Blake Bortles Providing Preseason Hope for Jaguars Offense, Future

The Jacksonville Jaguars' Friday night game against the Detroit Lions did well to prove the Jaguars are both improved as well as flawed. Nearly every positional group had struggles or mistakes, but there was a lot of good to take away as well.

The offense was nearly perfect on the first three drives, and the defense did well on its first two outings as well. But the mistakes finally happened, and that's to be expected. This team is better, but it's certainly not at the top level yet.

The 22-17 loss to the Lions has provided plenty to talk about, which will be discussed throughout the week. However, the major highlight of the night was quarterback Blake Bortles' best preseason performance yet.

Bortles did everything he needed to do to have a successful night. He looked to be in top form both mentally and physically, and it showed in his stats, as seen below.

Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Completion Percentage	Rating
245	1	0	69%	106.2

The third preseason game is always considered to be the closest thing to the "real deal," and the fact that it was his best preseason game is worth mentioning. The Lions weren't completely healthy, but their starters were playing with intensity. And Bortles handled it well all the same.

The most impressive aspect of Bortles' performance was his accuracy. He completed 20 of 29 passes, and that's not specifically mentioning a few drops (which continue to be a prevalent problem for the receivers and the offense as a whole).

He threw great balls from the beginning of his night to the end, both long distance and short. He hit his receivers on short routes with the speed it requires and delivered longer passes with pinpoint accuracy and understanding of the situation.

This leads to, in my opinion, Bortles' greatest visible improvement from last season: his composure. It's a preseason game, not quite like a regular-season game, but Bortles rolled with the punches and looked comfortable and ready all game.

Bortles' first season saw him struggle to keep up, as well as struggle to mentally handle what was happening at the next level, and it's fair to say we saw the same thing with former QB Blaine Gabbert.

But Friday night, as well as the two games before it, Bortles looked like a veteran. He played his game and has pretty much outplayed the rest of his offense at this point. The rest of the team looks like it's trying to keep up, but not him.

Offensive coordinator Greg Olson has properly set up Bortles for success this year, and his goal seemed to be to make it as easy as possible for Bortles. It's working so far, and that's shown in Bortles' confidence and play.

The hype for Bortles is real. He still has to prove himself in the regular season, but Bortles looks ready for that challenge. He's performing at a high level, and he's earned the recognition.

Bortles could become more than just the offense's most important player this season; he could become a leader. If he can perform like this during the season, he'll slowly start to take control of the offense and be the leader the Jaguars need him to be.

Bortles' play has just provided another interesting reason to watch the Jaguars this season. After a rough first year, it seems like Bortles has grown past his struggles.

What do you think? How would you grade Bortles' performance this preseason? 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 @evanreier.