FanPost

A Tale Of Two Cities: Raiders vs. Jaguars Roster Comparison : QB's


Throughout this offseason, the hype pundits have waxed poetical about the actions taken by the Oakland Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars. There was much talk about how either the Jaguars or the Raiders "won" the offseason and it eventually forced my mind to draw comparisons between the two NFL teams.

This article aims to compare the two rosters and pit them against each other in a death battle to see whose roster is superior. Keep in mind that I am only comparing their starting rosters because it would take too much time to research about Jacksonvilles depth and I frankly do not have the time nor the inclination. For my first installment, I began with the most important position in football, the Quarterback. Anyway, lets begin.

QB Comparison

derek-carr-960.0.jpg

The Raiders QB is Derek Carr, a second year pro out of Fresno State. Derek Carr led the Raiders to a 7-9 record while throwing for 3,987 yards and 32 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. He broke franchise records and scored 52 touchdowns in his first two years, second to only Dan Marino in all of history. His completion percentage was 61.1% for 2016.

He is a sneaky athletic QB with a 4.69 40 time and a quick release but he makes his bread and butter in the pocket. In his second year, he improved tremendously in all areas and was one of the best QB's against blitz pressure as well as improving his dismal yards per attempt from that first year to 6.96.

Carr is an excellent leader who is universally respected and liked, but in my opinion, his greatest strength is his mind. Carr grew up in a football household with his brother David Carr teaching him the tricks of the trade since he was a child. From a very young age, he learned to recognize coverages and was fully immersed in the best environment that a QB could ask for.

Derek Carr is a good QB, there is no denying that, but he definitely has his flaws. Carr faltered under non blitz pressure and was often stymied by two high safety schemes. Also, while normally Carr is very smart with the football, his competitiveness leads him to revert to the mindset of a gunslinger and make costly mistakes (i.e. interceptions) when his team is behind.

Furthermore, Carr is ranked at 26th in ESPN's QB Index regarding YPA which is an area he needs to desperately improve in. Finally, Carr massively improved his pocket footwork and mechanics in 2015, shortening his release, but that was still a weakness. When under pressure, Carr's throwing mechanics falter and he throws balls that are innacurate.

453359660-594x356.0.jpg

The Jaguars QB is Blake Bortles, a second year pro out of the University of Central Florida. Bortles led the Jaguars to a 5-11 record while throwing for 4,428 yards passing, 35 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Bortles was 7th in total yards and is tied for second (with a lot of other QB's) for touchdowns thrown. Borltes has a 58.6% completion percentage in 2015 and averaged 7.31 YPA as well.

Blake Bortles is often compared to Ben Rothlisberger, but athletically, Bortles might be even better. He has the arm to easily make all the throws, can agiley shrug off tackles, and ran a 4.81 40 yard dash. Bortles also ran 310 yds on the ground with two rushing touchdowns. Bortles possesses all the intangibles, works hard, and is the undisputed leader of the offense.

Once again while Bortles in undoubtebly a good QB, I believe that he should be the QB most often compared to Brett Farve, not Derek Carr. This is because Bortles sometimes makes mental mistakes and delivers errant throws leading to interceptions. Numerous times over the year, Borles lost track of the line of scrimmage before passing it and throwing the ball. Furthermore, Bortles has thrown several headscratching interceptions like the one he threw to Josh Norman against the Panthers in Week One.

Bortles only completed 58.6% of his passes last year, and that stat needs to go up. Bortles needs to be smarter with the ball on short plays and find more check-downs on plays where the down-the-field option isn't available. Furthermore, Bortles just gets sacked too often. Part of this is due to the Jaguar's horrid O-line and the other part is that he holds on to the ball for much too long, preferring to rely on his athleticism to get him out of situations. Finally, there is Bortles greatest flaw, interceptions. Bortles touchdown to interception ratio is 1.94 and this is unnacceptable for an elite QB.

Final Answer:

This one is much too close to call with both QB's having their respective weakness's and strengths. Bortles numbers are slightly inflated by the easy division he plays in and his mental mistakes and accuracy need to be fixed if he is to full take advantage of his natural talent. Carr, while a more polished QB than Bortles, needs to clean up on his mechanics under pressure and utilize his athleticism more. Furthermore, he needs to improve his YPA if he is to be regarded in the realm of the elite QB's.

They are both excellent leaders with impeccable work ethics and both teams are lucky to have them. At this point in their respective careers, it is too difficult for us to tell who is the better QB. In all likelihood, we are witnessing the birth of two elite QB's and both franchises will witnesses battles a la Manning vs. Brady for years to come.