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Although it wasn't expected, Jaguars QB Blake Bortles has been named to the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015, grabbing the 56th spot.
After tossing 35 touchdowns and passing for 4,428 yards last season, Bortles definitely deserves praise. 2015 was his first season in which he entered the year as a starter after starting his rookie year on the sidelines in 2014, although he was named starter in week four that year.
With such a quick transition from the bench to being named starter, as well as a lot of work to be done in the 2015 offseason to fine-tune his game, I'm not sure if anyone expected quite the season that Bortles had. However, he went on to be potentially the most entertaining player on the Jaguars' offense and finished 2nd in the NFL in passing touchdowns, just one behind Tom Brady's 36.
While Bortles definitely deserves recognition for the season he put together in 2015, not many expected him to be ranked this high on the Top 100 list -- or even for him to make it at all. With five spots in total for the Jaguars, and three of them already occupied by Allen Hurns, Telvin Smith, and Chris Ivory, it seemed as if Allen Robinson and Malik Jackson would be the final two players to make the list...
... and it looks like we thought wrong -- which is fine by me.
Jacksonville hasn't had a quarterback to brag about quite like Bortles in a long time. For Bortles to make the Top 100 list in only his second season, there is definitely a lot to be excited about for his future.
Oh, and not to get to get too cocky, but this means Blake is the highest ranked QB from the AFC South in 2015. Eat that, Andrew Luck.