The same day that there was a report of the Jaguars possibly exploring other quarterback options, that report became obsolete. Jacksonville has given Blake Bortles a brand-new three-year deal, that ties him to the team through 2020. It seems like a good thing for his fantasy prospects.
While Bortles has never fully proven himself to be a clear franchise quarterback -- he was nearly benched in the preseason for Chad Henne -- he has been a quality fantasy quarterback. He's been a relatively productive passer (albeit often in garbage-time), and with his rushing production added in, an above-average fantasy one. He'll continue to deliver those numbers as a Jaguar.
In Bortles' three full seasons as a starter, there have been 52 300-point fantasy seasons by NFL quarterbacks; about 17 per year. Bortles has reached that total in each of those years; he has two of the top 25 seasons in that span. (Scoring system of 1 point for every 10 rushing and 20 passing yards, with 4-point TD passes and 6-point TD runs.)
In the table, 300-point fantasy seasons from last year are in bold.
TOP FANTASY QUARTERBACKS, 2015-2017 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | PaYd | TDP | 2 Pt | RuYd | TD | FFPts |
2015 | Cam Newton, Car. | 3837 | 35 | 0 | 636 | 10 | 455 |
2016 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 4428 | 40 | 2 | 369 | 4 | 446 |
2016 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 5208 | 37 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 422 |
2017 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 3,983 | 34 | 2 | 586 | 3 | 416 |
2016 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 4944 | 38 | 2 | 117 | 0 | 415 |
2015 | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 4428 | 35 | 1 | 310 | 2 | 406 |
2015 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 4770 | 36 | 0 | 53 | 3 | 406 |
2015 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 4024 | 34 | 0 | 553 | 1 | 399 |
2016 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 4240 | 31 | 2 | 341 | 2 | 386 |
2015 | Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 4671 | 35 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 382 |
2016 | Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 4917 | 25 | 0 | 96 | 4 | 379 |
2015 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 4870 | 32 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 379 |
2015 | Eli Manning, NYG | 4436 | 35 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 368 |
2017 | Cam Newton, Car. | 3,302 | 22 | 1 | 754 | 6 | 367 |
2017 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 4,577 | 32 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 364 |
2015 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 3821 | 31 | 4 | 344 | 1 | 363 |
2015 | Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 4166 | 29 | 2 | 48 | 5 | 363 |
2015 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 4262 | 32 | 0 | 159 | 1 | 363 |
2015 | Philip Rivers, S.D. | 4792 | 29 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 362 |
2015 | Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 3905 | 31 | 0 | 270 | 2 | 358 |
2016 | Philip Rivers, S.D. | 4386 | 33 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 355 |
2017 | Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 4,093 | 27 | 0 | 179 | 4 | 355 |
2017 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 4,446 | 29 | 2 | 98 | 0 | 352 |
2016 | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 3905 | 23 | 2 | 359 | 4 | 351 |
2015 | Jameis Winston, T.B. | 4042 | 22 | 1 | 210 | 6 | 349 |
2017 | Alex Smith, K.C. | 4,042 | 26 | 0 | 355 | 1 | 348 |
2016 | Matthew Stafford, Det. | 4327 | 24 | 1 | 207 | 2 | 347 |
2016 | Jameis Winston, T.B. | 4090 | 28 | 3 | 165 | 1 | 345 |
2015 | Derek Carr, Oak. | 3987 | 32 | 1 | 138 | 0 | 343 |
2016 | Dak Prescott, Dall. | 3667 | 23 | 0 | 282 | 6 | 340 |
2017 | Philip Rivers, LAC | 4,515 | 28 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 338 |
2016 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 4219 | 21 | 1 | 259 | 2 | 335 |
2017 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 3,296 | 33 | 4 | 299 | 0 | 335 |
2017 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 4,251 | 28 | 2 | 47 | 0 | 333 |
2015 | Ryan Tannehill, Mia. | 4208 | 24 | 1 | 141 | 1 | 329 |
2017 | Dak Prescott, Dall. | 3,324 | 22 | 0 | 357 | 6 | 326 |
2016 | Derek Carr, Oak. | 3937 | 28 | 5 | 70 | 0 | 326 |
2016 | Andy Dalton, Cin. | 4206 | 18 | 0 | 184 | 4 | 325 |
2016 | Marcus Mariota, Tenn. | 3426 | 26 | 0 | 349 | 2 | 322 |
2017 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 4,334 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 322 |
2015 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 4591 | 21 | 1 | 63 | 0 | 322 |
2016 | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 4317 | 20 | 4 | 58 | 2 | 322 |
2016 | Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 4233 | 26 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 321 |
2016 | Cam Newton, Car. | 3509 | 19 | 2 | 359 | 5 | 321 |
2016 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 3819 | 29 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 320 |
2015 | Alex Smith, K.C. | 3486 | 20 | 2 | 498 | 2 | 320 |
2017 | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 3,687 | 21 | 3 | 322 | 2 | 319 |
2016 | Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 3023 | 17 | 2 | 580 | 6 | 317 |
2015 | Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 3035 | 20 | 1 | 568 | 4 | 315 |
2017 | Jared Goff, LAR | 3,804 | 28 | 0 | 51 | 1 | 313 |
2016 | Eli Manning, NYG | 4027 | 26 | 0 | -9 | 0 | 304 |
2015 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 3938 | 21 | 8 | 29 | 0 | 300 |
There are no doubt protections built into the contract so Jacksonville can move on if Bortles struggles and his errors are more significant than his contributions. But in 2018, he should be another good fantasy quarterback.
--Andy Richardson