The Jacksonville Jaguars might do something insane with No. 3 overall pick Blake Bortles and not start him Week 1 if they don't feel he's ready. This is breaking news to a lot of people, it seems, despite the fact that the Jaguars have stayed firm on this message since about January.
"[W]e really felt comfortable with him coming back, with a another year in the system," Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley said on NFL Total Access on Tuesday evening. "And I think it gave us flexibility. Then when Blake was there available for us, we really wanted to capture that opportunity. We do feel good about where Blake's at, but we feel like this time that he has under Chad - a year to develop - will be really good in the end result."
The message of Chad Henne being the starting quarterback has been repeated by both Bradley and general manage Dave Caldwell before and after the NFL Draft.
There seems to be a bit of shock at the idea of not starting a first-round pick right away, as if it's never happened before and this line of thinking by Bradley and Caldwell is consistently treated as if it's new news, but it's rather old. As mentioned, it's been the Jaguars stance at the position since January.
Now, personally I think Bortles has a chance to be the opening day starter, but the Jaguars are going to make him earn that rather than just handing him the role. They do not want unrealistic expectations lumped on Bortles, so they're squashing them before they begin by repeatedly saying they would like/prefer him to sit and learn for a bit first.
But hey, the Jaguars might sit Blake Bortles year one. Breaking news?