In Gabbert’s defense here, if he had tried to throw the ball forward, he most likely would have been strip-sacked and the Browns probably would have returned it for a game sealing TD—in all likelihood, he should have just taken a sack here.

Also, JDR even admitted that the Jags had him mocked as a 4th rounder before the draft, and that when Gene Smith traded up to get him at #10 overall, he knew then that his days in Jacksonville were numbered. It was an impossible situation for any rookie QB to come in and have immediate success in that situation; especially considering how poor our pass protection was, and our WR core was non-existent at that time.