Originally posted by ethan:
It was injuries that stopped Gabbert in Jacksonville more than anything else. Along with constant turnover of coaching staff and players while he was there. There are only two players left on the team from when he arrived. He played through his rookie season with a broken toe and damaged ribs. Second year he had a seperated left shoulder from the start of the year, but played with it. He was doing O.K. up to mid point of the season (even though the team was learning a new offense), then he suffered nerve damage in the forearm of his throwing hand. Couldn't grip the ball. But at that point he had a better passer rating and completion percentage than guys like Luck, Newton, Bradford, Stafford, Tannehill, etc. Despite the constant turnover in personel around him. People whine because Kapaernick had to play without Crabtree for half a season. Gabbert was throwing to a constant changing cast of waiver wire guys his whole time in Jacksonville. They set records for injury time lost both his first two years there, and then he missed most of his third with an injury of his own. Quarterbacks always say it takes half a season to a full season to become comfortable in new offensive scheme. Gabbert never had that luxury. He missed the second half of his last two seasons, and every year there was a new offense to learn. He kept winning the starting job, then getting hurt before he had a chance to benefit from team familiarity with a new system.
He had a tougher go of it for his first three seasons in the league than any quarterback going back to Greg Cook, probably, who was having an All Pro rookie season then suffered shoulder damage that ended his career.
Seems like a long list of excuses to me. Nowhere in that post do I see anything that would lead me to believe he's a good QB.
I agree he was in a bad situation. Even then, you would still expect someone chosen that high to at least show he's one of the better players on the team. At least show you're a player to build around. Gabbert was a liability, and the offense functioned better with Chad Henne under center playing with the exact same surrounding talent. That's why Henne is there, and Gabbert is gone.
I'm not saying that Gabbert can't turn it around. He certainly can. He has the talent, and he's in a great situation now. Nobody cares about his adversities, every player has them. At the end of day you have to show results on the field.