Blaine Gabbert hasn’t wowed with his talent during his first two seasons in the NFL, but one of his Jacksonville Jaguars coaches still believes he is a top-level talent.
Gabbert was viewed as a franchise quarterback when the Jaguars selected him 10th overall out of Missouri in 2011, but he hasn’t exactly lived up to the hype. He’s started 25 games in two seasons, completing just under 54 percent of his passes and throwing 21 touchdowns to 17 interceptions — not exactly Pro Bowl-caliber numbers.
The mediocre performance under Gabbert has led to rumblings that the Jaguars should consider drafting West Virginia’s Geno Smith, USC’s Matt Barkley or any of the other potential first-round picks in this April’s draft. But new Jaguars quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo believes Gabbert is better than all of the quarterbacks available, according to the Florida Times-Union.
“If you graded him out right now, this is his draft class,” Scelfo said of Gabbert. “If he were coming out and the quarterback draft class the way it is, would he be the top guy taken? I think the answer is yes.”
If Gabbert, who redshirted his first season at Missouri, stayed all five years in college like Oklahoma’s Landry Jones or North Carolina State’s Mike Glennon — other potential high-round picks — then this would also be his draft class. So, Scelfo’s assertion, if not accurate, is at least relevant in this scenario.
With no standout No. 1 prospect in this class, it is feasible to believe that Gabbert would be considered the top quarterback on most boards ahead of Smith, Barkley and the others. Then again, given his middling production over the past two seasons, maybe he would’ve been better off staying in college and trying his luck now anyways.
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