During the NFL offseason, the NFL Network has been releasing a list of the Top 100 NFL players from the previous season, in a series called "NFL Top 100." The first episode started May 4, 2016, and the final episode is slated to air July 6, 2016. In each episode, 10 players from the list are revealed, starting from 100 and going downward.
So far, four Jacksonville Jaguars players have made an appearance on this list: Allen Hurns (ranked 89th), Telvin Smith (ranked 83rd), Chris Ivory (ranked 78th) and most recently, Blake Bortles (ranked 56th). In the most recent episode of NFL Top 100 that aired on June 1, 2016, it was revealed that the Jaguars’ starting quarterback had earned a spot on the list at 56th place. This ranking has drawn criticism from NFL analysts and fans of other teams, especially Colts and Raiders fans. Many people don’t believe that Bortles is talented enough to be ranked that high or that he is a better player than Andrew Luck (ranked 92nd) or Derek Carr (ranked 100th).
Despite the criticism, I firmly believe that Bortles deserves his spot on the list. And here’s why:
His Improvement
The 2015 season was a breakout season for Blake Bortles. He finished with 35 passing touchdowns, 4,428 yards, 355 pass completions and 606 pass attempts. All four of those stats were single-season franchise records for the Jaguars. This was a huge step up from his 2014 numbers, with only 11 passing touchdowns, 2,908 yards, 280 pass completions and 475 passing attempts. As a second year quarterback, most of his stats from 2015 were pretty impressive. So far, he’s had some good improvement that has done well enough for him to earn him a spot on the Top 100 list.
His 35 Passing Touchdowns
Last season, Bortles finished in a four-way tie for second place in the league for passing touchdowns in the 2015 season with 35 passing touchdowns. He shared that spot with Eli Manning, Cam Newton and Carson Palmer and the only person who finished with more passing touchdowns in 2015 was Tom Brady (36 passing TDs). Again, this is a really great accomplishment for a quarterback in his second year.
The List Is About The 2015 Season, Not Careers
One thing that people may not know or understand is that this list is based on the players’ performance from the most recent season, not their career. The reason that so many Colts and Raiders are upset about Bortles’ ranking is that they argue that their own quarterbacks, Andrew Luck and Derek Carr respectively, are much better than Bortles. As far as Andrew Luck is concerned, there is no doubt he is a great quarterback. Between 2012 and 2014, he played three great seasons for Indianapolis, breaking nine Colts’ franchise records and 13 NFL records. But 2015 was not a good year for Luck, mainly due to injury. He only played seven games, finished with less than 2,000 yards and his team was 2-5 when Luck played. Granted, yes, that’s not much worse than the Jags’ 5-11 season and yes, Bortles was healthy the entire season, but overall, Bortles still had a better 2015 season than Luck. And for Derek Carr, he’s not bad. He finished with 32 passing touchdowns, only three under from Bortles’ 35. Plus, Carr only had 13 interceptions versus Bortles’ 18. However, Bortles still finished above Carr with more yards, pass completions, pass attempts, and even rushing yards. So 2015 may not have been the ideal season for Carr and Luck, but it was for Bortles.
The List Is Composed By Experts
This NFL Top 100 list is picked by the experts themselves: the players. Who better to judge a player’s talent than his fellow peers. Since NFL fans tend to be biased for a variety of reasons, had this list been up to the fans, it would be completely different and probably turn into a popularity contest. Popularity does not equal talent. By letting the players choose, it gives fans the best judgement they can get about who are the best players in the National Football League. The experts have spoken that Blake Bortles is the 56th best player in the NFL.
