Jacksonville Jaguars: Can Blake Bortles Make Big Sophomore Leap in 2015?

The biggest storyline of the Jacksonville Jaguars the past year or so has been quarterback Blake Bortles. Selected third overall in the 2014 NFL draft, he came into a tough rookie situation, and he'll look to improve on a difficult first year in Jacksonville.

Bortles showed signs of the success he had at Central Florida in college, but it's fair to say that his rookie season didn't go quite according to plan. Very few rookie seasons do, and he could sadly not become an exception.

However, it's also not fair to say that Bortles' rough rookie year was completely his responsibility. There is no harder position in the NFL than quarterback, and it's not like he had the best personnel surrounding him.

Now, the Jaguars have stronger depth on the offensive line and in the receiving corps. They may have not gotten Randall Cobb or another big-name receiver, but they did sign one of the top tight ends in the league in Julius Thomas.

With the situation looking brighter in both his blocking and receiving, is Bortles ready to make a huge sophomore leap? Or will we see a continuation of his 2014 stats?

	Passes Thrown	Passes Completed	Completion Percentage	Passing Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	QBR
Blake Bortles	475	280	58.9	2908	11	17	21.9

Well, while his situation is better than it was in 2014, it's still not perfect. He's switching to a new offense with new offensive coordinator Greg Olson, and that alone can throw a quarterback for a loop.

However, Olson seemed to have good success with Derek Carr, who was a rookie like Bortles last year. The coordinator will set up the offense to let Bortles take on as little responsibility as possible.

This isn't to say that Bortles will not be a major gear in the offense, but the Jaguars are going to make it as easy as possible, and who can blame them? While former quarterback Blaine Gabbert wasn't fantastic, throwing him to the dogs like the Jaguars did early on may have mentally scarred him for life.

It also helps that Bortles will have both Thomas and Marcedes Lewis lining up to receive and block and give him two huge targets to throw to for easy yards.

In terms of wide receivers, Bortles should have better success with players like Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee, should Lee stay healthy. A year of experience and a better feel of what to expect can work wonders for quarterback-wide receiver relationships.

Along with receiving targets, center Stefen Wisniewski, tackle Jermey Parnell and third-round guard A.J. Cann provide the Jaguars with exceptional blocking up front.

So, Bortles has upgrades at personnel, so what's really left is on his shoulders. However, he consistently impressed at OTAs and at minicamp, so there's positive improvement in that regard too.

The jump from an average system-reliant quarterback to a standout isn't an easy one, but a lot of the signs are showing that Bortles should be ready for a much better season in 2015.

It's not to the point where people should expect 300-yard, three-touchdown games, but there's no reason Bortles shouldn't take a step forward in 2015. Roadblocks may get in the way, but for the time being, it seems like he is set up for a solid second year.

What do you think? Is Bortles not properly set up? Or do you think he has no excuses in 2015? Answer the poll and comment below!

All stats were provided by ESPN.com unless otherwise stated.

Evan Reier is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report covering the Jacksonville Jaguars. Follow Evan on Twitter at @evanreier.