What up Duval!? I'm a new member from Columbia, SC and a long time Jaguars and SC Gamecocks fan which has been a life time struggle. Literally no other Jags fans in my neck of the woods, and games are only available via Sunday Ticket in my area, so I get zero educated opinion on anything related to the team. Was wondering what you all think about Blake Bortles in the future? I know his 5th year option was exercised in the off-season. If he continues to play this well, what should the Jags do with him and in the draft? Would multiple playoff wins this season change your perspective on him?

I am certain this has been discussed in detail here, but again I am new and I am happy to have a place to discuss the team now. Finally having a bunch of fun with this team and hopeful for a run in the playoffs.

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Welcome. My wife is from Columbia SC and is a gamecock fan too. Personally, I think if Bortles ever puts together a strong run likes he's had the past 2 weeks the team will bring him back next year. That's been his big knock. He will put together an outstanding game then have a clunker. He's had a couple this year (Tenn, NYJ, Cards) but some darn good ones too (Pitt, Balt, Indyx2, and now Seahawks). He has also cut down on the turnovers which helps immensely. I think they keep him, bring in a QB in rd 1 or 2, and see what next year holds.

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“Motivation alone is not enough.  If you have an idiot and you motivate him,now you have a motivated idiot.” Jim Rohn

 

If Bortles continues to play as he has this season I see no reason why they don't keep him and build around him.

I would much rather use that 1st round pick on an OL or TE or just BAP than spend it on a QB.

Bortles is young, showing improvement and incredibly durable. This team does not need a superstar QB to be successful. Blake Bortles 2017 is exactly what this team needs. If he can keep this going I expect Bortles to be the guy next year with a QB drafted in the mid to late rounds.

Welcome aboard sir!

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Welcome.  My wife is from Columbia SC and is a gamecock fan too.  Personally, I think if Bortles ever puts together a strong run likes he's had the past 2 weeks the team will bring him back next year.  That's been his big knock.  He will put together an outstanding game then have a clunker.  He's had a couple this year (Tenn, NYJ, Cards) but some darn good ones too (Pitt, Balt, Indyx2, and now Seahawks).  He has also cut down on the turnovers which helps immensely.  I think they keep him, bring in a QB in rd 1 or 2, and see what next year holds.

I appreciate it and I believe that is what should happen. He has faced some much deserved criticism, but improved run game has helped to take pressure off for sure. I just think that it is so hard to play QB in this league that you have to take the good with the bad sometimes. I would not consider him a miss at this point and although he is not elite, he is good enough to help win games. I also think his ability to use his legs is undervalued. Would be interested to see what Allen Robinson can do to contribute to his improvement as a quarterback next year

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Welcome to the board. Glad you are a Jags fan... but the gamecocks... ugh... LOL Seriously, I'm a Georgia fan and don't really have a problem with the gamecocks other than that freaking rooster crowing sound they play constantly when the games are on TV.

Bortles has improved quite a bit the past few weeks, but his price tag for next year is $19 Million. I think for him to stick around he's going to have to negotiate a deal that brings that number down.

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Welcome aboard!

Just want to give you an advanced warning. We have a member on here named "JaguarsWoman" and her posts will give you migraines. So keep a bottle of Tylenol nearby when you browse the forums.

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If Bortles continues to play as he has this season I see no reason why they don't keep him and build around him.

I would much rather use that 1st round pick on an OL or TE or just BAP than spend it on a QB.

Bortles is young, showing improvement and incredibly durable. This team does not need a superstar QB to be successful. Blake Bortles 2017 is exactly what this team needs. If he can keep this going I expect Bortles to be the guy next year with a QB drafted in the mid to late rounds.

Welcome aboard sir!

I appreciate it and great post. I agree

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I think Bortles gets the option or maybe a new offer as long as he doesn't fall off a cliff production-wise between now and the end of the Jags post-season.

At this point - I still lean toward drafting a QB early until Bortles convinces me that he's raised the bar permanently. I'd love for him to finish strong enough to make that unnecessary, but we've a ways to go yet.

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Welcome to the board. Glad you are a Jags fan... but the gamecocks... ugh... LOL Seriously, I'm a Georgia fan and don't really have a problem with the gamecocks other than that freaking rooster crowing sound they play constantly when the games are on TV.

Bortles has improved quite a bit the past few weeks, but his price tag for next year is $19 Million. I think for him to stick around he's going to have to negotiate a deal that brings that number down.

It could be much worse than a rooster crowing! That's the nicest insult I have ever had from a Dawg fan. It could be worse... imagine not having first choice on elite recruits in the area...or having your in state rival dominate you in every aspect of a college football program....hopefully time heals all! In Muschamp We Trust.

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Welcome.  My wife is from Columbia SC and is a gamecock fan too.  Personally, I think if Bortles ever puts together a strong run likes he's had the past 2 weeks the team will bring him back next year.  That's been his big knock.  He will put together an outstanding game then have a clunker.  He's had a couple this year (Tenn, NYJ, Cards) but some darn good ones too (Pitt, Balt, Indyx2, and now Seahawks).  He has also cut down on the turnovers which helps immensely.  I think they keep him, bring in a QB in rd 1 or 2, and see what next year holds.

Umm.. He didn't even throw for a 100 yards against Pitt. He did not have a good game there.

I would say Baltimore, Indy twice, Cincy and Seattle.

Loving Blake right now though.

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Welcome aboard!

Just want to give you an advanced warning. We have a member on here named "JaguarsWoman" and her posts will give you migraines. So keep a bottle of Tylenol nearby when you browse the forums.

Noted. Thanks for looking out

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Welcome.  My wife is from Columbia SC and is a gamecock fan too.  Personally, I think if Bortles ever puts together a strong run likes he's had the past 2 weeks the team will bring him back next year.  That's been his big knock.  He will put together an outstanding game then have a clunker.  He's had a couple this year (Tenn, NYJ, Cards) but some darn good ones too (Pitt, Balt, Indyx2, and now Seahawks).  He has also cut down on the turnovers which helps immensely.  I think they keep him, bring in a QB in rd 1 or 2, and see what next year holds.

Umm.. He didn't even throw for a 100 yards against Pitt. He did not have a good game there.

I would say Baltimore, Indy twice, Cincy and Seattle.

Loving Blake right now though.

Saying he didn't have a good game against the steelers is a bit misleading.  They just didn't let him throw the ball in that one. He only threw 14 passes.

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I'd be shocked if Bortles gets a deal as it wouldn't be a 1 year deal at a lower price to replace the option, it would be a multi-year deal with guarantees that exceed the option year price tag and why would they do that based on his entire body of work to date? So he'll either get cut (looking less likely as this team ascends) or the option will be kept and he'll be evaluated again next year and then we could tag him a couple years in a row after that. They won't and shouldn't hesitate to use the tag on him for multiple years because if they eventually find that they have their franchise QB in him, they'll happily pay him a yearly salary that is comparable to the franchise tag when the time comes. Allowing it to play out under the option and then the tag is the most sensible approach if they decide to retain him unless they're seeing that he's been more lucky than good this year and decide to go another direction in the offseason. He's played well in recent weeks, but I think we all (or vast majority at least) need to see it continue to be on board with him having a future here. We've won games in spite of him earlier this year and that probably won't fly going forward with Coughlin if that starts happening again between now and February, especially with better options potentially available in free agency.

Frankly, I've seen enough out of Cousins to be comfortable with the team deciding to pay him the salary he'll command in the offseason and I wasn't there with him last year, but he's performing at a high level even though they got rid of all his starting receivers from the year prior and Jordan Reed has been injured and unavailable more often than not. If that happens, then they are most assuredly not holding on to that 5th year option with Bortles. A lot of intrigue for the upcoming offseason, but we've got plenty of intrigue left in this season as well.

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The last few weeks of the season+ the playoffs will decide Bortles fate. If he continues to play like he has the rest of the year how could we not pick up his option?

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Welcome.  My wife is from Columbia SC and is a gamecock fan too.  Personally, I think if Bortles ever puts together a strong run likes he's had the past 2 weeks the team will bring him back next year.  That's been his big knock.  He will put together an outstanding game then have a clunker.  He's had a couple this year (Tenn, NYJ, Cards) but some darn good ones too (Pitt, Balt, Indyx2, and now Seahawks).  He has also cut down on the turnovers which helps immensely.  I think they keep him, bring in a QB in rd 1 or 2, and see what next year holds.

Umm.. He didn't even throw for a 100 yards against Pitt. He did not have a good game there.

I would say Baltimore, Indy twice, Cincy and Seattle.

Loving Blake right now though.

You're right.  AFC North confusion there.  Cincy was a good game.....Pitt was the game where he only had like 15 attempts.  He has had major improvements this year.  Just cutting down on the back breaking turnovers has helped the record immensely. He's also had a few games where he isn't getting obliterated as soon as the ball is snapped and able to let a play develop. That's helped too.

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“Motivation alone is not enough.  If you have an idiot and you motivate him,now you have a motivated idiot.” Jim Rohn

 

Also, interesting coincidence that Manning gets benched a couple of weeks ago and all kinds of talk about him coming here next year and Blake plays at a higher level since then. I know it's a very small sample size of games, but most here have long believed that Henne doesn't provide any sort of threat to the starting job and doesn't give Blake any sort of push that a lot of people need to get the most out of themselves. If they decide to roll with Blake next year on the option, I think they will still draft a QB high as they should. If Blake holds on to the job, nothing prevents us from trading that QB draftee a couple of years down the road for another high pick or picks as long as he isn't a head case.

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Umm.. He didn't even throw for a 100 yards against Pitt. He did not have a good game there.

I would say Baltimore, Indy twice, Cincy and Seattle.

Loving Blake right now though.

Saying he didn't have a good game against the steelers is a bit misleading.  They just didn't let him throw the ball in that one. He only threw 14 passes.

I guess it could be misleading but it's almost as though he didn't even play in that game lol

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100% Bortles will be the starting QB week 1 next year. No matter how the rest of the year pans out. This will be a guarantee.

Edit: In no way was I ok with this move, but he's easily in the top 15/20 QB spots for the league so in all honesty unless you're gonna get someone that's a top 5 QB each year like Brady/Brees/Rogers, it's not gonna do much for the team.

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100% Bortles will be the starting QB week 1 next year. No matter how the rest of the year pans out. This will be a guarantee.

And you sir are 100% correct about that. (unless injured) 

I just hope Henne is gone. And they draft a guy in say the 3rd round .

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Jaguars | Pacers | Purdue | Team USA

 

 

 

Also, interesting coincidence that Manning gets benched a couple of weeks ago and all kinds of talk about him coming here next year and Blake plays at a higher level since then.  I know it's a very small sample size of games, but most here have long believed that Henne doesn't provide any sort of threat to the starting job and doesn't give Blake any sort of push that a lot of people need to get the most out of themselves.  If they decide to roll with Blake next year on the option, I think they will still draft a QB high as they should.  If Blake holds on to the job, nothing prevents us from trading that QB draftee a couple of years down the road for another high pick or picks as long as he isn't a head case.

If this whole time Bortles was actually good enough to fight off someone like Eli Manning and just didn't give a [BLEEP] until he was forced to prove it, I hate him lol.. I know that's not the actual case but it's pretty funny how out of nowhere Bortles could throw tight spirals and beaitiful rainbow TD passes like last weak all of a sudden.

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