The Facts: The 2017 season will be make-or-break for Bortles, and he got an assist from management's decision to remove the interim tag from Doug Marrone and make him the new HC. In addition, new Exective VP of Football Operations, Tom Coughlin, told reporters during his introductory news conference, that "Blake Bortles is our quarterback."
Diehards Line:
While Coughlin's endorsement -- he has final say over the team's 53-man roster -- is big, Marrone's hiring and his expected decision to retain offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett -- which CBSSports.com's Jason LaCanfora reported will be the case -- means Bortles will avoid having his fourth offensive coordinator in four seasons. He will have to learn a new offense because Hackett will install his own system -- he stuck with Greg Olson's offense after Olson was fired in late October -- but the familiarity Bortles has with Hackett over the past two seasons will make the transition much easier. Bortles said after the season ended that he really clicked with Hackett -- who joined the staff as QBs coach in January 2015 -- and improved more in the nine weeks that Hackett called plays than at any other time in his career. Bortles has a close relationship with Hackett, with whom he spent significantly more time than Olson, and the quarterback said he hoped Hackett would be retained. Bortles threw only one interception in the final four games and completed more than 64 percent of his passes in each of the final two games of the season. He did that just once in the previous 14 games. The final two games were his best of the season and renewed hoped that Bortles can indeed be the player around whom the franchise is built.