Quote:I said it because even though yes, its only 12 games, it appears to be going in reverse/ regressing. Its one thing to show slow "progress" and then cite "its only 12 games". But regression is a whole 'nother issue. When the player starts out like Bortles did, and playing loose and confident, and very well, and 12 games later you look at him and the player is now a shell of what that initial player looked like, I think you have a major issue with the people developing this kid. 

 

The reason that he seems to be regressing is that in his first few starts, opposing defensive coordinators didn't have much game tape on him but as he played, that changed.  Coaches in the NFL are pretty smart and they can figure out what a player likes to do and what they're not so good at pretty quickly and so they started to compensate for that.  Naturally, Bortles' performances started to suffer.  This is 100% natural and happens to all rookies regardless of their positions (see Allen Hurns).  It will take him a while but eventually he will overcome it.  Don't get me wrong, I don't consider Fisch a great coordinator and would prefer to have someone a little more proven, but ultimately Blake has to gain some experience before the Jag's offense will improve regardless of who's coaching.

 

You see some small signs in the last couple of games.  The turnovers have slowed considerably (as I predicted, see an earlier post) and he will start to become a bit of a game manager before he eventually starts to realize his potential.  I see this probably happening somewhere mid-3rd season for him.

---