Fantasy Upside
Head coach Doug Marrone made it clear all offseason what Jacksonville expects from Bortles come September: A tangible uptick in play. "We're looking to see great improvement from him going into this next season," Marrone said in February, days after the team laced Bortles with a three-year, $54 million extension packed with $26.5 million in guarantees. This after shrugging off unexpected competition for the starting job last summer to playing with determined success down the stretch in 2017, guiding Jacksonville within a hair of the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, a strong rushing attack and some capable downfield threats should both create additional opportunities for Bortles.
Fantasy Downside
Bortles underwent wrist surgery shortly after the season. He dealt with the issue since December of 2016, and was regularly listed on the injury report late last season, but he rarely missed a practice. He should have ample time to recover but look elsewhere if you want consistent fantasy production. As the Sports Xchange pointed out, when he was on (five games with a passer rating of 119.8 or better) Bortles was really good. But when he was off (five games of 60.3 or worse), the Jaguars either lost or had to rely on the defense to pull out a win. He had four games with more than 300 passing yards, but had four others with less than 160.
2018 Bottom Line
Despite the up-and-down play, Bortles finished last season as fantasy's 13th-best QB. That came after a pair of top-12 fantasy seasons (he was QB9 in 2016 and QB4 in 2015). You could do much worse as your QB2.
