The Jaguars signed Blake Bortles to a three-year contract. Which leaves the door open for the drafting of a quarterback this year or next year.
Which makes anything the team says about this year’s crop of quarterbacks even more intriguing. Especially when most teams never say much of anything about any incoming player.
“I think he’s an outstanding young man,” Jaguars executive V.P. of football operations Tom Coughlin said Friday during a pre-draft press conference, via Phillip Heilman of the Florida Times-Union. “I think he’s an extremely talented athlete.”
G.M. Dave Caldwell echoed Coughlin.
“He’s a rare athlete,” Caldwell said. “As a quarterback, he’s a good player. He won a lot of games at that position. [Drafting him] depends what your scheme is, what you want to do and how you want to play and how he fits. I can’t say he’s the prototypical pocket passer, but you can win games with a guy like him.”
Given that the Jaguars have won games with a guy like Blake Bortles, plenty of Jaguars fans secretly hope that Jackson ends up in Jacksonville. Still, it’s unlikely that the Jaguars will get a crack at Jackson, since the team holds the 29th overall pick in the draft. But if he slips, a trade becomes theoretically possible, and things could get very interesting for a team that nearly made it to the Super Bowl with Bortles. If Jackson plays in the NFL like he did at Louisville, the Jaguars could become the league’s next dynasty.