Last week it was announced by Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone that the starting quarterback job would be up for grabs. This was proceeded by a shaky training camp and two bad preseason performances by incumbent starter Blake Bortles, who would now be competing with veteran backup Chad Henne. Henne got the start over Bortles during the team's third preseason game and many assumed that the job would be his.

Marrone makes surprising announcement that Bortles is the starter

Today, Doug Marrone announced that Blake Bortles would be the Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback for the season opener against the Houston Texans on September 10th.

This news was a surprise as many had assumed that Chad Henne would be the starter due to Bortles' extremely poor play and because the team had already picked up his fifth-year option.

The team picked up the fifth year option on the 2014 first-round pick earlier this year. This meant that they could owe him the $19 million his contract is worth next season if Bortles were to suffer a major injury this season. Due to this many assumed that Bortles could be benched the whole season to prevent this like what the Redskins did in 2015 with Robert Griffin III or just be outright cut.

Instead, Bortles will make his 46th consecutive start. He was happy to hear the news saying that, “I think any time you get named the starter it's a cool feeling.” While his future as the starter for the whole season is not guaranteed, Bortles will have one last chance to prove he has what it takes to be the Jaguars long-term answer.

Awful offensive line helps Bortles keep job

Interestingly enough the Jacksonville Jaguars shaky offensive line, which has been one of the major reasons for their offensive struggles, is why Blake Bortles got the starting nod. Head coach Doug Marrone explained during his press conference that “I look at everything, not just the quarterback position” when discussing why he picked Bortles over Henne.

Marrone went on to say that “I think Blake has the ability to extend plays for us, which I think is going to be helpful in what we have to get done.” That stats back up the fact that Bortles is the more mobile quarterback and could help to extend plays with his legs.

In three seasons, Bortles has 1,088 rushing yards, averaging 6.6 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns. In contrast, Henne only has 360 yards with an average of 3.1 yards per carry and three rushing touchdowns in eight seasons.
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