Quote: While I think there's a good chance Blake Bortles will make substantial improvement in the next couple of seasons,  the concerns I would have from a Jaguars standpoint are the pounding Bortles took as a rookie and him being in a different system in his 2nd season.   Though gaining playing experience as a rookie can be very valuable in some cases,  because of the situation surrounding Bortles,  I think it would have been ideal if the Jaguars would have been able to bring him around more slowly.     With the transition to a new system on Offense and Bortles still being in the developmental stage,  it wouldn't surprise me if the Jaguars Defense and Special Teams have to carry the team for the most part in the 1st half of the 2015 season.

 

I'm not really concerned about the pounding. He's a big guy, a mobile one at that who likes to extend plays. Everyone loved the fact that Blake is big/strong and can run...comparing him to Ben R. while knocking Bridgewater's slight frame. I mentioned it then, and I'll mention it again...guys like Ben R. and Blake take a pounding. You have to live with the bad (sacks, big hits) and the good (mobility and extending plays).

 

Blake was sacked 55 times last season. Higher if he played the entire 16 games. But that's with him as a green rookie and a bunch of young guys around him. With experience (of himself and those around him), it should come down. But as comparison, here's Ben R's sack stats over the years: 30, 23, 46, 47, 46, 50, 32 (12 games), 40, 30 (13 games), 42, 33.

 

That's probably going to be pretty similar to Blake's over the course of his career. It just comes with the territory.

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