BLAKE BORTLES IS AN ELITE RED ZONE QB

Photo: Keith Allison

Blake Bortles has been among the best in the business in the red zone over the last two years. 

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Blake Bortles is an elite red zone QB.

Blake Bortles and elite aren't generally used in the same sentence, but over the past two seasons the Jaguars QB has been remarkable in the red zone and deserves a ton of credit for his performance. 

Bortles' 37 touchdowns inside the 20 since 2016 leaves him tied for fifth in the NFL. The only QBs to throw more red zone TDs than Bortles over that time span are Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Matt Ryan. Of those four QBs only two - Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady - have thrown fewer interceptions in the red zone. Bortles threw just two interceptions in the red zone during that two year span, both of which came in 2016. 

It would be easy to write this off as a fluke if it were just one season of elite red zone production, but for Bortles to do it for two consecutive seasons says a lot about the Jaguars young signal caller. In 2017 Bortles had little to work with - the Jaguars WR corp was decimated by injuries - yet somehow found a way to be incredibly efficient in the red zone. 

Blake Bortles still has a ways to go in terms of on field consistency outside of the 20 yard line, but he's become one of the very best inside the 20. His command of the offense, leadership, and accuracy have been noticeably improved throughout OTAs and Minicamp. 

If he can continue that success into training camp and the regular season, the Jaguars aerial attack, that features several new weapons, could look dramatically different - in a great way - in 2018.