Here is the first of a 10-part series breaking down the Jacksonville Jaguars' free-agency needs, position by position:
Quarterback
Who is on the roster: Blake Bortles, Chad Henne, and Stephen Morris.
Analysis: The Jaguars selected Bortles with the No. 3 pick in 2014 and are committed to him as the franchise quarterback. He didn’t have a great rookie season -- 2,908 yards, 11 touchdowns, 17 interceptions -- but he did drastically cut down on his mistakes, throwing only two interceptions in his last five games. He threw 12 in his first six games. When evaluating Bortles it’s important to remember that the Jaguars didn’t want him to play at all in 2014 because he needed to improve his fundamentals, especially footwork and release. They wanted him to sit for a year behind Henne, but they were forced to put Bortles on the field in Week 3 when the offense was nonfunctional after the first half of the season opener. Bortles ended up being the team’s second-leading rusher as well (419 yards). Coach Gus Bradley raved about Bortles’ toughness, and that was evident against Tennessee in December when he fought through a foot injury to lead the Jaguars to a 21-13 victory. Bortles still needs to focus on fundamentals and needs to continue to speed up his decision-making process. Bradley said he’s encouraged by the work Bortles is doing in the offseason on his own and his attempt to organize workouts with his teammates. Henne is a solid veteran backup who will be in the final year of a two-year contract he signed before the 2014 season. Morris spent the final two weeks of the season on the active roster after spending the first 15 weeks on the practice squad. The undrafted free agent found a spot in Jacksonville because he was familiar with offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch’s offense from their time together at Miami, but he won’t have that luxury any longer because he and the rest of the quarterbacks will be learning a new system under Greg Olson.
NFL free agents of possible interest: None. The Jaguars aren’t expected to pursue any free-agent quarterbacks. It’s not a great class anyway, with the top-line players being Luke McCown, Mark Sanchez and Brian Hoyer.
