The beginning of Blake Bortles football career has been as up and down as any young quarterback.  His rookie season saw him complete 58.9-percent of his passes for 2,908 yards with 11 touchdowns and 17 interceptions over 14 games.  He also showed some mobility as he rushed for 419 yards.  That type of year saw Bortles go undrafted heading into the 2015 season yet he went on to put up a top 5 fantasy season, completing 58.6-percent of his passes for 4,428 yards with 35 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.  He also added 310 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.  Entering last year Bortles saw his draft stock rise as his average ADP had him going around the 8th round of most standard league formats yet he failed to reach expectations, competing 58.9-percent of his passes for 3,905 yards with 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions while adding 359 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.  

A look back to the end of season rankings from 2016 however show that Bortles finished the season among the Top 10 fantasy quarterbacks.  Bortles struggles in 2016 were not all his fault.  Some of his turnovers were flat out fluky, I mean look at this and there were others where receivers could not hold onto catchable passes resulting in tipped interceptions.  Now Bortles also had some just egregious throws but despite his perceived ineffectiveness he did throw fewer interceptions last year while attempting more throws and completing the same percentage than his breakout 2015 campaign.  Blake also ran for 359 yards and three touchdowns which is an aspect of his game that I feel often goes unnoticed when taking into account his fantasy value.  The big difference between 2015 and 2016 was the number of touchdown throws and passing yards but if you take a look at the receiving corps in 2016 you will notice that Allen Hurns, who had 1,031 yards and 10 TD’s in 2015, played just 11 games due to injury.  Allen Robinson caught just 48-percent of the passes thrown to him after catching 53-percent of throws the season before when he caught 80 passes for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns.  The Jaguars running game also struggled as the Jaguars ranked 22nd in rushing yards per game with both T.J. Yeldon and Chris Ivory ending the season with under 500 yards rushing.  So here lies the question, what can fantasy owners expect from Bortles in 2017?

For starters, his average ADP so far this season has him sitting around pick 146, which is the 12th round in 12-team standard league formats.  He is being drafted as the 22nd-ranked QB behind such starters as rookie Deshaun Watson, Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz and Carson Palmer to name a few.  I truly believe that Blake doesn’t necessarily need to improve his own play too much.  I think that a healthy Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee along with a bounce back season from Allen Robinson will elevate Blake’s overall production just with him keeping the status quo as he attempts over 600 attempts and completes near 60-percent of them.  The Jaguars should also have an improved running game after using the No.4 overall pick on LSU running back Leonard Fournette who could very well be the top rookie running back this season. He offers an upgrade over T.J. Yeldon who will move into a third down roll and Chris Ivory who will be relegated to backup duties. The ability to move the ball on the ground will help take the pressure off the passing game and wear down a defense which can lead to some open pockets to pass the ball.  There is a popular strategy about waiting on a quarterback and given the QB’s around Bortles current ADP I think he is the best of the bunch with the upside of once again finishing among the top 10 fantasy QB’s.