and Blake is comfortable with the playbook he'll start over Henne.
So long as Henne doesn't have some Alex Smith career reviving.
Which I guess wouldn't be a bad thing.
I think the bigger point people seem to miss is this... Blake starting to soon can hurt his development. Him waiting 4, 8, 16 or even 32 games will not hurt him and could only serve to make him an even better student of the game, mature player, and hungrier player.
Quote:If the Jaguars had followed that plan would JDR and Gene Smith still be here?
not likely. JDR was on his way out, imo, before Gabbert was drafted.
Smith, drafted poorly and even sitting Gabbert a little longer wouldn't have covered up as many poor selections that were made. Unless sitting Gabbert for 2-3 years would have made him Manning. Which I'm not sure would be the case.
Quote:Ask Aaron Rodgers.
Ask Brady Quinn.
There's no right answer to this debate so it's pretty pointless. There have been qbs who were fine being thrown into the fire (flacco, Ryan, Newton) and some who have been bad (leinart). The same goes for sitting a qb and letting him learn by watching.
I still don't believe either of the options really affects the qb enough to mean much. If the particular qb is going to be good then he will be fine starting or sitting. Gabbert was always going to be bad because he was a bad qb so we can stop saying what would happen if he sat. He'd still by frightened of pass rushers.
Quote:I still don't believe either of the options really affects the qb enough to mean much. If the particular qb is going to be good then he will be fine starting or sitting. Gabbert was always going to be bad because he was a bad qb so we can stop saying what would happen if he sat. He'd still by frightened of pass rushers.
Of course. If any QB is ruined you can just claim the QB didn't have the mythical "it" and call it a day, and then the other side is left trying to prove a negative. It's a pretty common tactic.
And I think Newton is a pretty classic case of a QB who has hit a ceiling and will never achieve a higher level until he revamps his mechanics to become a much more accurate QB. He's still the same exact guy who came into the league 3 years ago. Basically the same comp% and same passer rating in Year 3 that he had as a rookie. It's a shame. He could have been so much more than this.
Quote:Of course. If any QB is ruined you can just claim the QB didn't have the mythical "it" and call it a day, and then the other side is left trying to prove a negative. It's a pretty common tactic.
I'm not one to use that as an argument.