Jacksonville Jaguars Plans Laid to Waste: Blaine Gabbert Steps into the Fray

Often in life, things don't go as planned.

That shortcut route to the stadium you found online? There's a lane closure there.

That nine-game lead in the Wild Card? You still have to win some games before it's secure.

That quarterback you drafted with the intention of bringing along slowly and allowing him to become a starter in a few seasons? He's starting this Sunday. 

Welcome to the Jacksonville Jaguars and their totally not-surprising (yes, we could have seen it coming) quarterback dilemma.

Don't tell me you're that shocked, Jaguars fans. Yes, Luke McCown could have worked out. There are plenty of guys who bounce from team to team with less-than-spectacular numbers and eventually find a place they feel comfortable enough to string together a few decent seasons.

There are also guys who fall flat on their face in those situations.

Luke McCown appears to be the latter. That wouldn't be a problem, except that the Jaguars did decide to cut their former starting quarterback—who wasn't a future Hall of Famer but was a decent week-in, week-out starter.

Was David Garrard the quarterback that would eventually lead Jacksonville to a Super Bowl? Probably not—although it's worth noting that they did make a run in the playoffs back in January of 2008.

They lost to the Patriots, who were at the time unbeaten. No one thought they'd win that game—and they didn't. Since then, Jacksonville hasn't made the playoffs. But Garrard was far from the only problem.

He's gone now. Released right before the season started because the organization felt that first-round pick Blaine Gabbert (10th overall) would be the eventual starting quarterback and Luke McCown would play the position serviceably in the meantime.

That plan was scrapped. Last week, McCown played a game that was so bad, he left head coach Jack Del Rio no choice but to remove him.

Now Gabbert is starting, but we're only two weeks into his rookie season. While Cam Newton has been amazing this year, those types of performances from rookie quarterbacks are far from ordinary.

What should Jacksonville fans expect from Gabbert? Well, I'd say not too much.

Not because I don't think that Gabbert can play in the NFL. It's a very tough position to scout, and while some sure things (such as Peyton Manning) have become everything they were expected to be, others (such as David Carr, Tim Couch and Alex Smith) have become cautionary tales and wasted opportunities.

Speaking of Peyton Manning—this may be a good time to point out that in his rookie season, his team went 3-13. Peyton threw 26 touchdown passes, but he also threw 28 interceptions.

The point is that patience is needed. Jacksonville doesn't have a top-notch offensive line, and their wideouts aren't that great either.

Maurice Jones-Drew will be counted on to shoulder a huge amount of the offensive burden. A good running game can make an inexperienced quarterback look pretty good. Drew will need to get yards from scrimmage on either first or second down to prevent 3rd-and-long situations where Gabbert will be forced to deal with complex blitz packages he rarely saw in college.

That won't always happen, so Jacksonville fans should expect some rough games from here on out.

Will Blaine Gabbert make it in the NFL as a starting quarterback? Tough to tell, but the league is going to know a lot more in the next few weeks than they did when he was drafted.  

The circumstances he finds himself in are not really his doing. So hopefully a few poor games won't lead to a Kyle Orton-like drum-beat by angry fans to have him removed.

Give the guy a chance—he might be very good.