Here’s a crazy idea: Start Blake Bortles!

The great thing about fantasy football is that in the short time span of just three weeks your best laid plans can get totally fucked!  Like having to start a rookie quarterback, making his first ever start, on the road against a perennial playoff contender fucked.  Pardon my french.

With stud Russell Wilson on bye, and not wasting a second roster spot on a back up quarterback, I’m rolling with Mr. Bortles this week.  It sounds crazy, but this what the No. 3 overall pick has going for him:

  • In relief of the dreadfully inefficient (and that’s the nice way of putting it) Chad Henne, Bortles went 14/24, 223 yards, 2 TD, 2 Int.  Impressive numbers for a half of football; granted it was against soft coverage schemes from Indy’s defense (they aren’t exactly world-beaters).  But what I like the most is the 2 rushes for 30 yards.  The rushing totals help eliminate the mistakes and give him a reasonable secure scoring floor.
  • Bortles showed well in training camp, the preseason, and practices this year.  By all accounts he’s outpracticed Henne (doens’t that go without saying) however the Jaguars were so gun-shy to start a rookie QB (we call that the Blaine Gabbert effect) that they all but committed to “red-shirting” Bortles this year.  Remember what I said three weeks of football could do to your fantasy team?  Yeah, now just multiply that but $100 million, add in media scrutiny, a fan base to contend with, an owner that can shitcan you whenever he wants and you get a sense of the pressure that forced the Jags hand to play Bortles this week.  No pressure kid.
Not Blaine Gabbert...trust me!

Not Blaine Gabbert…trust me!

  • In deeper leagues, Bortles (17% owned) offers more upside than the likes of Joe Flacco (38%), Josh McCown (16% – who appears to have lost his job to Glennon), Ryan Fitzpatrick (15%), Geno Smith (13%) and fellow rookies Teddy Bridgewater (12%) and Derek Carr (7%).

My one reservation in starting Bortles is San Diego’s, ball-control, clock-chewing offense which ranks second in the league (while the Jags rank….dead last.  What’s new!).  Regardless, Bortles will have opportunities, and I think (fingers crossed) he comes through.  If Bortles football game is anything like his mack-daddy game, then hell, we’ve got nothing to worry about………….

Good Knight!

Good Knight!

 This might be so crazy that it actually works! Only one way to find out…

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