NFL

9 NFL Veterans Whose Jobs Are Safe From 2017 Rookies

Joe Redemann  —  @TheIDPGuy May 12th, 2017
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​Blake Bortles

This was one situation I definitely didn’t see playing out this way at all. Blake Bortles has been consistently one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL since he was drafted third overall in 2014. Coming into the fourth year of his rookie contract, I expected the Jacksonville Jaguars to both decline his fifth-year option and draft a quarterback this year as a safety valve or developmental project; they did neither.

Bortles ended 2016 with a 0.00 Passing NEP per drop back, the 10th lowest among the 39 quarterbacks to drop back at least 100 times and 0.12 worse than the league average.

By hitching the fate of this offense to Bortles’ wagon yet again, the Jaguars are making a risky bet. The Bortles of today isn’t nearly as bad as he was in his rookie year (-0.18 Passing NEP per drop back), but 30th out of 39 still isn't good.

Jerod Evans of Virginia Tech, Cooper Rush from Central Michigan, and Alek Torgersen of Pennsylvania all went undrafted this year; the Jaguars should have selected someone to at least replace Chad Henne.

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