Toby Gerhart, Cecil Shorts' Updated Fantasy Outlook with Blake Bortles

The Jacksonville Jaguars ran out of ideas for their stagnant offense with Chad Henne at quarterback, so they finally turned to first-round pick Blake Bortles in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts. He got off to a shaky start, which won't do many favors for fantasy managers with wide receiver Cecil Shorts and/or running back Toby Gerhart in the fold.    

Bortles completed just two of his first eight passes as an NFL signal-caller, but grew into the game as it went on.

Bortles finished with 223 yards passing, two touchdowns and two interceptions. It's a full and varied stat line for just one half of work, all of it essentially in garbage time with the Colts up 30-0 at halftime.

He has a big-time arm but will need time to learn how to read a defense at game speed and will put some uneven performances without top-tier talent surrounding him.

ESPN's Mike Greenberg noted that Bortles is seeing the field much earlier than initially planned:

Shorts' production picked up with Bortles in the game. He finished with five catches for 35 yards and a touchdown, an encouraging performance for fantasy managers. Gerhart had just 34 all-purpose yards through three quarters, but got involved in the passing game and finished with 32 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards.

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Gerhart remains a flex option in larger leagues because he will continue to get touches as the main option in the Jaguars backfield. The running game has been atrocious this season and Gerhart's north-south style won't lead to many big gains.

Shorts is the most complete wide receiver on the Jaguars and likely to be Bortles' favorite target as he works on moving through his reads and progressions. He also appeared to be moving at full speed against the Colts. However, until the offense shows signs of greater consistency, Shorts isn't much more than a WR3 or flex option.