Chad Henne Still On Roster For Leadership, Experience
- Some are wondering why Chad Henne is still on the Jaguars roster even though he does not have a pass attempt since 2014, but Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union has a succinct answer. O’Halloran says, “Henne has experience in many offenses. He has experience working with new coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. And he has accepted being a sounding board for Blake Bortles. That’s why [he] is here.” Of course, as we heard last month, second-year player Brandon Allen could unseat Henne with an impressive preseason.
DiRocco: Bortles May Have Hoyer/Kitna Ceiling?
- Blake Bortles will again enter a season as the Jaguars‘ starting quarterback. But after more positive stances about the fourth-year passer’s potential surfaced last summer following a 2015 season of 35 touchdown passes, he’s on the quarterback hot seat, so to speak, after a brutal 2016. Bortles’ finish to the 2016 season, one that featured just one interception in the campaign’s final month compared to 15 in the three prior months, encourages Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, to a point. DiRocco noted Bortles’ mechanics are still poor and that his ceiling may be on the Brian Hoyer/Jon Kitna tier, which may mean the Jags are going to have to look at this position hard come 2018. But the limiting of the turnovers were a positive sign.
Make-Or-Break Year: Blake Bortles
Quarterback Blake Bortles is under Jaguars control for the next two years, but it’s reasonable to suggest he’s entering the quintessential make-or-break season. The Jaguars decided in May to pick up Bortles’ fifth-year option for 2018, which will cost them upward of $19MM if he plays the season under it, though that’s guaranteed for injury only. That means they’ll be able to end the Bortles experiment next offseason if he struggles through 2017 but emerges with his health intact.
Staying on the field hasn’t been an issue to this point for Bortles, who has appeared in no fewer than 14 games in any of his three seasons and played full slates in each of the previous two years. While Bortles has shown durability, his run-of-the-mill output leaves questions as to whether he’ll end up as Jacksonville’s long-term solution under center. Bortles starred at Central Florida from 2012-13, leading the quarterback-starved Jaguars to use the third overall pick on him in 2014, but he hasn’t lived up to his draft slot in the pros.
At his best, Bortles showed real promise in 2015, his second season, when he fired the NFL’s second-most touchdowns (35, one behind Tom Brady) and amassed the league’s seventh-most passing yards (4,428, on 7.3 yards per attempt). He also averaged an outstanding 6.0 yards per carry and added two more scores on 52 rushes. Bortles’ performance that year came with negatives, namely the league’s fifth-worst completion rate (58.6 percent) and highest interception total (18), but it still looked as if the Jaguars had a legitimate building block on their hands.
The Jags went just 5-11 in 2015, but thanks to Bortles’ progress and an action-packed offseason, the club went into last year as a somewhat popular pick to push for a playoff spot. Instead, both the team and Bortles flopped en route to a 3-13 mark, and the QB was among the main reasons for its awful season. Even though Bortles took a career-low 34 sacks – down from 55 as a rookie and 51 in 2015 – and was once again a threat on the ground (6.2 YPC, three TDs on 58 carries), there was a notable decline in his production as a passer. The 6-foot-5, 232-pounder threw for 23 scores, 12 fewer than he tossed as a sophomore, against 16 INTs, saw his YPA drop over a yard (6.2), and completed under 59 percent of attempts for the third straight year.
Toward the end of their nightmarish 2016, the Jaguars fired head coach Gus Bradley. At the time, general manager Dave Caldwell suggested that Bradley’s successor could pick a different quarterback. But the Jags then tabbed ex-Bradley assistant Doug Marrone as his replacement, and both Marrone and Caldwell’s new superior, executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin, quickly showed confidence in Bortles.
The Coughlin-led Jaguars went to work in the offseason to ensure Bortles would have more at his disposal in his age-25 year than he did in any of his first three campaigns. Jacksonville used its first-round pick (No. 4 overall) on former LSU running back Leonard Fournette, who should add another dimension to an offense that finished a below-average 17th in yards per carry and a far worse 29th in rushing DVOA last season. The Jaguars also reinforced their offensive line, adding veteran bookend Branden Albert and second-round tackle Cam Robinson to a group that already had capable starters in center Brandon Linder, guards Patrick Omameh and A.J. Cann, and right tackle Jermey Parnell.
With Fournette, improved personnel along the line and the established wide receiver trio of Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns returning, it should be harder than ever for Bortles to fail. If he does, the Jaguars would be within reason to cut the cord and go back to the drawing board at the game’s foremost position next offseason. At that point, Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Tyrod Taylor and Alex Smith could be among the league’s free agents and the likes of USC’s Sam Darnold, Wyoming’s Josh Allen and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson may offer enticing options in the draft.
Gabe Jackson Deal Could Be Brandon Linder Blueprint
- Although they play slightly different positions, Jaguars center Brandon Linder could use Raiders guard Gabe Jackson‘s recent five-year, $56MM extension as a benchmark in negotiations, opines Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. The 25-year-old Linder graded as the NFL’s No. 5 center in 2016, per Pro Football Focus, but he’s slated to earn just $1.797MM next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the spring. As O’Halloran notes, Linder and Jackson were selected just 12 spots apart in the third round of the 2014 draft. Because he wasn’t a first-round choice, Linder isn’t eligible for a fifth-year option in 2017, and the franchise tag isn’t an option for an interior lineman.
- In case you missed it, we rounded up several AFC notes earlier today, with items on the Jaguars, Jets, and Ravens.
AFC Notes: Jaguars, Bortles, Jets, Ravens
Is Blake Bortles a lost cause for the Jaguars? Mike Wells of ESPN.com seems to think so, writing that the team made a big mistake by exercising his fifth-year option for $19MM+ in 2018. Making matters worse, he writes, the Jaguars did not bring in a quarterback to compete with him and push him to perform better this offseason. Jags beat writer Michael DiRocco, meanwhile, has given up on the notion that Bortles can be an elite quarterback, saying that his ceiling could be in the Brian Hoyer/Matt Cassel/Jon Kitna range.
In his three NFL seasons, Bortles has 69 touchdowns against 51 interceptions with an 11-34 record. The onus is now on the 25-year-old to prove that he should be the man under center for Jacksonville. If not, he might be looking for work elsewhere after this season since the fifth-year option is guaranteed for injury only.
Here’s more out of the AFC:
- Tackle Ben Ijalana now has to prove that he is worth the Jets‘ $11MM investment, Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. Last year, Ijalana stepped into the left tackle spot after Ryan Clady went down and wound up making 13 starts. This offseason, the Jets gave him a two-year, $11MM deal to keep him in the fold. Given the lack of playing time he saw in his first few seasons, it’s hard to know exactly what the Jets have in Ijalana, even though he put in significant minutes in all 16 games last season. There’s also the advanced metrics to consider. Ijalana earned a 47.6 overall score from Pro Football Focus last year, ranking him as the No. 60 tackle in the NFL last year out of 78 qualified players.
- After re-signing with the Ravens on a five-year, $52.5MM contract, Brandon Williams says he wants to be more of an every down player, ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley writes. “I need to get my sacks up,” Williams said. “I need to get my pass-rushing up. I am excited. I just had a meeting with our D-line coach, Coach [Joe] Cullen yesterday, about me kind of fine-tuning. I have the run-stop. I could still work on it, obviously, but I’m more just trying to work on my pass rush, trying to get out there and do the best I can.” Williams has had only 4.5 sacks in his four NFL seasons. Last season, ten interior lineman had five or more sacks and that’s a group that Williams is presumably hoping to join. His deal, which averages $10.8MM per season, is the highest of any nose tackle in the NFL and puts him No. 8 among all defensive tackles.
- Who do you think should be the Browns‘ starting quarterback in 2017? Click here to weigh in.
Could Jaguars Suffer From Lack Of Leadership In 2017?
- The Jaguars have spent over $800MM on free agents since 2011, but they only have 22 wins to show for it, as Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders writes. One of the problems, according to Cummings, is that all of that spending and the turnover it engenders creates uncertain leadership, and even leadership voids, in the locker room. This year, Jacksonville parted ways with a number of defensive veterans, and Roy Miller, who was a part of that purge, believes the departure of those players could mean that the Jags will once again be lacking leadership. Indeed, defense was not the team’s problem last year, and Cumming seems to think there may be something to Miller’s admittedly biased theory.
Breer: Jags' Offseason Acquisitions Should Provide Clarity On Bortles
- The Jaguars acquisition of rookie running back Leonard Fournette, rookie lineman Cam Robinson, and veteran offensive tackle Branden Albert should give the organization some clarity on quarterback Blake Bortles, writes Breer. The 25-year-old, who seemingly took a step back last season following a breakout 2015 campaign, had his fifth-year option for 2018 picked up earlier this offseason.
[SOURCE LINK]
Former Jags DT Roy Miller Drawing Interest
It’s almost July and Jaguars free agent defensive tackle Roy Miller remains on the open market. According to the player, that could be changing soon. Miller claims that he’ll soon be visiting interested clubs. 
[RELATED: Branden Albert Not A Lock To Start For Jaguars]
“There’s a few teams that have shown some interest here and there,” Miller told Mike Kaye of First Coast News. “I believe my agent has a few – there’s a couple of trips I have to take – this month. It was always [the plan] to kind of wait until mid-July, so I can go out there with enough time to heal and time to get back in shape and then go out there and compete.”
Miller made 50 starts for the Jaguars from 2013 through 2016. Unfortunately, his 2016 campaign ended early when he suffered a torn ACL in Week 6 against the Raiders. The 29-year-old (30 in July) was expecting the Jaguars to circle back to him, but Jacksonville did not show interest in retaining him. At least he’s not alone in that regard – the Jags also moved on from defenders Sen’Derrick Marks, Tyson Alualu, Jared Odrick, Davon House, and Dan Skuta.
Now that he’s healthy, Miller might finally be able to find work for 2017.
Branden Albert Not A Lock To Start
- After Branden Albert ended his holdout and reported to Jaguars minicamp earlier this month, vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin told the left tackle that he looked heavier than before, according to Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders. Moreover, the out-of-shape Albert failed to impress the team’s coaches on the field, per Cummings, who notes that he’s far from a lock to start. Albert, whom the Jaguars acquired via trade from the Dolphins over the winter, will have to beat out second-rounder Cam Robinson. For now, Robinson is the front-runner for the job, suggests Cummings. At right tackle, Jacksonville has Jermey Parnell – a 16-game starter last year who ranked 31st among Pro Football Focus’ 78 qualified tackles (Albert was 65th).
Jags Could Use RG3 Treatment On Blake Bortles
- If Blake Bortles struggles to begin the 2017 season, the Jaguars could choose to employ the Robert Griffin III treatment: pluck Bortles on the bench so an injury doesn’t require the club to pay its quarterback nearly $20MM in 2018 under the terms of his fifth-year option, per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. Fifth-year options are guaranteed for injury only, meaning Jacksonville could cut Bortles before the 2018 league year unless he can’t pass a physical. Washington didn’t allow RG3 to see the field in 2015 for fear that an injury would cost it significant money.