POLL: Should the Jaguars start Gardner Minshew or Nick Foles?

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has to make a decision during the team’s bye week this week — should the team start rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew or high-priced veteran Nick Foles?

It’s a decision that reaches past this season too and likely further down the road than Marrone will see with this team.

The case for Gardner Minshew

Let’s pretend that Minshew was a first-round draft pick and that this team hadn’t signed Foles to a big contract in the offseason. Would you think the team needs emergency help at the quarterback position? Or would you be encouraged at what Minshew has shown through the first nine weeks of the season?

You’d be encouraged. He’s had three poor games but the six others have been enough to win Rookie of the Week awards. You’d be confident in not just the rest of the season but the rest of his contract and you’d already be scheming up ways to get talent around him while you can keep him at a bargain against the salary cap.

Besides, up to this point, he had statistically been playing to the level of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, and Lamar Jackson in terms of yards per attempt, interception percentage, and completion percentage. Those are veterans who are putting together Pro Bowl and All-Pro years. He’s setting rookie NFL records by the boat load. You let him take his lumps and learn from experiences like today. But the thought of benching him does not even cross your mind.

The case for Nick Foles

This is a make or break year for this front office and coaching staff and you need to win as many games as possible. The difference between an 8-8 season and a 9-7 season could mean sneaking into a Wild Card playoff spot and another year for you to build this team into a contender.

Minshew has been great, but what he showed on Sunday isn’t an anomaly. It’s happened several times this year and even in his great games he’s had stretches where he looks unprepared. Foles isn’t as flashy as Minshew and his ceiling certainly isn’t as high, but he’s consistent and he makes fewer mistakes at this point in his career.

You spent $88 million on him, let’s at least see what we have in a guy who has shown he can perform at the highest level in a Super Bowl.