QB Blaine Gabbert, Jacksonville Jaguars

HT: 6-4, WT: 234, Born: 10-15-1989, College: Missouri, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 10

2013 Projections

Outlook

The Jaguars invested a tiny fortune in Blaine Gabbert back in 2011 when they traded up in the draft to secure him. Ever since then the teams management has backed Gabbert through his rough 2 year career. Entering his third year with the Jaguars, team GM David Caldwell supports Gabbert even further by saying he has a "fair chance" to prove himself in 2013. Caldwell went on to not draft a quarterback in the draft and helped fix the offensive line with selecting offensive tackle, Luke Joeckel with the #2 overall pick. The Jaguars are showing their faith in Gabbert, and now it is up to him to return the favor with his play on the field. A quarterback battle is expected in Jacksonville as Chad Henne played well in Gabbert's absence to end the 2012 season. The one big knock on Gabbert is that some say he plays "scared", and that shows from his lack luster stats, as he only averaged 166 passing yards a game last season. For him to rebound his young career, he will need to show better poise, leadership and most of all confidence in himself.

Latest News

Jaguars | Blaine Gabbert expected to start (Sun Jun 16, 12:17 PM) - Jacksonville Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert is expected to be the starting quarterback Week 1 unless he performs very badly in training camp and preseason.

Our View: Gabbert performing badly in training camp and the preseason is not out of the question. He's been struggling in minicamp so things may not get better when the team puts shoulder pads on. Gabbert could be replaced by veteran Chad Henne as the team's starter at any time. It's a make or break season for the 2011 first-round pick and this could be his last season with the Jaguars.
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Jaguars | Likely will keep two QBs (Sun Jun 16, 12:12 PM) - The Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to keep QBs Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne on their final roster. QBs Matt Scott and Jordan Rodgers could be options for the practice squad.

Our View: Scott is an interesting prospect to keep an eye on in super deep dynasty leagues. He's incredibly athletic and has a strong arm but struggles with accuracy and decision making. Rodgers is the younger brother of Packers superstar QB Aaron Rodgers. He's a backup caliber player who has little upside as a starter.
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Jaguars | GM fine with taking five QBs to camp (Sat Jun 15, 12:44 PM) - Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said he has no problem with taking five quarterbacks at training camp. QBs Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne, Mike Kafka, Jordan Rodgers and Matt Scott are currently on the roster.

Our View: The Jaguars have a poor collection of QBs and more competition is nothing but a good thing. Gabbert and Henne are the most likely to start this season. Scott is an interesting UDFA to consider in super deep dynasty leagues. He's incredibly athletic and has a strong arm. However, he struggles with decision making and his accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.
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Jaguars | Mike Kafka has chance to win QB job (Thu Jun 13, 06:40 PM) - Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said Mike Kafka has 'just as good an opportunity' to win the starting QB jon as Blaine Gabbert, Chad Henne or undrafted rookie Matt Scott. Caldwell had considered signing Kafka earlier in the offseason. The New England Patriots signed him but cut Kafka when they signed Tim Tebow.

Our View: That tells you a lot about the state of the QBs in Jacksonville. Gabbert is in a make or break year yet all we're hearing is about how bad he looks at OTAs. We'll see how this QB competition plays out in training camp. We won't be surprised to see Chad Henne open the year as the starter for the Jaguars.
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Gabbert looked much better than anyone could have expected based on his 2011 season. His offensive line kept him relatively safe (just two sacks, with a third by Jared Allen waived off due to offsides), he protected the ball well (no interception, one fumble lost) and threw two nice passes for touchdowns. On his toss to Cecil Shorts, a 39 yard pass, the receiver ran down the field with several yards of cushion between himself and the sideline with the coverage on the inside. Gabbert threw a deep pass to him, closer to the sideline where the defender had no chance to make a play. It was just a little behind Shorts, but still easily caught and carried in for a touchdown. The pass came with 20 seconds left and should have gotten the Jaguars a road win. Overall Gabbert showed good arm strength, poise and accuracy against a somewhat questionable Vikings secondary.

Week 2 - Despite improvement in week 1, Blaine Gabbert continues to struggle under center for the Jaguars. He spent most of the afternoon alternately running for his life from the Texans pass rush or overthrowing his receivers. As in 2011, Gabbert's biggest deficiency seems to be the lack of accuracy necessary to consistently sustain drives at the professional level. Gabbert had a number of throws that were too low, too high, or simply out of the reach of his intended target. Gabbert mercifully left the game after suffering a leg injury. He posted a 9.6 quarterback rating on the day and completed only 7 of 19 passes for a woeful 2.8 yards per attempt. Curiously, Gabbert does not look nearly as skittish as he did in 2011. He more often stands tall in the pocket and looks above the pass rush but simply can not find the accuracy necessary to complete even short and mid-range throws. His best pass on the day came on a short touchdown throw to Maurice Jones-Drew. On the play, Gabbert patiently let the screen play develop and put nice touch on the ball so that Jones-Drew could catch it and turn upfield for the score.

Week 3 - Gabbert played a complementary role against the Colts as the Jaguars relied on the very productive running game. Gabbert completed his first two passes of the game, both short throws, but then his receivers began to drop the ball. Laurent Robinson dropped an accurate pass from Gabbert over the middle. Gabbert threw well to put it in position to help his receiver catch the football and avoid an impending hit. Justin Blackmon didn't help him when he dropped an easy slant route, fearing a hit from the incoming safety, and Gabbert then missed him on two deeper throws. Robert Mathis forced a fumble from Gabbert while he was in the pocket. While it was an outstanding play from Mathis,one that most defenders wouldn't make, Gabbert should have stepped higher into the pocket to take him out of the play completely. Gabbert was lucky not to be intercepted in the endzone when he floated a horrible pass towards Kevin Elliott. The pass was nowhere near his intended receiver who was trapped in double coverage. A matter of inches prevented the interception as Jerraud Powers' hand touched out of bounds before he could get his knee down. It was a horrible pass from Gabbert that appeared to get away from him. The throw came on play action in a max protection set, Gabbert's options were to force a throw that wasn't there or throw it away. He should have thrown it away. He responded with a well thrown pass but he and Elliott weren't on the same page as Elliott came out of his break after the ball had passed him. Flacco looked Elliott's way often and appeared to favour him over any other receiver. Gabbert didn't really unleash a deep pass until he absolutely had to late in the fourth quarter. Just after the Colts had taken the lead, Gabbert responded with a phenomenal pass to Cecil Shorts. Shorts ran a skinny post and was just behind a linebacker in zone coverage. Gabbert had a very tight window to hit shorts without giving up a potential interception. He threw a very accurate football with great velocity that allowed Shorts to catch in stride. Shorts carried the ball over fifty yards for the 80 yard game winning touchdown.

Week 4 - Gabbert had an up-and-down game against the Bengals. At times he looked confident by reading the coverage, making subtle moves in the pocket, and delivering a quality pass to his receivers. The passing offense functioned best when working from play-action and gaining yards on first and second downs. Early in the game, Gabbert drew the Cincinnati defensive line offside twice with his cadence. Gabbert managed to elude pressure on occasion with his scrambling ability, but later in the game, it took its toll. He was sacked six times on the day and turned the ball over twice. Gabbert fumbled on another occasion in the pocket, but it was luckily negated by a defensive penalty. When Jacksonville fell behind in the second half, the limitations of the passing game reared its ugly head. The short routes were covered tightly by the Cincinnati secondary and the lack of any downfield threat was very apparent. Even the weather didn’t cooperate with the Jaguars comeback plans. A downpour with six minutes remaining halted a drive in its tracks. While Gabbert’s mobility is a benefit to his fantasy value, the lack of weapons and the limitations of the offensive game plan hindered his production in this game.

Week 5 - It’s starting to sound like a broken record to say that Blane Gabbert is an average quarterback who looks OK at times and then looks completely overwhelmed at others. The offensive line managed to hold the relentless Chicago defense to just three sacks in the game, but Gabbert was also responsible for three turn-overs, and it killed any momentum that the Jaguars were trying to build against a team that wasn’t doing much until late in the third quarter. Gabbert opened the game completing just one of his first three passes for a short gain, and the Jaguars went three and out on their first two possessions. With four minutes left in the quarter, Gabbert put together a nice sustained drive, but it took three completions on third and eight or more to keep things moving. Justin Blackmon helped him out by finding a nice soft spot in the defense on 3rd and 14 where Blackmon went up high to get the ball and came down for a big 19 yard gain. Gabbert nearly missed on a pass to Cecil Shorts but Shorts hesitated just a bit and by the time he recovered, the ball was just out of his reach. It led to a field goal that tied up the game though. Jacksonville looked like they might take the lead just before the half, and they had driven down to the Chicago 21 with two minutes to go. Gabbert hit Shorts on a nice route down the right side of the field and Shorts made a great one-handed catch for a big 34 yard gain to get them in position. He also had a nice pas to Blackmon for 19 yards that was called back for a holding penalty. Despite all the positives though, on 2nd and 11, the Bears jumped the snap count and sacked Gabbert, stripping the ball and recovering the fumble. It killed the drive and the half ended in a tie. In the third quarter, Gabbert didn’t even touch the ball until there was only 5:35 remaining. His first pass was a poor decision down the left side of the field, and Charles Tillman was happy to intercept the pass and return it for a touchdown. It was Tillman’s second interception return for a TD in two weeks. Gabbert went one for two on the next drive and was sacked, nearly giving up a safety. Between a false start and a holding call, the Jaguars ran just five official plays in the third quarter – the pick-six, an incomplete, a five yard pass, a sack and a punt. In the 4th, Gabbert went into check-down mode, completing six passes for a total of six passes for just 17 yards. He also tried to check down to Maurice Jones-Drew but it was off target and skipped off of MJD’s hands right to Lance Briggs who was happy to return his second interception for a TD in as many weeks as well. Of the 17 passes that Gabbert completed in the game, only five were for more than 10 yards including just two of 15 yards or more. Three of those came on the drive at the end of the first quarter when the Jaguars needed to convert three third downs of 12, 14 and 8 yards.

Week 7 - Coming out of the bye, Gabbert looked about as sharp as he’s ever looked, completing 8 out of 12 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown before exiting the game due to what looked to be a shoulder or collarbone injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Doing almost all of his damage in the first quarter, Gabbert did some damage with the checkdown as he normally does, finding Marcedes Lewis and Rashad Jennings on a few quick hitters. It was clear, though that over the bye week Gabbert’s chemistry grew with recently promoted Cecil Shorts. He looked comfortable in delivering a 19 yard strike to him over the middle of the field to Shorts to put Jacksonville into Oakland territory for the first time. Then, two plays later, a confused Philip Adams was beaten and Gabbert found Shorts again for a 42 yard touchdown. A blown coverage, yes, but Gabbert was able to stand and deliver a downfield ball with solid accuracy. Coming out of the bye, against a team susceptible to the pass, it would have been interesting to see what strides Gabbert made in a full game. Unfortunately, he was injured on a play that didn’t count, as Tommie Kelly laid him out on an offside early in the second quarter. He attempted to come back and even set up a rushing score for Rashad Jennings, but Chad Henne had to take over on the next drive.

Week 8 - Gabbert started out well against Green Bay with easy throws and facing little pressure. He exhibited the arm strength to make long throws to the wide side of the field with easy when able to step into his passes. He made confident throws and even used his deceptive athleticism to convert third downs to Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon. After starting the game 9-of-12 for 123 yards, things began to unravel. Gabbert was pressured more often than not and that led to some predictable mistakes. He was late on his reads, like missing Mike Thomas on an out route, which should have been an interception. At the goal line, Gabbert was stuffed on a sneak, but rebounded on the following play with a play-action touchdown to tackle-elgible Donny Whimper on a well-designed play. He missed Justin Blackmon numerous times in the second half, which offsets a few key plays like an improvisational conversion to Jalen Parmele on third down. Gabbert lacks dependable weapons to be consistent week-to-week. The offensive line is also not good enough to give Gabbert the clean pocket he needs for dependable accuracy. The Jaguars offense remains a run-based, controlled passing attack which benefits Rashad Jennings and Maurice Jones-Drew more than any passing game element for fantasy.

Week 9 - Gabbert was downright terrible before the Lions opened up a three score lead, and even then he showed no ability to throw the ball down the field. He spent most of the first half throwing nothing but short throws to his first target, and when that target was covered he immediately dropped his eyes to find out how close the rush was. It was late in the second quarter before the Jaguars picked up their first first down, and even that came courtesy of an eight yard run from Rashad Jennings. His receivers weren’t helping, but Gabbert certainly wasn’t playing well enough to be painted as just being unlucky. The Jaguars got the ball with 28 seconds to go in the first half and Gabbert promptly floated a seam route 10 yards past his receiver for an easy interception It was called back by penalty and Gabbert nearly threw a pick on the very next play. After finding Cecil Shorts wide open in the middle of the field he attempted a hail mary that looked more like a wounded duck than a football. The second half was better for Gabbert, especially once the Lions called off the pressure. He actually got through a progression on his first completion of the half, and hooked up with Justin Blackmon for a 12 yard gain to move the Jaguars to mid field. He then made a terrible decision trying to throw over the top of two deep coverage and provided an easy interception for the defense. The Jaguars went back to the no huddle on the next drive and Gabbert looked more comfortable, completing four passes in a row before a pass bounced off of Jennings’ hands for another interception. The Lions had a 24-0 lead with less than 14 minutes remaining when Gabbert got the ball back and they clearly lost some intensity on defense. He responded by completing six consecutive passes, most which were shot hitches or outs to Laurent Robinson. The drive ended with a five yard completion to Michael Spurlock who sat down in a soft spot in a very soft zone. Gabbert extended his string of completions to twelve in a row on the next drive before overthrowing Laurent Robinson and Marcedes Lewis on back-to-back plays in the end zone. On 4th and 5 he zipped an accurate throw to Blackmon for his second TD of the day.

Week 10 - Blaine Gabbert struggled for the most part on Thursday and his team/the officials did not help him out. The Jaguars did not stick with the running game for long and quickly they resorted to putting Gabbert in the shotgun for most of the snaps. This is clearly not the best situation or the young QB to be in as the Colts could focus on picking apart Gabbert. The rushing attack with Jennings offered very little support in terms of productivity and he rarely changed the play at the line of scrimmage. Gabbert threw short, controlled but ambitionless passes for the most part. These passes became very predictable, particularly the out pattern and resulted in the Colts DB guessing right and taking an interception to the house deep in Jags territory. Gabbert showed nice timing and accuracy on many of these short patterns to the outside but they were not enough to drive the length of the field and this was the only thing that Jacksonville could succeed doing. They fell behind early and Gabbert felt the pressure of the game and began to force some passes downfield. He eventually left the game due to injury but the game was long decided at this point. The Jags defense and running game are poor right now which doesn’t help the young QB in his own struggles. The passing attack was also very easy to predict and was an uphill climb all game as had to content with long fields for the most part.

Week 11 - It appears the Blaine Gabbert Era in Jacksonville is finally coming to an end. Gabbert started against the Texans and completed both of his passes before being knocked from the game with a bruised elbow. Gabbert's injury came as he was sacked for a nine yard loss. To add insult to injury, Gabbert fumbled on the play and the ball was recovered by the Texans. The Jaguars have announced that Chad Henne will get the start Sunday.