Jaguars: Bortles to earn first start against Chargers

At no point since joining the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 has Chad Henne appeared to be the long-term solution at quarterback. Henne accumulated a lowly pass grade of -18.9 across 25 appearances in his first two seasons, so once the Jaguars used their first round selection in the 2014 draft on quarterback Blake Bortles, it was simply a matter of time until he assumed the starting role.

Bortles outperformed Henne during the preseason, registering a league-leading 125.09 PFF QB Rating to Henne's 75.4; and an 84.8 Accuracy Percentage to Henne's 69.4. Henne was still named the starter, but graded 79.6 and 67.2 in those same categories through the first two games, ranking 25th and 29th among qualifying quarterbacks, which had Gus Bradley contemplating a switch. So when the Jacksonville Jaguars found themselves down 30-0 at the half against the Indianapolis Colts, there was little to lose by giving Bortles his first taste of NFL action.

Passing for 223 yards and two touchdowns, Bortles did enough to convince Bradley that he should start against the San Diego Chargers in Week 4. It wasn't all positive, Bortles threw two interceptions — one of them a pick-six — on his way to a -5.0 passing grade and he struggled with deep throws, going 0-4 and giving up both picks on passes of 20 yards or more. However, Bortles still outperformed Henne on both PFF QB Rating (65.92 to 62.97) and Accuracy Percentage (65.2 to 57.1). It's obvious which quarterback gives the team the best chance to win in the future, and Henne simply hasn't performed well enough to delay the inevitable.