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The Jacksonville Jaguars have been splitting reps between quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne, as both compete for the starting position. Most people who cover the team in depth and have been to training camp and practices seem to feel like Gabbert is going to wind up the starting quarterback, to which I would be inclined to agree.
Jaguars offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch has some experience coaching up quarterbacks and thinks he can get the job done with Gabbert. For lack of a better term, Fisch thinks he can fix him.
Breaking Down Fisch
Eric Stoner breaks down some of the repeated concepts from Jedd Fisch's tenure as the offensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes.
"I think one of the main reasons is my experience in coaching college football, and the commitment you have to make to a young quarterback. Blaine is the same age as the last two college quarterbacks I had (Adam Weber, Stephen Morris). Blaine is 23 and has two years of NFL experience already," Fisch told Greg Bedard of Monday Morning Quarterback.
Fisch spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes, coaching quarterbacks such as Jacory Harris and Stephen Morris, the latter of which wasn't considered a big time recruit. Gabbert's age is usually one of the first lines of defense brought up for him, which makes sense because it leans to his potential upside that's still available.
The biggest thing right now with Gabbert and Fisch is that it appears Gabbert is finally comfortable, despite having his third different offense in three seasons. In the past, there were apparently issues of trust between Gabbert and the offensive coordinator, but Fisch says that relationship is now there.
"You learn how to build relationships with players. My relationship with Matt (Hasselbeck in Seattle) was extremely strong also because he trusted that anything I asked him to do was what I thought would be in his best interest to get better," Fisch told Bedard. "I think the No. 1 thing Blaine needed was trust, that people believed in him and that he believed in the people that were coaching him. We're building that.
"And I love his physical tools."
That last line from Fisch is another big reason why the Jaguars are likely to roll the dice with Gabbert once again, every physical trait that NFL teams look for in a quarterback Gabbert possesses.