Blake Bortles may not be a very popular quarterback heading into this season, but there are going to be a lot of people that change their mind about him throughout the year. He showed off a much improved game during preseason action this year and there are plenty of reasons to believe that he can keep up his impressive play throughout the regular season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have put together a much improved offense around Bortles, although a lot of his success was due to his own personal improvement.
Julius Thomas was signed this past offseason in free agency, but will miss a good chunk of the beginning of the season due to an injury. Despite his injury, Bortles still has plenty of targets to throw to that will help him rack up numbers. His Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers’ tough defense is a very difficult first game for him, but he is more than prepared to take on the challenge.
Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson are both going to be major targets for Bortles throughout the 2015 season, while Marqise Lee is also going to step up for his second-year quarterback. Those three targets are going to put up much improved numbers from last season and Thomas will have a big year when he gets back on the field.
At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, there has never been any doubt that he has the body to become something special in the NFL. Jacksonville obviously thought enough of him to make him their No. 3 overall draft pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He didn’t have a good rookie season, but that can’t be held over his head.
Bortles finished the 2014 season with 2,908 passing yards to go along with 11 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He did play well on the ground as well, racking up 419 yards on 56 attempts.
His ability to be a dual-threat quarterback if needed will give the Jaguars’ offense an advantage over most defenses that they face.
Looking at Bortles’ statistics from last season, it is easy to judge him based off his interception numbers. Keep in mind, however, that Jacksonville had no intentions of playing him in the 2014 season when they originally drafted him. They knew that he was not ready to play and that he needed to learn from the sidelines and the film room.
It was obvious that Bortles was overwhelmed by the speed of the NFL defensive backs. He stared down his throws way too often, which usually ended up in an interception. That was his biggest issue and it is something that he looked much better at during preseason action.
Predicting his Week 1 production against a tough Panthers’ defense isn’t easy. He has the potential to go off and have a huge game, or he could have issues once again with the pressure that the Carolina defense can put on him. It all depends on how well his offensive line can protect him throughout the course of the game.
That being said, it is safe to assume that Bortles will come through with a big game in the season opener and prove to his franchise that they made a right decision by drafting him and sticking with him despite a rough rookie season.
Week 1 Prediction: 275 passing yards, 2 TD’s, INT, 25 rushing yards
