The Jacksonville Jaguars may finally be realizing what the rest of the NFL has known all season. Blake Bortles isn’t a starting quarterback.
Week 7 of the NFL season may be looked up on as a pivotal week for the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise. Specifically, it may be the week that the team’s coaching staff finally gave up on Blake Bortles as their starting quarterback.
The warning signs have been gathering for weeks. Some might say they’ve been apparently for his entire career. No matter what you thought previously, this week’s loss to the Texans may have been the final nail in Bortles’ coffin.
The usually confident quarterback freely admitted after the game that he has “no idea” whether or not he’ll start next week against the Eagles. Bortles also told the press that he’s going to keep doing the “same thing” he’s always done in terms of preparation. You should forgive Jaguars fans if that doesn’t give them a ton of confidence.
The harsh reality in Jacksonville is that it doesn’t matter what they do at quarterback for the remainder of the 2018 season. Fans cheered wildly for Cody Kessler when he came into the game in relief of Bortles on Sunday, but the chances of him emerging as a long-term answer at the most important position on the field are pretty slim. At best, Kessler might be able to keep the team afloat for the rest of the year.
No matter what, the Jaguars top priority in the offseason must be to find a superior option to Bortles. The still owe him significant money for 2019, but they can get out of his contract before the 2020 season for just $5 million in dead cap. The plan for the team moving forward should be to exercise that contract provision.
The front office should certainly entertain veteran options in the offseason, but they may be forced to find a new starting quarterback in the draft. That’s always a risky proposition, but they cannot afford to look the rest of their roster in the face and tell them that Bortles is the future of the offense any longer. It’s simply a slap in the face to Jalen Ramsey and the more talented players on the roster.
Unfortunately, the Jaguars probably aren’t going to be in position to draft a prospect like Justin Herbert. The Giants and Raiders should end up with worse records and each team needs to find a franchise signal caller as well. That will put pressure on the Jaguars’ scouting staff to properly evaluate the next tier of signal callers. Players like Ryan Finley, Drew Lock and Dwayne Haskins should get loads of attention from Jacksonville in the pre draft process.
Even if Bortles starts against the Eagles next week, his days in charge of the Jacksonville offense are numbered. The team finally understands they can’t win a Super Bowl with him at the helm.