The Jacksonville Jaguars have benched Blake Bortles and Cody
Kessler is now the starter — the 17th different quarterback to start a game
under center for this team who has been in search of The Man since their
inception. Steve Beuerlein was the first one to be given a shot
Tashaun Gipson
Color Rush Jersey , Mark Brunell and David Garrard came close to
the mark, and Blake Bortles showed flashes, but none of them were truly
franchise quarterbacks in the sense that they were era defining players. They
were fine and serviceable, bringing this team to the Super Bowl’s doorstep three
times in 23 seasons, but they never quite got over that hump.Kessler is likely
not that guy. I don’t think anyone in Jacksonville has the expectation he’s that
guy. That’s not what you expect out of a guy you traded a Day 3 pick for nine
months ago. But with five games to go and a big question mark at quarterback
this offseason, Kessler can play his way into a bridge role for next season.
That’s a best case scenario.The worst case scenario is that he’s even worse than
Bortles and we have to go back to Blake before the season ends.Personally, my
hope and expectation is that Kessler can run this offense competently enough to
give the Jaguars confidence to draft a quarterback in the first round. Through
the preseason, he didn’t look to have too high a ceiling but he didn’t have too
low a floor either — able to extend drives with third down throws, not turn the
ball over, and lean on his offensive line and running game. And when he was
thrown into a Week 7 matchup against the Houston Texans, he didn’t look that
bad, completing 70 percent of his passes. He’s a dink-and-dunk guy, getting just
5.2 yards per attempt and the pass protection failed him as he took four sacks,
but the play calling dictated that whomever was under center would be throwing
nearly every down.With a week of preparation
Dawuane Smoot
Jersey
