I think the "lack of talent" thing is overblown. Shorts, 2 highly touted 2nd rounders. The o-line is a concern, but the rest should sort itself out.

As I indicated earlier, I think WR lacks experience, not talent.


What I hope is that young guys on defense have the talent to succeed but are overcompensating and botching assignments. If that is the case and they fix that, then there is room for hope.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Makes sense but even if Blake individually had a good season I think most of us would be thrilled, nobody is expecting this team getting anywhere near playoff contention. 

 

If Blake is the answer everything else will soon fall into place, as it has for the Panthers.

I agree with you here. The question then becomes can Bortles individually have a good season with the talent around him?


With the WRs? Absolutely.


With the OL? That remains to be seen.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Interesting that NE got Tim Wright for a late rnd pick. We could have used some depth at TE. It's been Lewis then a huge dropoff for years

I actually think Harbor can be a good receiving TE for us if Bortles is what we think he is. I see Harbor as sort of a faster Pete Mitchell.


He just needs to stay healthy.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I think the "lack of talent" thing is overblown. Shorts, 2 highly touted 2nd rounders. The o-line is a concern, but the rest should sort itself out.

 

I agree completely, I think there is more talent on this team then is being given credit for.  Observers look at the results and the easy answer is "oh, there's no talent here" but as always, the issue is more complex then that.  There are some talent issues but many of the issues on defense are assignment related (Lags had an interesting segment about this in one of his videos where he breaks down tape).  Specifically in that it seems like at least one player is out of position on nearly every play.  This could be coaching but right now it's more likely the fact that there are a lot of very young players in the secondary who are still learning how to play in the NFL.  Double-D is acting as a mentor for some of those guys to teach them how to do what it takes to understand the game.

 

With that said, yeah there are *some* talent issues on the team, the LB corps definitely needs supplemented as does the OL.  But given that this is only Caldwell's second year and that he was basically starting out by gutting the roster, I think he's done a great job.  Once some of these younger players start to get it, the team performance will improve markedly.

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I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you.

I mean David Garrard made our offense look relatively competent. That's how much of a difference mobility makes. There's waaaay more receiving talent here now than then too. If Bortles is who we think he is, we'll be set.

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The coaches and the fans have seen what Henne could do with the Jags offense, and except for about a quarter and a half against Philly, it wasn't pretty at all.

 

It was downright awful and there was absolutely no reason to think that would have changed anytime in the future.

 

I'm sure the coaches would have preferred to sit BB for longer than 2 1/2 games, but Henne's extremely poor performance really gave them no choice but to make a change.

 

It's BB time now and hopefully he can elevate everybody around him into at least looking like a functioning offense.

 

Henne set the standards pretty low, so it won't really take much to look better than when Henne was in there.

 

At least the Jags should be more entertaining to watch going forward and that's great for us fans.

 

All I have to say is FINALLY.

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I survived the Gus Bradley Error.

Did it really help to for Bortles to not get the starting reps until now? I argued after the first Preseason game that Bortles should be named the starter immediately so he could work with the first string guys from the get go instead of being thrust into the situation a few games in having primarily practiced with the backup guys. You can see from all the drops week one that the WRs haven't had a chance to develop their timing with Bortles.

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'02

Another way to look at this though is how tough mentally Blake is, and/or will become during this season despite the obvious and glaring lack of talent around him on offense. And for those of you who said this front office didn't have a choice, I disagree. There is always a choice. Always. Because as soon as this team gets blown out despite the change at QB, the fair weather fans of this fanbase are still going to complain, gripe, question, doubt, and boo the offense. Period.

 

I fear he may fold. But based on his pre-season performance and grit and ability in the pocket. I am not overly fearful. Let's make things clear, similiar to what happened with Gabbert. Again, it was obvious, the lack of talent on offense around him. The instability of the running game. And the defense wasn't really doing this team any favors as well. The big difference though is just his overall poise and ability IMHO. Gabbert still showed the same tendencies he's always had here in Jacksonville as a 49er during this past pre-season. Meanwhile, we saw Bortles stand right in the face of pressure, get his helmet knocked off, scramble for good gains, shake defenders off and make tough throws on the run, etc. So in that department. I am not concerned.

 

Now, with that said, behind this pass protection (if that's what you want to call it), here is my TRUE fear. The kid is not unbreakable, and he's not superhuman. I am worried that he's going to get rocked around too much in the pocket, and therefore, get knocked out for a prolonged period of time with a bad injury. I hope that doesn't happen. But if we continue to see blown protection like we've had, it could very well end up being the case. Any kind of injury will hinder his development (obviously). So we don't want that. Caldwell and Bradley have made the switch. From now on, it's all about building around his abilities as a QB and building a defense that can get the job done. I assume they're on a four year plan. Last year was year one, this year we're still seeing a young roster develop, next year, it MUST show signs of improvement (nothing less than .500 or better), and then by 2016, we should be expecting legitimate talks of either a wildcard play-off apperance or in the hunt for one during November/December.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

Based on how inadequate the offense has been aside from the early part of the first game of the season, no, they didn't really have a choice. 

 

Right, nobody would have stayed for the second half of the Colts game and likely many would never come back to see Henne & Co.

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He insinuated that Gabbert wouldn't have failed in Jacksonville regardless.


Good article, good stats, but I'll go ahead and discard the opinion.

Does everyone forget the Jags had the #1 rusher in the NFL and the #8 ranked D when Gabbert started?

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This line needs to find a way to give him one more second.  Some how, some way.  That will be the difference.

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I think that's the point.


If you want a rookie QB to have immediate success, he needs talent around him.

 

I don't need or expect immediate success on that level.  I just want to see good offense, moving the ball, taking shots, keeping us in games.  That would show me progress and let all of these rookies grow this year. 

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He's pointing out everything we've all known already.  Other rookie QB's have had it easier because of more talent.  But I think we all knew when Blake was drafted that he may well by the end of the season be the most talented player on our entire team.  Probably sooner than that depending on things.

 

Couple of counter points though:

 

1.  Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson have proven to be more than merely rookie WR's.  They're rookies who look to know what they're doing.  They're still going to have their rookie mistakes, but they both have looked the part of genuine WR's.

 

2.  The oline was horrible with Henne in the game, but I was of the mind that when Blake was in that the line would be better simply because of the player.  Henne isn't a guy who moves well in the pocket or on the run.  Blake does both extremely well.  He's not going to beat a DB in a straight line, but he's got wheels if he needs them.  And he's athletic enough to make great moves inside the pocket.  Not to mention his pocket awareness is one of the things that made him a top pick.

 

3.  The running game is going to be horrible behind any line when opposing defenses are run blitzing on 1st and 2nd down every time.  They had no fear of the passing game with Henne in the game.  With Blake in, that'll be a different story.  Opposing defenses are going to have to back off because Blake will sling it downfield without hesitation.  Having a more even front 7 will make the running game better all by itself.  Not to mention the coaches finally getting Denard on the field more.

 

 

Conclusion - I was of the mind that the only way this team COULD show improvement was to play Blake.  Chad offered you absolutely nothing.  Sure he knew the playbook, but who cares when he can't get through a play, or get the throw off to a hot read WR, or move in the pocket to take a deep shot.  Blake fixes all of these problems.

 

Some talent is there.  Bowanko looked like an actual Center last week.  Robinson and Hurns are very promising.  Denard is coming along nicely and may end up splitting carries more evenly with Toby as the season continues.  Paxtor is almost back at RT so that immediately makes that side of the line better.  And I think Blake is the type of QB that elevates everybody around him.  

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Interesting that NE got Tim Wright for a late rnd pick. We could have used some depth at TE. It's been Lewis then a huge dropoff for years

They also gave up Logan Mankins.

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;

;

Makes sense but even if Blake individually had a good season I think most of us would be thrilled, nobody is expecting this team getting anywhere near playoff contention. 

 

If Blake is the answer everything else will soon fall into place, as it has for the Panthers. 

 

It has?  I'm not even sure Cam is the "answer" there.

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"You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud."

The one arguement that I think stands out is Andrew Luck...

 

 

The c'lots were what 1-15 or something the year prior to Luck.  Then he came in and the team totally turned it around.  One could argue that the talent on that team was pretty pathetic as well...  

 

I think it's a good argument to say that a true QB (or lack there of) can make a huge difference in the way a team looks and performs

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Our 2 allens are going to be stars

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He's pointing out everything we've all known already.  Other rookie QB's have had it easier because of more talent.  But I think we all knew when Blake was drafted that he may well by the end of the season be the most talented player on our entire team.  Probably sooner than that depending on things.

 

Couple of counter points though:

 

1.  Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson have proven to be more than merely rookie WR's.  They're rookies who look to know what they're doing.  They're still going to have their rookie mistakes, but they both have looked the part of genuine WR's.

 

2.  The oline was horrible with Henne in the game, but I was of the mind that when Blake was in that the line would be better simply because of the player.  Henne isn't a guy who moves well in the pocket or on the run.  Blake does both extremely well.  He's not going to beat a DB in a straight line, but he's got wheels if he needs them.  And he's athletic enough to make great moves inside the pocket.  Not to mention his pocket awareness is one of the things that made him a top pick.

 

3.  The running game is going to be horrible behind any line when opposing defenses are run blitzing on 1st and 2nd down every time.  They had no fear of the passing game with Henne in the game.  With Blake in, that'll be a different story.  Opposing defenses are going to have to back off because Blake will sling it downfield without hesitation.  Having a more even front 7 will make the running game better all by itself.  Not to mention the coaches finally getting Denard on the field more.

 

 

Conclusion - I was of the mind that the only way this team COULD show improvement was to play Blake.  Chad offered you absolutely nothing.  Sure he knew the playbook, but who cares when he can't get through a play, or get the throw off to a hot read WR, or move in the pocket to take a deep shot.  Blake fixes all of these problems.

 

Some talent is there.  Bowanko looked like an actual Center last week.  Robinson and Hurns are very promising.  Denard is coming along nicely and may end up splitting carries more evenly with Toby as the season continues.  Paxtor is almost back at RT so that immediately makes that side of the line better.  And I think Blake is the type of QB that elevates everybody around him.  

 

Good points.

 

And, to balance the article, there's also this...

 

https://captaincomeback.files.wordpress....enbort.jpg

 



 

(A thanks to Tony Khan for the tweet.)

 

Everyone will have an opinion either way.  Bortles' future will be defined by Bortles.

 

But there's one thing certain, there's simply nothing not to be encouraged by from his first steps in the league.

 

Expect growing pains.  Expect picks.  Expect highs.  Expect lows.  Expect enthusiasm.  Expect optimism.

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"You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud."

Our receiving corp when healthy is pretty solid. They haven't had the chance to show it much but the unit won't just be route runners with Blake in the game. There is actually a ball to catch. The O-line again looked good in pass pro, running game is what is most concerning.

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No pain, no gain.

I don't think he's being set up for failure.  At least not in the sense that his future will look grim because he started this season.  I have little doubt that we'll have a losing season this year.  But I don't think that will affect his future.  If he's putting up decent stats this year, that'll be a good sign.  Once our defense matures a bit, and we put together some more pieces... then we can start seeing if he can win games.

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I was wrong about Trent Baalke.