Blaine Gabbert Report Card: How Did Jaguars Rookie Look vs Panthers?

The Blaine Gabbert era in Jacksonville got off to an inauspicious start today, as the Jaguars lost to the Carolina Panthers 16-10 in a game that will be remembered more for the weather than anything that occurred on the field. So far this season we have witnessed rookie QBs look surprisingly good, none more so than Gabbert’s counterpart today, Cam Newton.

However, Blaine Gabbert did nothing to carry on that trend. Before I get started, a major caveat should be given: the weather was unbelievably bad for much of the game. The word “monsoon” comes to mind, and it’s no exaggeration.

The conditions certainly did not help the rookie’s cause today, but playing in spite of the elements is part of the job description for NFL QBs.

With that said, Gabbert did not look like anything special in his NFL debut as a starter. Gabbert took a bad safety on the first drive of the game, and things really only got worse from there. Gabbert was sacked twice, fumbled three times, threw up an awful interception on a dead duck deep ball at a receiver with safety help over the top, and generally looked lost.

The interception was not just a bad throw in bad weather, but also displayed some truly awful decision making, as the safety was just laying in wait to make the pick.

Gabbert’s meager stat line actually probably obscures the true ugliness of his performance. In fact, were it not for a meltdown by the Carolina defense on the last play of the first half, Gabbert would have only barely broken 100 yards and would not have scored a TD. That fluky play allowed his stat line to read “underwhelming” instead of “awful."

This game gave the Panthers front office a chance to take early stock of their draft choice this past spring. The Panthers were pretty clearly looking hard at QBs, and had they not taken Cam Newton, some thought that Gabbert might have been their next logical choice. After getting a chance to see Gabbert in a live game situation, albeit under some tough playing conditions, it’s safe to say that there are no regrets in Charlotte for having passed on Blaine Gabbert.