Blake Bortles thinks he's a better quarterback than last year

After an average rookie season for the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2014 first-round pick Blake Bortles has noticed some major changes in his game after offseason workouts.

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Getting selected No. 3 overall in the NFL draft comes with some serious expectations. For Blake Bortles, the high bar was set, but he didn’t quite reach it because of the poor team surrounding him as well as some questionable decisions on the field.

While we can’t blame the Jacksonville Jaguars for his performance last year, although it wasn’t terrible, we can say he has some room for major improvements.

Bortles has the skill set to become a big-time quarterback in this league, he just has to put it all together — the accuracy, decision-making and vision. In 2014, Bortles had a solid rookie campaign, but didn’t exactly set the world on fire, passing for 2,908 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games. Where he got into real trouble were his turnovers — he threw 17 picks and fumbled the ball three times, losing one.

Having one of the worst teams in football, going 3-13 with a -163 point differential, the Jaguars knew they had to surround Bortles with some support on offense.

Jacksonville added tight end Julius Thomas this offseason, drafted wide out Rashad Greene and running back T.J. Yeldon and have young up-and-coming receivers Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson on top of a hopeful rule follower in Justin Blackmon.

This team has some pieces in place to contend in the next couple of seasons and Bortles’ offseason workouts have helped him see a ‘big difference’ in his game, according to ESPN.

"“To me, it’s a big difference. To the guys that I worked with it’s a big difference. It’s just more efficient. It’s better. It’s something when I was able to talk to [offensive coordinator Greg Olson] a while back, there were things we wanted to work on to fix. It was good because we were on the same page with things I was trying to fix anyways.”"

This has to be exciting for Jaguars fans and the coaching staff. His teammates know what kind of talent he possesses, so it was only a matter of time before he saw improvement.

Bortles seems to be poised to lead Jacksonville out of the basement of the league and into contention in the next few seasons. To say the Jaguars would be playoff contenders in 2015 may be a little premature, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this team was battling for at least a wild card spot by 2016.

Watch out for this young quarterback.

H/T: Pro Football Talk

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Blake Bortles thinks he’s a better quarterback than last year

By Connor Muldowney | May 27, 2015

After an average rookie season for the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2014 first-round pick Blake Bortles has noticed some major changes in his game after offseason workouts.

More from Jacksonville Jaguars