By: Drayton Hogarth

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The NFL season is underway, and the Jacksonville Jaguars are looking to take another step toward becoming a viable playoff contender by either challenging for the AFC South title or grabbing a wild card berth.

One reason Jacksonville is looking to take strides forward is quarterback Blake Bortles. The Jaguars franchise is directly related to Bortles’s development, and his progress as an NFL quarterback.

Let’s take a look at the progress Bortles has made, and where the strong-armed signal caller is headed as the face of the franchise.

Every NFL owner wants to have that franchise quarterback to lead his or her team to the Super Bowl. Jacksonville owner, Shad Kahn, two years after purchasing the franchise, made the decision to draft Blake Bortles and put the team’s future in his hands.

Bortles began the season on the bench, but by game three he was inserted into the starting lineup and was allowed to learn how to play quarterback on the job.

Bortles led the Jaguars to a 3-11 record, and his statistics showed that he was a rookie quarterback on a below average team. Bortles finished a shade under 59%, just under 3,000 yards passing, with a 11/17 touchdown-to-interception ratio. It was a baptism by fire, but the team knew it was something that they had to go through to get to the next level.

Bortles came into his second season in the league looking to prove that he could truly lead the Jaguars. The Jaguars expected him to not only improve statistically, but to demonstrate that certain leadership that is needed to truly become a top tier NFL quarterback.

The statistics were there, still at the same completion percentage of 58.6%. However, in just two more games, Bortles eclipsed the 4,400 yards passing, and more than tripled his touchdowns on the season, while only throwing 18 interceptions.

Leadership-wise, Bortles seems to understand what it takes to become a leader of the franchise. Bortles demonstrated that with quotes such as the following, “As a quarterback, leadership is part of the job title,” Bortles said. “I think continuing to grow with the guys and create relationships this offseason was big for me. Develop a system on how to do certain things, how to take care of your body, continue to watch film, how to learn and do all of that. The more time you spend with guys, the better a leader you’re going to become.”

Coming into the 2016 season, the Florida native is expected to take things even further. The last six games of the 2015 season should be the standard to which Bortles will be held, 63% completion percentage, 301 yards per game, and a 15/6 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

For Bortles to be considered an elite NFL quarterback, he needs to provide the Jaguars over 60% completions and a 3 to 1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

It is vital for his acceptance as having arrived at the elite level, but even more so, it will allow Jacksonville to know that they no longer will have to worry if they made the right choice in selecting the former Central Florida Knight.

The Jaguars would then know that they can build around their franchise quarterback. So far, statistically he is right on track, and that is without his top target, Allen Robinson, who has yet to really get going. Once the two stars get in synch the Jacksonville offense will look to take their place among NFL elite.

Jacksonville has been in this position a couple of times in its brief history. Byron Leftwich and Blaine Gabbert were both very high draft picks, but neither panned out due to either injuries or what appeared to be a lack of ability to find his way in Jacksonville.

It appears that Bortles is poised to take the reins and take this franchise forward. Jaguar fans can only hope that with the quarterback position solved, things can progress toward bringing a winning team their way.