Blaine Gabbert: Why Jaguars' Rookie QB Will Cost Jack Del Rio His Job

There is a reason Luke McCown started over Blaine Gabbert when the Jacksonville Jaguars cut former starting quarterback David Garrard a week before the season.

Whatever that reason was is completely irrelevant now.

The Jaguars actually won their opening week game against divisional rival Tennessee, but McCown's four interceptions against the New York Jets were too much for the Jaguars and coach Jack Del Rio to handle.

Now, two games into the season, the Jaguars' season and Del Rio's job rest on the shoulders of rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert.

Jacksonville traded up six spots to No. 10 overall for the former Missouri Tiger in the 2011 NFL Draft, and his era is set to begin earlier than any could have expected.

Unfortunately, it isn't going to go well and Coach Jack Del Rio won't last long enough to coach out his contract.

The Jaguars' schedule is not overly difficult for a rookie QB to handle. They play their hapless divisional rivals, the Titans and Colts, three more times, and there is no telling how those three contests will play out. Each of these teams are bad and will likely be in the bottom half of the league.

They also play two other teams starting rookie quarterbacks—  Carolina and Cincinnati —as well as Cleveland's second-year man Colt McCoy. All in all, those are the only six games remaining on the schedule that the Jaguars will be considered a threat to win. If all goes well, that would make them 7-9.

7-9 is approximately Del Rio's win average as head coach of the Jaguars. He's been to the postseason only twice in his eight-year run and averages 7.8 wins per season. He's never won the AFC South, and he's won only one postseason game.

Now he's about to charge into the second to last year of his contract with a rookie quarterback that's completed 35-of-70 passes for 365 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the preseason.

At Missouri last year, the No. 10 pick threw 475 passes but only totaled 16 touchdowns as well as nine interceptions. The Tigers went 10-3 a year ago.

The thing about Gabbert when he came out of Missouri was that he never flashed that special ability to make a team that much better in the NFL. Some, like the Jaguars obviously, were very high on him. Others obviously thought differently.

For the Jaguars, a team with minimal talent at the wide receiver position, this doesn't bode well at all. Gabbert is going to need all the help he can get, yet there isn't much to offer

In his game and a half as starter, McCown threw for only 234 yards, four interceptions and was sacked three times. He completed just over 50 percent of his throws and didn't do anything to elevate the team's level of play.

I don't disagree that Gabbert had to become the starter (although I disagree with cutting Garrard from the start) but he's not ready for this.

The Jaguars simply aren't good enough to help the rookie be as good as he can be, and he's not going to carry this team on his shoulders. 

We should expect a heavy dose of Maurice Jones-Drew over the next two months, but defenses will expect that as well.

Gabbert is going to have to be something he's not, and that will result in a bumpy start to his NFL career.

But he'll be okay. He's the future for this franchise (at least they see it that way) and he's going to get every opportunity to succeed. As for Del Rio, he's going to be elsewhere.

The coach made a grave mistake believing that his bold decision making would pay off again. Now his price first-round pick is going to cost him his job.