Quote:After reading the rest of this thread, it's obvious that some people don't understand what it means to develop a player.  There are quite a few people that are sure quick to downplay and bad mouth Chad Henne because he isn't an "elite" quarterback in the NFL.  The word "elite" gets thrown around quite a bit.

 

Henne isn't a Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, etc. quarterback, but he is an NFL quarterback.  That should count for something.  The man has managed to make it in this league, and has done so with less-than good talent around him.  He is a veteran and can pass on what he knows and what he has learned to the young rookie.

 

Think of it this way.  Put Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or any other quarterback behind last year's offense and tell me that they would have "lighted it up" and been a star.  A quarterback is only as good as his supporting cast and that includes the other ten men on the field with him.

 

Bortles is going to learn what it's like to game plan, react to game situations and deal with victory and defeat behind a veteran quarterback.  The veteran quarterback might not be a fan favorite, but he's still a veteran quarterback.

 

Football fans in general don't understand the concept or value of the 'pretty good' QB.  They think there's about 8-10 "elite" guys, and then you can just throw everyone else in the same trash barrel as worthless garbage.    I saw this last year when everyone was pointing and laughing at the Chiefs for trading for Alex Smith.     Or they don't truly understand the malignant effect of having awful QBs.   They think an awful QB is the guy who throws an interception on a potential game winning drive.  That's not awful QB play.   When you have awful QB play there is no potential game winning drive situation.   It's all encompassing ineptitude.    When you have awful QB play, it sabotages your entire franchise.      You can't develop and evaluate your WRs because your QB can't go through his progressions and accurately throw he ball to them.    You can't evaluate your runningbacks or offensive linemen because defenses teams can stack 8 or 9 in the box.       You can't honestly evaluate your defense because they get worn down being on the field the entire game because your offense can't sustain a drive and time of possession.   You can't develop and groom young QBs properly because you're constantly sabotaging their careers throwing them out there because "they can't be any worse than this guy).   Most importantly, you have The Cleveland Browns effect, where your franchise sits in a perpetual state of instability flux  and in a constant  negative feedback loop of of firing, hiring head coaches and discarding and implementing new systems and schemes and players that fit into them every 3 years.  

 

I don't know what the ceiling is with  is with the Jaguars and Henne.  Probably 8 wins, maybe 9 or 10 if the Jags gets exceedingly lucky.  He's had 7 win seasons on some awful Dolphin teams coached by Tony friggin Sparano.   I do know know Henne provides a floor.     I saw enough in the second half of last year to know he's not   Brodie Croyle, Brady Quinn, Curtis Painter or Brandon Wheedon level of bad that I described above.  He's going to complete ~60% of his passes, he's going to put up about a 75-85 passer rating, he's going to run the offense, sustain some drives and the Jags are going to get a chance to develop some of their younger offensive players, and then he'll hand it off to Bortles when he's ready.  Evidently Caldwell and Gus see the same thing, which is why Henne is back as the starter for another year.  

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