(06-30-2017, 05:06 PM)hb1148 Wrote:

(06-29-2017, 12:54 PM)SeldomRite Wrote: I'm calling him average the past year because that's what the stats said he was. I know we have a lot of out of whack expectations of what an NFL QB is because they watch Tom Brady play every week, but Bortles wasn't as bad as some around here seem to think, taken on his own. It takes a team effort to be as bad as the Jaguars were last year.

I'd like for Bortles to be much better, and I think he can be, but I'm not one of the bib brigade that thinks Bortles was the problem all on his own.

I agree actually.  Bortles seemed so bad because when he did make mistakes he didn't just look bad, he looked Worst-QB-In-NFL-History bad.  That tended to overshadow the fact that he was actually pretty productive over the past two years.  People seem to dismiss this as merely garbage time stat padding but actually the Jags weren't typically in garbage time much last year.  We'll see if he can eliminate those horrific mistakes which will make all the difference in the perception of his ability.

He had a run of poor performances against great defenses in the middle part of the season, but he was good enough to win in more than just three games.

I've heaped a lot of blame on Gus because horrific mistakes were pretty systemic throughout the whole team, and I think there's plenty of room for tightening up easily.

Just taking the low hanging fruit (eliminate the really stupid penalties and cut down on fumbles) and this team should win six or seven games. And if Bortles is more like his 2015 self then eight wins should be in reach. If Marrone is actually a good coach and he doesn't just tighten up on the plethora of mental mistakes but actually coaches guys up and schemes well then the team has the talent for ten-plus wins.

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