Allen Hurns' Breakout Season Held Back by Blake Bortles, Jaguars Offense

As the Jacksonville Jaguars broke camp in preseason, one thing that was immediately evident was that they'd found something in UDFA wideout Allen Hurns. Hurns led the NFL in receiving yards in the preseason, and an early-season injury to Cecil Shorts III, combined with Hurns' experience in offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch's system and the relative youth of the rest of the Jacksonville receiving corps, led to significant early season snaps. 

It was then, after an explosive two-touchdown Week 1 debut, that the fantasy football community began to chime in on "how real" this performance was. I put my chips on the affirmative. And, while Hurns has continued to make touchdowns happen, they have come in bunches rather than creating a nice fantasy football wide receiver.

Upon reviewing his last five weeks of games via the invaluable NFL Game Rewind, I realized that my actual opinion on Hurns' talent hadn't changed much since that first piece. Hurns' hands are inconsistent, and I think his lack of a true standout tool will keep him from being a superstar receiver, but he's got all the skills necessary to be a starting NFL wideout, and his ability as a bad-ball catcher reminds me a lot of DeAndre Hopkins.

Hurns' problem is a simple one: Blake Bortles' regression has dragged the entire offense down with him. Reviewing the game footage, I began to feel bad for Hurns. He's doing his part, but there's nothing he can do to fix what ails the Jacksonville offense.

Bad-ball Clinic

I'll show you two separate demonstrations of what I'd consider superior play by Hurns in cleaning up mistakes. The first came against the Bengals, his first touchdown catch of that game, in the third quarter on a second-and-6. The Jaguars run a play-action, Hurns quickly wins on a seam route from the slot, but Bortles' throw to him is, uh, let's say short. To be kind about it. 

Hurns was forced to slam on the breaks and come back to the ball, and was able to swipe Bengals cornerback Leon Hall past him, using his hands to help Hall's natural momentum, so that he could field this ball like a punt. 

Source: NFL Game Rewind

That shows a level of effort that isn't always evident with some receivers. There are deep receivers around the league that would have turned around and shrugged as that ball landed well short of them. 

Here's another catch later in that same game that I thought showed even more skill. This first-down catch came with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter, and the Jaguars desperately driving to try to keep the game alive. The Jaguars again run play-action, and he runs a post against Hall.

That's an appopriate call by the play-by-play man: this ball was, indeed, somehow caught by Hurns. 

Source: NFL Game Rewind

The ball was wobbling and way behind Hurns. Hurns had to stop his momentum, hang in the air for what feels like multiple seconds with Hall hanging all over him before the ball got there, and complete the catch into Hall's body. That's an incredible catch on a ball that very well could have been intercepted.

And some, you just can't catch

I've already discussed how Bortles is regressing in this space a couple of weeks ago. It's to the point where I just feel bad for Jacksonville receivers, who do their part of winning or, hell, even just being in the right spot at the right time, and then Bortles mucks it up. 

Here's one throw against the Giants in Week 13 that shows exactly what I mean. This comes right out of halftime, the first play from scrimmage for the Jaguars, and they receive a gift. The Jaguars run play-action, Hurns is open up the seam as his initial defender, Giants safety Stevie Brown, hands him off to...well, nobody. It was a completely blown assignment. 

And, uh, Bortles is late on this ball, and then flings it about 20 yards past where Hurns was wide open. 

Source: NFL Game Rewind

That brown triangle is where the ball landed: out of bounds. 

It'd be easy to dismiss that bad throw if this was a blip on the radar. But Bortles' mechanical flaws, general embryonic play, and the poor offensive line mean that a lot of balls wind up touching the ground far away from where his targets were set up.

Take this play from the Week 14 game against Houston, for example: It's 3rd-and-10, Hurns is wide open, running a post while the Texans play zone, but it goes unnoticed until it's too late:

Bortles has already turned his back to the line of scrimmage as Hurns is coming open. Bortles scrambles outside from a clean pocket, and by the time he notices Hurns is open, he's about to get decked by a Texans defender. All Bortles can do is lob up a prayer that has no shot of connecting.

Source: NFL Game Rewind

There's absolutely nothing Hurns could have done to make this play work—his numbers are tied to how poorly Bortles is playing right now, and all too often, plays like this show that Bortles isn't ready to lead the team. 

But that doesn't mean that we can't extrapolate that Hurns' season has been a success. The numbers won't show that—Hurns is 54th of 79 qualifiers in DYAR and DVOA, per Football Outsiders—but that shouldn't detract from what Hurns has done. 

And, looking forward, the Jaguars probably won't have any hesitation in letting Shorts walk in free agency. Hurns has been more productive than Shorts this year, won't cost as much next year, and has the skills to step into a much bigger role with the Jaguars in 2015.

...if Bortles' development allows it.

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.