Time's up: Jaguars must end Bortles era or risk another lost year
Enough is enough.
Let's not spin this wheel one more time, Jaguars, in hopes that you'll hit the jackpot after three years of disappointment and the occasional mirage of a solid return with Blake Bortles under center.
It doesn't matter that Bortles has the appearance of a franchise quarterback, standing 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds with a big arm and decent athleticism. He simply isn't a starting-caliber quarterback; closing your eyes and sticking your fingers in your ears for the 2017 season isn't going to change that.
Bortles' improvement since entering the NFL in 2014 has been minimal, and as he highlighted again and again during Thursday's preseason game, he's actually somehow regressed, with his footwork, mechanics, and accuracy far below that of a backup quarterback, let alone a franchise pivot.
And the Jaguars know this, with head coach Doug Marrone saying after the game that the starting quarterback job is "up there for grabs."
Best Blake Bortles pass all night pic.twitter.com/rwNfFvoNwQ
- Andrew Fitzpatrick (@FITZaholic5) August 18, 2017
No one should forget that pass. It encapsulates everything that's gone wrong in the Bortles era. The Jaguars have rarely given the young quarterback enough to work with, but even when he's presented with a manageable situation, he crumbles, wasting big opportunities and the substantial talent of Allen Robinson, among others. All the play was missing was for the ball to bounce right into the hands of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defender.
Watch: Jaguars' Robinson berates Bortles for errant pass
Jacksonville has built a roster more than capable of challenging for the AFC South title after two back-to-back offseasons loading up on talent through the draft and free agency. However, no reasonable person can expect a Bortles-led team to challenge teams led by the likes of Andrew Luck and Marcus Mariota, regardless of the standard of the rest of the rosters.
No, it's not all about the quarterback, but it mostly is - especially when that quarterback is more talented at giving the ball to your opponents than your own team.
Bortles' penchant for turnovers doesn't need to be dissected any further. He is who is he. Sixty-three combined interceptions and lost fumbles in three years without being balanced out by any discernible strengths should kill any quarterback's career, even one who was a No. 3 overall pick to a franchise that has rarely seen good play from under center.
"For me, I like to run the ball every play," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone told reporters in June when asked how many passing plays he would like to call each game. "None. Zero. I want to go back to the old way."
The problem is, you can only minimize the quarterback position so much. Marrone might want to hand Leonard Fournette the ball 30 times a game, but the Jaguars will still need Bortles to step up in critical situations.
And if nothing else, Bortles has shown he can't play as a game manager. That label is often an insult, but a game manager must be able to consistently read defenses and not get fooled, keep lost plays to a minimum by focusing on technique and accuracy, and most importantly of all, not put the ball at risk and get it into the hands of playmakers as soon as possible.
Or, as it should be known, the anti-Blake Bortles.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Admittedly, at this stage of the season, the Jaguars might have no other option than to roll with Bortles and hope he gets possessed by the spirit of Johnny Unitas.
Jacksonville passed on Deshaun Watson, and Patrick Mahomes, left it too late to make a run at trading for Alex Smith, and failed to kick Colin Kaepernick's tires.
Backup quarterback Chad Henne has a career passer rating of 75.5, but he's looked like he can actually execute the offense in the preseason, so handing him the starting job and relying on Fournette to have a Rookie of the Year-type season is likely the smartest move.
Foolishly, however, the Jaguars exercised Bortles' fifth-year option, meaning his 2018 cap hit is stuck on the books if he gets hurt. Now, the Jaguars will either have to risk extending this painful era by keeping him active as the backup, or follow the blueprint by the Washington Redskins with Robert Griffin III in 2015 and chain him to the sidelines.
They should opt for the latter, hand the reins over to Henne, and find out how quickly they can get Kaepernick up to speed.
Whether they have the stones to do this, however, remains to be seen. What is certain is that Bortles' time in Jacksonville is over.
The Jaguars just have to decide if they'll declare the time of death now and begin the next chapter, or keep hobbling along on life support for 2017.
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