Does it hurt Bortles at all if he isn't the starter in game 1?

Not necessarily, but what'd be gained by waiting til week 2 or 3? Seriously? Id rather he play and get as much experience as possible in the no pressure situation that is this season. Because come next season , there will be more pressure on the coaches, front office, and consequently Blake himself. That's the whole point of my arguement. They dont want pressure on him. Well this season would be the least pressure filled he would ever see.

---

As upset as many vikings fans must be, they shouldnt be nearly as disappointed as some of us. Cassel has at least had some success in his career, while henne has had none. I think this has more to do with keeping a promise to chad than anything at this point. It seemed safe to promise him the job initially, as they probably werent expecting Bortles to be this good. I'm sure there's some mixed emotions going on with the coaching staff right now.

 

Yeah, that's probably it.

---

Not necessarily, but what'd be gained by waiting til week 2 or 3? Seriously? Id rather he play and get as much experience as possible in the no pressure situation that is this season. Because come next season , there will be more pressure on the coaches, front office, and consequently Blake himself.

It hurts nothing.


Who cares what pressure it puts the staff under next year? Unless you're one of them, it shouldn't matter. That's their concern.


What I do know is that behind that line, if you throw Bortles out there and he gets hurt, the same people opining that he's not the opening day started will rip the staff for putting him at risk knowing the line wasn't ready.

---

Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I dont care about the stress on the coaches. I care because it would put more stress on Bortles. He's gonna have expectations placed on him at some point. This is essentially a lost year. That wont be the case next season. Let him get his mistakes out of the way. It's not like he looks lost out there.

---

I dont care about the stress on the coaches. I care because it would put more stress on Bortles. He's gonna have expectations placed on him at some point. This is essentially a lost year. That wont be the case next season. Let him get his mistakes out of the way. It's not like he looks lost out there.

Yes, because he really seems like the kind of guy that's going to wilt under the pressure. Poor fragile Blake.


He's going to get his playing time this year. I'd much rather see that happen when we know the line is up to the task of protecting him. That's not the case right now.

---

Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

I dont care about the stress on the coaches. I care because it would put more stress on Bortles. He's gonna have expectations placed on him at some point. This is essentially a lost year. That wont be the case next season. Let him get his mistakes out of the way. It's not like he looks lost out there.

 

 

Hey my expectations aren't high at all this season and I think we'll win about 5 games, but to declare this a lost season before 1 game has been played is a bit much.  Who are we tanking for next season? 

---

Yes, because he really seems like the kind of guy that's going to wilt under the pressure. Poor fragile Blake.


He's going to get his playing time this year. I'd much rather see that happen when we know the line is up to the task of protecting him.

And you're entitled to your opinion. I'd just rather see some wins now.

---

And you're entitled to your opinion. I'd just rather see some wins now.

Until those wins don't happen, and you see your rookie QB being carted off with an injury. At that point you're starting a thread telling us what an idiot Gus was for putting him out there behind that line. We know the drill. The team can't make everyone happy, and there will always be someone whining no matter what. It's not going to change the plan.

---

Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Hey my expectations aren't high at all this season and I think we'll win about 5 games, but to declare this a lost season before 1 game has been played is a bit much.  Who are we tanking for next season?

Exactly. Nobody has high expectations for this season except for the start Bortles now crowd.

---

Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Calling people who believe Bortles should sit "sheep," isn't a very good way to start a conversation.

---

Until those wins don't happen, and you see your rookie QB being carted off with an injury. At that point you're starting a thread telling us what an idiot Gus was for putting him out there behind that line. We know the drill. The team can't make everyone happy, and there will always be someone whining no matter what. It's not going to change the plan.

You're putting words in my mouth. If he got hurt I wouldnt question them at all. Besides, the pass protection hasnt even been that bad (besides that makeshift line tonight). Run blocking is a difft. Story.

---

Exactly. Nobody has high expectations for this season except for the start Bortles now crowd.

I would rather get 5 or 6 wins with bortles than Henne. Bortles at least has nowhere to go but up.

---

You're putting words in my mouth. If he got hurt I wouldnt question them at all. Besides, the pass protection hasnt even been that bad (besides that makeshift line tonight). Run blocking is a difft. Story.

The line hasn't faced a regular season defense that's scheming. Sorry, but they need time to begin to gel before I'd ever consider putting Bortles out there.

---

Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

"Trust the coaches, trust Caldwell". I do in most cases.... The drafting of Bortles appears to have been a huge success at this point. Everyone has said he has exceeded expectations, and he passes the eye test over Henne. Even analytics (PFF) support bortles being the better qb. So why not play him?


If it wasnt for Bortles, would you really have gotten any sort of excited feeling out of this preseason? Probably not. And guess what, THAT guy is gonba ride the bench to start the season. We've seen mediocrity long enough. We deserve better, and delaying the inevitable by 3 weeks makes no sense. Wait for the line to gel? He played perfectly fine behind that slop tonight.

Do you really think you know something the coaches and GM don't?  Really??  C'mon, man.   They see it too.  And they see it better than you or me.  They've done a great job of keeping the pressure off of the kid and letting him develop. Why change that now?  They'll either announce Blake the starter on Monday, or as soon as Henne hangs himself two weeks in a row  -- which shouldn't take more than 6 weeks.  The kid will start at some point this season.  Relax and enjoy the wait. It's something good to look forward to for a change. 

 

(trusting Bradley and his staff over message board pundits doesn't make someone sheep, BTW. - those incessantly ignoring the wisdom in the staff's plan are the sheep.)

---

The line hasn't faced a regular season defense that's scheming. Sorry, but they need time to begin to gel before I'd ever consider putting Bortles out there.

Regardless of how long you give the O-line to gel, an injury could still occur. The Browns had one of the better o-lines in the league last year and still sustained multiple QB injuries. The Rams paid Jake Long and drafted Greg Robinson, Bradford still got hurt. Besides, Blake is a Henne injury away from playing any way. If a QB injury is so inevitable with our current o-line, Bortles will be in at some point week one anyway.

---

Regardless of how long you give the O-line to gel, an injury could still occur. The Browns had one of the better o-lines in the league last year and still sustained multiple QB injuries. The Rams paid Jake Long and drafted Greg Robinson, Bradford still got hurt. Besides, Blake is a Henne injury away from playing any way. If a QB injury is so inevitable with our current o-line, Bortles will be in at some point week one anyway.

 

Exactly. Conditions aren't going to be perfect, they just aren't. If we were going to wait for that, we wouldn't have a good team for like 5 more years. I've got a buddy who's a Falcons fan, and he was initially skeptical of playing Ryan right away (he didn't even want them to draft him). But the staff had no better option, so they played him, despite a roster that was far from spectacular. I guess I just don't see why it's even an argument at this point. He's better than Henne, he should play. The argument against playing him now seems to be that "the staff doesn't think he's ready".... And as Ryan O has already said, that definition of "Ready" seems to be constantly changing. On Jags today, Ryan said he pressed Gus about whether or not he was comfortable with Blake's knowledge of the playbook. Gus admitted that he was I guess. 

 

Near interceptions are going to happen, a lot. It's what happens when you throw downfield. You've all watched Luck play these last two years. How many near picks does he have each game? 

 

Instead we are going to sit and watch 2 or 3 games of Chad checking down/getting passes batted down. And for what? Just to saw we did? At this point, do you really think 2 or 3 weeks is going to improve him THAT much? And given the questions at center, I don't know that the offensive line woes will ever be solved this year. The whole "gelling" thing may never happen.

---

The quickest way to show people you know what you're doing is when you show them they don't know what they're doing. Caldwell proved that on draft night when 99% of jags fan hated the pick.


If they have a plan I'm cool with it cause they showed me that they clearly know better

---

Do you really think you know something the coaches and GM don't?  Really??  C'mon, man.   They see it too.  And they see it better than you or me.  They've done a great job of keeping the pressure off of the kid and letting him develop. Why change that now?  They'll either announce Blake the starter on Monday, or as soon as Henne hangs himself two weeks in a row  -- which shouldn't take more than 6 weeks.  The kid will start at some point this season.  Relax and enjoy the wait. It's something good to look forward to for a change. 

 

(trusting Bradley and his staff over message board pundits doesn't make someone sheep, BTW. - those incessantly ignoring the wisdom in the staff's plan are the sheep.)

It's not just fans though. This team preaches the use of analytics as a good tool for evaluation. PFF had him as one of, if not the best qb this preseason in a ton of statistics. This definition of "ready" is like the "dragon" in the guitar hero episode of south park. He's never gonna quite be "ready" until they literally have no choice but to play him (via Henne injury). "Ready" is a sliding bar. If he's as far ahead of schedule in his development as coaches/caldwell have suggested, he's gotta be pretty close to whatever crazy standard they have set. 

---

It's not just fans though. This team preaches the use of analytics as a good tool for evaluation. PFF had him as one of, if not the best qb this preseason in a ton of statistics. This definition of "ready" is like the "dragon" in the guitar hero episode of south park. He's never gonna quite be "ready" until they literally have no choice but to play him (via Henne injury). "Ready" is a sliding bar. If he's as far ahead of schedule in his development as coaches/caldwell have suggested, he's gotta be pretty close to whatever crazy standard they have set. 

Just a  little emphasis on something you should weigh more heavily. 

---

clfcrn777, you didn't happen by chance to bet the "over" for the Jags season win total, did you? :whistling: 

---