The Jaguars chose a running back, a wide receiver and a fullback among their seven picks in the 2017 NFL draft, but they didn’t get a quarterback.
So they’re stuck with Blake Bortles for another year.
The Jaguars picked up the fifth-year option on Bortles’ contract, according to Pro Football Talk. That will keep Bortles in Jacksonville through at least 2018 barring injury.
Taken with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft, Bortles is 11-34 as a starter. There were hints of progress in his second season. He threw 35 touchdown passes. His yards per attempt rose to 7.3 and his passer rating was 88.2. In 2016, however, all those numbers declined (23 TDs, 6.2 yards per attempt and a 78.8 rating).
“This is a smart business decision for the team for several reasons,” Jaguars Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tom Coughlin said in a release that was issued by the Jaguars, presumably so that he wouldn’t have to say it out loud and fight the urge to bust out laughing. “It makes sense for us going forward and it’s good for Blake and for the Jaguars.”
With the exception of Mitchell Trubisky, the Jaguars could have drafted any of the quarterbacks in the class with the No. 4 pick but chose LSU running back Leonard Fournette. A lot of quarterback-needy teams probably would have done the same thing considering Fournette’s ceiling.
With the 34th overall pick, Jacksonville could have had DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame or Davis Webb of Cal, among other quarterbacks. In the end the Jaguars decided to wait until next year for what is generally believed to be a better crop of quarterbacks in the draft, and if Bortles somehow improves dramatically in 2017 they don’t have to worry about him becoming a free agent.
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