Former UCF quarterback Blake Bortles turned into a school legend when he led UCF to a 2014 Fiesta Bowl win over the Baylor Bears. At the 2014 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Bortles with the third
overall pick. The Jaguars had a miserable 2014 season with Bortles.
In 2015, Bortles stood out on a bad Jaguars team that finished 5-11. Bortles threw for over 4,400 yards and 35 touchdowns. Bortles appeared to have been a quarterback who was definitely on the rise. Then, another disastrous season occurred in 2016 for Bortles and the Jaguars, but the 2017 season appeared to have been the turning point. Bortles led the Jaguars to a 10-6 record and the team’s first playoff appearance since 2007. It was also the Jaguars’ first division title since 1999.
The Jaguars won two playoff games before falling to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. Bortles appeared to have been the Jaguars’ franchise quarterback, and expectations for the 2018 season were high, but things went back to the way they were.
Bortles struggled in 2018 by going 3-9 as a starter and throwing for 13 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. The Jaguars missed the playoffs in 2018 after making the AFC Championship the season prior. However, 2018 marked the season that began the groundwork for the Jaguars’ current success today.
After the 2018 season, Bortles didn’t return to Jacksonville. Bortles spent the 2019 season as Jared Goff’s backup with the Los Angeles Rams. After 2019, Bortles never played in the NFL again. That 2019 offseason, the Jaguars signed Super Bowl 52 MVP Nick Foles to a massive contract. In 2019, Foles lost all four games as a starter for the Jaguars. Gardner Minshew went 6-6 as a starter and showed flashes to help the team finish 6-10. In 2020, the Jaguars won their first game of the season, then lost the next 15 games to finish 1-15, but the team earned the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
With that first pick, the Jaguars selected Clemson stud quarterback Trevor Lawrence. In 2021, Lawrence had no head coaching leadership, given how bad Urban Meyer’s tenure was. Meyer lasted 13 games (2-11 record) and then was fired. The Jaguars finished 3-14 overall in 2021.
In 2022, the Jaguars won the AFC South Division with a 9-8 record and then completed one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history in the Wild Card against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Jaguars were down 27-0 at one point, then won the game 31-30. The Jaguars fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Playoffs the following week.
After 2022, the Jaguars followed up by missing the playoffs the next two seasons. Concerns about Lawrence being a bust of a first overall pick began looming ahead of the 2025 season. Then, the Jaguars had a season not many would’ve predicted.
In 2025, the Jaguars weren’t projected to be anywhere near an AFC South Division title. However, the Jaguars finished 13-4 and won their division for the third time in nine seasons. The 13 wins marked the most wins the Jaguars had in a single season since their 14-win season in 1999.
This Sunday, the Jaguars will host the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card at EverBank Stadium at 1 p.m. ET. However, had Bortles’ struggling 2018 season not happened, who knows the direction the Jaguars could’ve gone as a franchise?
Maybe signing Foles wouldn’t have happened
Maybe Bortles’ only fit was Jacksonville
Maybe finishing 1-15 to get the first overall pick wouldn’t have happened
Maybe Lawrence wouldn’t have a reason to be in the 2025 NFL MVP discussion
A lot of thoughts and ideas to be thought of. In a twist, the Jaguars and Bills will have a Wild Card rematch from 2017 in Jacksonville, where the Jaguars’ quarterback for the 2017 game was Bortles.
