It's not often that you see a quarterback needy team bashing the incoming crop of quarterbacks, but that's exactly what the Jaguars' new quarterbacks coach is doing — sort of.
Frank Scelfo told Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union that Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert would be the top rated quarterback in this year's draft. The logic behind that claim is rather convoluted.
"If you graded him out right now, this is his draft class. 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," Scelfo told Stellino.
"Ask the scouting departments and the general managers around the league and I think you would end up with a yes on that. Basically at his age, 23, the No. 1 pick in the draft with two years of experience already under his belt. That's pretty good."
This year's quarterback class is perceived to be one of the weakest groups at the position in many years. Only Geno Smith carries a top end grade, and his grade may even be artificially inflated by the lack of any other top end quarterbacks.
That being said, if you've watched Blaine Gabbert over the past two years, he hasn't been very good. The highlight of his career to this point was a game winning drive against the Colts this past season, and it wasn't much of a drive. It consisted of just an 80 yard touchdown pass, most of that after the catch. Gabbert has shown some signs of solid play, but he's played poorly far more often than not.
I understand the idea of trying to pump up your own quarterback, but there's also a possibility that the Jaguars' next quarterback will come from this year's draft. If that's the case, we'll see what Scelfo thinks about his quarterback situation after the draft. Something tells me his point of view will have changed.