Blake Bortles was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft last year, and the plan was to allow him to learn on the sideline with Chad Henne being the starting quarterback. Unfortunately, the Jacksonville Jaguars did not get their wish and they ended up having to throw their rookie out on the field for 14 regular season games. It didn’t go well for the young quarterback out of the University of Central Florida, but fans should not be discouraged heading into 2015.
During his rookie season, Bortles looked exactly like a player that was surprised by the speed and physicality of the game. Every single rookie in every sport struggles with the same issue, and it isn’t something that should be thought of as a major negative.
Now that he has gone through nearly a full season as the starting quarterback, he understands what the game is all about. The full offseason of work that he was able to put into improving his game will show that he learned from his rookie mistakes, and will allow him to take the next step towards becoming the star that he was expected to be. Jacksonville has to be patient with him, and that was known right when he entered the NFL Draft in the first place.
At just 23 years old, Bortles has an incredibly bright future ahead of him. He is still very young to be asked so much of, but he was very mature despite the struggles as a rookie.
#Jaguars QB Blake Bortles was tied with Aaron Rodgers for the third best quarterback when running the ball according to PFF
— Alex Jacobson (@JacobsonNFL) June 26, 2015
During his rookie season in Jacksonville, Bortles ended up throwing for 2,908 yards, 11 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Obviously the turnover issue was a concern, but it was simply learning how much faster and how much more athletic the defensive backs were at the professional level. His timing was a bit off as well, but all of that can be fixed with coaching and an offseason.
Bortles is the perfect size for an NFL quarterback as well, and is actually more intimidating than most. He stands at 6-foot-5 and weights in at an impressive 232 pounds. That size is exactly what made him so difficult for defenses to bring down, and he actually ended up recording 419 yards on the ground in 2014 as well.
So the question now becomes, what must Bortles improve during the 2015 season in order to take the next step?
First of all, he has to work on reading defenses and making good decisions. He got into major trouble for making quick decisions without reading or watching the defense, and those passes ended up getting picked off and taken back for a defensive touchdown. That cannot happen again in 2015 if the Jaguars are going to make a run at taking the next step in their rebuilding process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQpgtfrRNV0
Becoming more of a leader is something that he needs to do as well, although that will come with more experience. Young quarterbacks always have trouble being a leader in their first season, but it is still one of the most important skills that a quarterback has to have.
There are other areas that he needs to improve from last season, but the majority of them are simply things that will fix themselves with playing time and experience. Jacksonville saw quite a few flashes of brilliance from him last season, and he will show even more during his second year. That being said, it would be naive to expect all of the issues to disappear.
Jacksonville is doing everything they can to move along in their rebuilding process smoothly. They are doing everything in their power to take care of their young quarterback as well. T.J. Yeldon and Denard Robinson will make the run game better than it was last season, and signing star tight end Julius Thomas was a huge addition for the young quarterback as well.
It has been a long time since the Jaguars have had reason to be excited about a season, but they have plenty of reasons to be excited this year. Bortles will take the next step towards being the franchise quarterback that the Jaguars selected him to be, and the team will take a step forward as a whole.
