NFL Pre-Season: Tracking the Quarterback battles

Jacksonville Jaguars – Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne

Someone is going to have to win the Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback job, but will it really make a difference? To be brutally honest, the likelihood is that this team is going to suck regardless. Having said that, let’s take a look at how the race is unfolding anyway.

We’ll start with Blaine Gabbert, who did stand out this past week…just in the worst way possible. The young quarterback threw the ball 10 times in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins; he gained only 19 yards on those throws and threw an interception. That’s appalling by any standard you want to measure him against. Gabbert looked uncomfortable, out of rhythm and pretty much no improvement on the quarterback who was benched at the tail end of last season. With new coach Gus Bradley in town, Gabbert’s position as the starter might be in jeopardy. Bradley didn’t draft Gabbert, and so he will have no problem sitting him on the bench.

That would leave Chad Henne as the starting man. Henne didn’t set the world alight by any means during his snaps, but at least he doesn’t look completely useless. His numbers (8 of 11 for 87 yards) were solid if unspectacular, and he looks like a much safer option under centre for the Jaguars.

With the state of Gabbert’s play at the moment and following on from last season, it’s hard to ignore the fact that right now Henne looks by far the better option in Jacksonville. Although to head coach Gus Bradley, it probably feels more like the lesser of two evils. He’ll be looking for one of them to show a lot more in week 2 against Rex Ryan’s New York Jets.