FanPost

Put Him In

The title is pretty blunt and self explanatory. No tricks. No gimmicks. No clever wordplay. That's because the message needs to be as direct as possible with regards to this topic at hand. It's a topic that won't just impact the Jaguars this season, but rather, five years down the road as well. Hence, the directness of the title. Quite simply, it's time. Put him in.

I'm sure that even non-Jaguar fans can figure out who the 'he' in the title is. Just in case it needs any explanation whatsoever, it's referring to Blake Bortles, the first quarterback taken in the 2014 NFL Draft and the guy pegged to be the future of the Jaguars. Caldwell took a chance by taking his quarterback in the draft, officially starting his clock on the hot seat (for many GMs, once their quarterback is taken, they can start being judged on their impact on the team, and start taking more blame than the previous general manager). In short, his preseason was exceptional. He moved the ball down the field in each of the four games, made impressive throws left and right, displayed great pocket presence, and ended up having a preseason lauded by practically everyone.

Yet, Gus Bradley's stance has not budged. From day one, the message was that Chad Henne is the guy. Now, the message remains the same. Chad Henne is still the guy. Henne signed with the Jaguars in 2012 in free agency, and in each of the past two seasons, has taken over for Blaine Gabbert. While Gabbert was atrocious (it still baffles me how the Texans got Ryan Mallett, a coveted QB prospect coached by Belichick and mentored by Brady, for a conditional seventh rounder, yet the 49ers got Blaine Gabbert, one of the worst busts of all time, for a sixth rounder), Henne wasn't exactly the answer, despite the fact that he was better simply because he didn't duck whenever a pass rusher came within a five foot radius of him. His play over the past few years has been consistent, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Just because someone is consistent doesn't mean that it's good. Henne doesn't surprise me at all. His play on Sunday was unsurprisingly similar to that of every game he's played before that; he has a few plays here and there, but goes 3-and-out often, and has periods where it's impossible to move the football.

After the first quarter, all of Henne's good moments disappeared, and he collapsed. Down went the seventeen point lead, down went the volume of the boos that scattered Lincoln Financial Field every time the Eagles allowed a yard to a team that not many people respect or hold in high regard, and down went the game. And after this loss, it feels as though it's appropriate to state what needs to be stated. Blake Bortles needs to get into the game. He needs to start. Simply put, the coaching staff needs to put him in.

I'll preface this by stating that I am a supporter of Gus Bradley and his philosophy of getting better. He's shown that this is clearly not an act, and that it is truly about getting better and positive enforcement. He's a likable guy (unlike Mike Mularkey) that clearly knows what he is doing and how to get the best out of his players. That being said, sticking with Chad Henne and making him the guy is not just the worst move of his short coaching career so far, but it's one of the stupidest moves on-the-field in franchise history. I've seen quite a few stupid things happen by coaches regarding on-the-field issues, such as Jack del Rio starting a rusty Byron Leftwich over a hot David Garrard in the 2005 playoffs (leading the Jaguars to put up a staggeringly high total of 3 points against New England), Jack del Rio starting Guy Whimper instead of Cameron Bradfield in practically every game of the 2011 season, and Jack del Rio being the head coach when, at the 1-yard line on the last play of the game, the team decided to have Blaine Gabbert throw to Mike Thomas, one of the smallest receivers I've ever seen, instead of run with Maurice Jones-Drew. Amazingly, though, Gus Bradley's move to keep Chad Henne in as the quarterback is slowly climbing the list, and will continue to climb the list with each successive week and each successive loss.

If Gus Bradley had a plan in place for Chad Henne and for Blake Bortles that made sense and was consistent, then I'd respect this plan. Entering the start of training camp, I was fine with having Bortles sit the entire season and have Chad Henne be the stopgap for 2014. But, for a head coach that is psychologically smart (case in point- giving his players the week off during the bye week last season, which then led to a win the following week and a stretch where the team won 4 out of 5 games), there are numerous loopholes and flaws in this plan, and it's gotten to the point where nothing adds up.

At first, the plan was to bench Blake Bortles for the entire season, and to play him when he was ready. This meant that nothing was dependent on Chad Henne and that everything was dependent on Blake Bortles and his progression. Again, that's a smart plan. No matter how bad Chad Henne looks, you never put in Blake Bortles until he is ready, because you don't want a Blaine Gabbert situation on your hands. Let Bortles develop at his own pace, and then once he's ready, insert him into the starting lineup. Remember when Blaine Gabbert came in simply because Luke McCown forgot what team he was on against the Jets, and the decision was entirely dependent on Luke McCown's failures rather than Gabbert's readiness? The coaching staff initially wanted to avoid a situation like that, and if that was the plan, then again, I'd support it.

However, this is where we see the first loophole in the system, because Blake Bortles was the #2 quarterback on the depth chart. Bradley was very adamant about this, and in short, he stated that if Chad Henne went down for whatever reason, Blake Bortles was coming into the game. If the plan was truly to sit Bortles for the entire season or to sit Bortles until he was ready, then Bortles would not have been first in line, because it sets up too many problems with regards to Bortles' development if he is placed into a situation prematurely. If Ricky Stanzi or someone else was made the #2 quarterback while Blake Bortles was made the #3 quarterback (how it was three years ago pre-luncheon), then it would truly show that Bortles was going to take the year to develop, because he would've been an emergency quarterback at best. Here? He's playing if Chad Henne goes down, and with two quarterbacks on the roster now, it's official that he's coming in if Henne gets injured. This means that Bortles is ready enough to enter the game if Henne goes down, but not ready enough to start a game. What difference does that make?

That was the plan at training camp, and the flaw in that plan with regards to Bortles' placement on the depth chart was just discussed. Then, the preseason happened, with Chad Henne playing like Chad Henne, and Blake Bortles looking like the greatest quarterback that this franchise has ever had. In game one against Tampa Bay, Blake Bortles went up against second stringers and looked impressive. Because of this, Bortles got some more work with the second stringers in game two against Chicago, and once again, looked like a first round draft pick. Then, Gus Bradley decided to give Blake Bortles half of a quarter with the first string against Detroit, and then play a quarter or so with the second string in the same game. The results were still impressive- Bortles threw a touchdown, led the team on a two-minute drill with a fake spike thrown in the mix, and he looked ten times better than Chad Henne. In the fourth and final game, Blake Bortles played a quarter with a mix of the ones and twos against Atlanta, and his final throw was a beautiful, deep touchdown pass to Marqise Lee.

From that point on, there were no concerns about being ready. Even analysts on television who believed that rookie quarterbacks should sit a year were stating that Blake Bortles needs to be starting. Blake Bortles said all the right things, saying that he'll go in when the coaching staff feels as though he's ready, and he performed incredibly, taking advantage of his opportunities. He looked like Ben Roethlisberger with regards to his pocket presence, his ability to make the throws under pressure, and his ability to just make magic happen. To put it in simpler terms, he looked like the opposite of Chad Henne. So, he's ready to take over the starting job, right? Enter the second flaw- Henne winning the starting job.

Gus Bradley changed his stance in the middle of all of this, and no matter how you slice it, neither stance leans towards benching Blake Bortles. At first, the stance was that Blake Bortles was going to be playing when he was ready. Midway through, however, the stance was that the quarterback that gave the team the best chance to win football games was going to play. Notice how this stance changed. Now it wasn't about Blake Bortles and his development, but rather, it factored Chad Henne into the equation. Now, it doesn't matter if Blake Bortles is ready or not. If Chad Henne gave the Jaguars a better chance to win, then he'd be in the game playing under center. When developing a philosophy to playing or benching a rookie quarterback, you can't switch your mind halfway through. That's how you end up with the beginnings of the Blaine Gabbert fiasco, where he wasn't ready, the plan was to bench him until he was ready, and then he got inserted into the starting lineup in week three.

This is where the biggest flaw comes in. How does Blake Bortles not pass either of these stances? Is he not ready, or is he simply not better than Chad Henne? Let's examine the first possibility, that he's not ready. To put it bluntly, I'm not buying that for a second. There are two aspects to playing the quarterback position in particular- the mental aspect and the physical aspect. With regards to the physical aspect, he's clearly got it. We saw it in the preseason, and if the coaching staff didn't see it, then they must've put something in the St. John's River that's messing up people's brains. He made throws that, for any quarterback, let alone a rookie, were impressive. He threw zero interceptions. He moved around the pocket and escaped pressure; better yet, he wasn't afraid to take pressure. His throws were down the field and were not check-downs, and on third down situations, he always threw past the yard marker. That nonsense that we've seen for over three years now of throwing three yards on 3rd-and-10 was washed away when Blake Bortles was in the game at quarterback.

From a mental aspect, it's obviously tougher to judge because we, as fans, do not have access to locker rooms, film rooms and the minds of these players. However, based off of comments made after the Jaguars drafted Bortles, it's clear that they drafted him because of his mental ability. From a production standpoint, or even from a physical standpoint, he was not the best quarterback in the draft, and I was very clear about that in the weeks leading up to the draft. Johnny Manziel was always going to be a wild card, but for the most part, Teddy Bridgewater had it all. So, why did the Jaguars not draft Bridgewater? Simply put, when asked, Bradley said something along the lines of Bridgewater being too quiet in the film room. Conversely, when asked about drafting Blake Bortles and the decision behind it, Bradley said something to the likes of Bortles being able to take over a room, and being very vocal in the film sessions.

On top of that, on the field, mental aspects were involved with his play. Taking hits while throwing and looking down the field takes guts and mental toughness. The fake spike called against Detroit took great mental awareness. The constant audibles at the line of scrimmage that he made throughout the preseason took mental awareness. The ability to manage the clock (which he showed especially against Detroit) and look to get appropriate yardage on every play takes smartness. In the film room, he's got great mental awareness (it seems as though it was the main reason as to why the Jaguars drafted him), and on the field, his mental awareness isn't lacking whatsoever. If he has the physical tools and he has the mental tools both on and off the field... then how is he not ready? And doesn't that contradict the original message?

But, let's assume that Bradley really had a change of heart and decided to go with option #2 (which is the option currently in place)- play the quarterback that gives you the best chance to win games. In what world does Chad Henne give you the best chance to win games? Chad Henne gives teams the best chance to win games in the future because he loses so much that they'll get a high draft pick out of it, and be able to build that way. The reason why we all tolerated Chad Henne last year but not this year is because Blaine Gabbert is the only quarterback within reason that Chad Henne is better than. Are there any starting quarterbacks in the league, barring the fiasco in St. Louis where it doesn't look like they're finding a Kurt Warner or grocery store prodigy anytime soon, that Chad Henne is better than right now? At best, Henne is a quality backup that knows the playbook and is easy to predict. Other than that, is there anything else positive to say about Henne on the field?

And this logic was proven when Gus Bradley gave Blake Bortles first team reps in the preseason. Look at game three against Detroit, which was the only time all season that Bortles and Henne each got action with the first team in the same game. When Chad Henne was in the game, the offense put up three points. Those three points were not because of Chad Henne, but rather, because of a play where Andre Branch dropped into coverage and made an interception, giving the Jaguars an incredibly short field to work with. With Blake Bortles in the game for half the time that Henne was, the offense put up 10 points, including an incredible two minute drill where Bortles showed great awareness as to looking down the field, throwing to the sidelines, and even faking everyone out with a fake spike. From that production standpoint, even going from a larger sample, Blake Bortles wins. Yet, he's not the starter.

Ok... maybe it has to do something with the mental aspect of the game. This is a category that Blake Bortles, once again, wins easily. Again, one reason why the Jaguars drafted Blake Bortles was because of his mental awareness and his ability to dissect film and game-like situations. Case in point- the game winning drive he had for UCF against Louisville singlehandedly put him into the first round of the draft, and that's because it showed great mental awareness to convert third down after third down and know where every throw had to go.

As for Chad Henne, no offense to Henne whatsoever, but he might be the stupidest quarterback in terms of mental awareness that's starting right now. The game against Philadelphia highlighted this, especially in the second half when the Jaguars put up zero points. Chad Henne, on practically every third down situation, threw short of the yard marker, and even if the receiver made the catch on certain occasions, the team would still be short of the first down. I don't think I ever saw Blake Bortles this preseason throw a pass that was short of the yard marker on third down. Jacksonville went 2-for-14 on third down situations against Philadelphia, and a large part of that was due to Chad Henne's lack of mental awareness for the situation at hand.

Even stupider is Chad Henne's decision making when it comes to clock management, which also falls under mental awareness. Simply put, he doesn't know how to manage a clock. As bad as Blaine Gabbert was, at least he somewhat knew how to manage a clock in situations, such as the drives in 2012 against Minnesota and Indianapolis. A lot of times, Gabbert was so bad that there would never even be a question as to how to manage the clock (the game would be so out of hand by that point), but in the rare case that the game was close, at the very least, Gabbert was better than Henne in those situations (that's still not saying he's good by any means, because let's get this straight- Blaine Gabbert is probably the worst pick in franchise history, and if the rookie wage scale was not in place, this team would be in shambles right now).

Amazingly, there's a plethora of evidence to back this up with regards to Chad Henne. Remember last season against the Tennessee Titans in the last home game of the season, which was the game where Brad Meester was honored? Everything was going smoothly, as halftime just ended and the Jaguars received the ball off of the kickoff. Chad Henne led his offense out onto the field on the first play from halftime... and then proceeds to call timeout. On the first play out of halftime, the Jaguars wasted a valuable timeout because Chad Henne had no idea what he was doing. Literally zero seconds had run off of the clock, and the Jaguars were down to two timeouts. This timeout management was also painfully showed against the Philadelphia Eagles, where Chad Henne wasted all three timeouts because he couldn't get the play off. If the Jaguars had those timeouts, perhaps they wouldn't have gone for it on fourth down, and perhaps the defense would've been able to get a stop and give the offense the ball back with a reasonable amount of time. Instead, Henne calls timeout on third down situations that were just moronic.

Every now and then, a quarterback has to call timeout on third down situations. I've got no problem with that. However, that normally happens on key third downs, such as third and one, or third and four on the edge of field goal range. When you're calling timeout on third and eighteen, there's no point in that whatsoever. Even if you get the right play call in off of the timeout, what are the odds that you pick up eighteen yards? Does it really make a difference in a situation like 3rd and 18 versus 3rd and 23? Wasting timeouts on plays that have little to no chance at being successful regardless when taking the five yard penalty for delay of game, in the long run, is the better option, shows a lack of mental awareness. With the exception of a situation against Houston in 2012, where Henne called timeout on 3rd and 25 backed up, and then somehow threw a touchdown on the play off of the timeout (the incredibly rare exception to the rule that still baffles me to this day), that has never worked.

We've seen Blake Bortles be able to run a two minute drill. He had a beautiful one in college against ranked Louisville on the road, and he had one in the preseason against Detroit at the end of the half. Can Chad Henne run a two minute drill and manage the clock? No, and that, once again, shows his lack of mental awareness. He did it against Cleveland in 2013 to win the game, but other than that, he hasn't done it, and he's had tons of opportunities. His relief duty against Oakland in 2012, where Chad Henne blew the game after Blaine Gabbert got hurt, and where the Jaguars had a chance to win it in overtime? Couldn't do it. The game against Houston in 2012, which, once again, ran into overtime? Couldn't do it. The game against the Jets in 2012, where the Jaguars were driving and then Henne proceeded to throw an interception with practically no time left? Couldn't do it. The game against the Patriots in 2012? Couldn't do it. The game against the Bills in 2013? Couldn't do it. The game against the Titans in 2013? Ended in an interception on one of the first plays of the drill, so he couldn't do it. If you're keeping track of Henne's tenure with the Jaguars, he's had 7 opportunities to convert a 2-minute drill to either tie or win the game, and he's converted one of them.

That's 14% of his opportunities. And apparently, that's considered to be efficient. Let that sink in for a second- according to Gus Bradley's recent comments, Chad Henne is considered to be efficient. When reading the dictionary to look up the word 'efficient,' it means, according to the dictionary, 'capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy.' Is Chad Henne capable of producing desired results, which, in this case, are wins? He hasn't shown it. Since 2012, when he began his time with the Jaguars, he has recorded 5 wins. In games where Chad Henne has played at least a half, the Jaguars have a record of 5-17, which is a winning percentage of approximately 22%. That means, roughly, that for every game the Jaguars win, they lose four. That's efficient? That's the guy that gives you the best chance to win? The numbers just don't add up whatsoever.

Why does Blake Bortles give the Jaguars the best chance to win? Simply put, he played better and took advantage of his opportunities. Gus Bradley is all about seizing every opportunity you have, and for the most part, he's backed that philosophy up. For example, Allen Hurns was projected as a guy that had a slim chance of making the final roster when he was signed on as a UDFA out of Miami. He then wound up taking advantage of his opportunities, and became the starting wide receiver last week. The Jaguars signed Dekoda Watson in free agency, but he didn't play for a while due to injuries. In stepped LaRoy Reynolds, who took advantage of his opportunities, and he is now the starting OTTO linebacker, despite the fact that the OTTO was a position created specifically for Dekoda Watson to play. Vice versa, Mike Brewster was pegged by practically everyone as the starting center for the Jaguars this year. The coaches praised him prior to the start of training camp, and they said that he would be Meester's replacement. He had a terrible preseason left and right, and he got cut. When you take or don't take advantage of your opportunities, the corresponding results usually happen.

Except when it comes to quarterback. Blake Bortles got his reps with the first team, and played significantly better than Chad Henne. Meanwhile, Chad Henne has had every opportunity under the sun over the past three years to live up to his status as a second round draft pick out of Michigan, and he's been gifted opportunities to a point where it seems as though the only reason he's not losing opportunities is because Henne has blackmail on Bradley. Yet, that's okay? A rookie quarterback who is supposed to be the future of the franchise takes advantage of every single opportunity he is given in games, and a veteran quarterback who is supposed to be the stopgap until the rookie is ready has blown every single opportunity he has been presented with... and the veteran wins? The veteran gives you the best chance to win? It'd be one thing if a tie went to the veteran, but on paper, it seems like a near-unanimous decision with Bortles, and yet, it's not happening.

Even looking past the preseason, Bortles still gives the Jaguars the best chance to win. For one, he's more mobile than Chad Henne, and he knows when to run and take off. The only way Chad Henne ever runs and takes off is if it's designed. People say that Chad Henne should be starting because of the poor offensive line play, but if anything, Bortles helps compensate for that more than Chad Henne does. If a play breaks down with Henne, it's all over. Consider yourself lucky if you don't lose more than two yards. If a play breaks down with Bortles, however, he can escape the pressure and take it to the outside and scramble and run. He adds another dimension to the offense that helps make up for the poor play by the interior of the offensive line, and for that reason, along with the tens of others previously discussed, he gives the Jaguars the best chance to win football games.

Looking from the perspective of growth, how is Bortles going to grow this year, and how are his receivers going to progress long-term by Bortles sitting on the bench? There is some value to sitting a rookie quarterback even if he is ready, because the experience that can be provided just by sitting and learning from the veteran is often valuable. For example, Aaron Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre, and Eli Manning sat behind Kurt Warner. However, there's a major difference between those two scenarios and the scenario involving Blake Bortles right now. Aaron Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre, a quarterback that won a Super Bowl, made it to two Super Bowls, and currently holds the record for most touchdown passes thrown in a career. Eli Manning sat behind Kurt Warner, a guy that made two Super Bowls and won one prior to becoming a member of the New York Giants, and a guy that is bound for the Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible in the very near future. Blake Bortles is sitting behind Chad Henne, who, let's just say, has his flaws. Sitting behind a Hall of Fame quarterback and learning from him? That can be a good experience. Sitting behind a journeyman who is worse than the rookie behind him? Not so much.

Rookie quarterbacks in particular struggle with the speed of the game. Yes, there are thousands of different aspects to playing the quarterback position, and there are a multitude of reasons as to why a quarterback may or may not be ready. But, one thing that a rookie quarterback will never learn by sitting on the bench is the speed of the game. Peyton Manning, arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time and the best one currently in the game today, stated that it was valuable playing in his rookie year, as playing games and learning the speed of the game while on the field led him to not make the same mistakes in later years, enabling the Colts to go on a dynasty by AFC South standards and helping to eliminate Jacksonville's chances of ever winning another division crown with Manning under center in Indianapolis. It doesn't matter how you dissect it- once you're on the field, that's where the value comes in. The value, contrary to what this coaching staff believes, is not in sitting behind a journeyman who can't move the ball down the field, watching him blow drive after drive and then having him hold the clipboard in one hand while looking up at the scoreboard and seeing the team down by three touchdowns due to a lack of offensive efficiency.

Plus, it's only fair to the wide receivers. This is a young wide receiving core, and one of the biggest things with regards to offensive efficiency is the chemistry between a quarterback and his wide receivers. The wide receivers need to adjust and time their routes accordingly depending on who the man under center is. This is a team with three rookie wide receivers that are going to make a significant impact now and in the future- second round picks Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson, and UDFA Allen Hurns. Isn't it important for Bortles to develop connections with his wide receivers now so that they have a lot of time to adjust. The goal in mind is for 2015, as the team is not going anywhere this year with relation to going to the playoffs or contending whatsoever for a Super Bowl. If you let Bortles get adjusted to the speed of the game this year and let him develop a connection with his wide receivers this year, then next year, you'll have a quarterback that has easily adapted to the speed of the game and has developed a solid chemistry with his wide receivers. By that point, the offense will be legitimately good, as all of the kinks will have been worked out in 2014. Here's the key- with regards to chemistry and the speed of the game, the mistakes that Bortles makes this year will be the same exact mistakes Bortles will make if he gets the starting job in 2015. Very few, if any, rookie quarterbacks are superstars from the very beginning. If a quarterback has shown that he's ready enough to take control of the team, then let him take control as soon as possible and let him work everything out now. It won't stunt his development, and it won't waste next season.

Simply put, it's time to make the switch. Blake Bortles has the physical qualities to succeed. He's got the mental abilities and awareness to succeed. He's taken advantage of all of his opportunities, he's as ready as he'll ever be, he's the better option at quarterback when compared to Chad Henne, and Chad Henne has proven nothing in his three years here that shows that he's anything more than a quality backup. Based off of the numbers, the opportunities presented to him, and his play on the field which never seems to change, it's ridiculous to call Chad Henne an efficient quarterback that gives the Jaguars the best chance to win. Make it now before it's too late. If Bortles wasn't ready, I wouldn't advocate for this. I'd be fine sacrificing Chad Henne this year and rolling with him for 2014, taking my losses, so that the rookie quarterback wouldn't be rushed a la Blaine Gabbert in 2011. The opposite, based off of Bortles' readiness and his ability to lead this football team, holds true now.

I like Gus Bradley, but this is a message directed towards him. Want to hold true on your belief that a person that takes advantage of his opportunities deserves to get more reps and a starting spot? Want to have a team that gets better, simply because Bortles can get better and Henne has reached his peak (which is not a very high one)? Better yet, want to win some football games so that we actually have some hope as fans to have a winning record for the first time since 2007 and so that we don't have to worry about the top five players on Todd McShay's draft board every single year when late April/early May rolls around? Then make the switch. It's time. Put. Him. In.

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