Greg Olson spent this past season calling plays for the Raiders and developing the performance of rookie quarterback Derek Carr.
As new offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars, can Olson do the same with first-round passer Blake Bortles?
To make it happen, NFL Films guru Greg Cosell believes the first order of business is undoing what Bortles learned under duress during a campaign that saw him sacked a league-high 55 times.
Cosell told WGFX-FM in Nashville that Bortles fell into bad habits in the process, suggesting coaches "probably need to start over with him with basics," per ESPN's Paul Kuharsky.
Olson has shown promise in this area, working with Jeff Garcia in San Francisco in the early 2000s and helping Marc Bulger of the Rams to his only 4,000-yard campaign in 2006. Olson's guidance of Carr last season must have been attractive to Jacksonville coach Gus Bradley, who knows his future with the team hinges on Bortles blooming into a tangible talent in the AFC South.
The Jaguars initially planned to red-shirt Bortles as a rookie, but that pie-in-the-sky idea lasted just three weeks. Thrown into the fire by the quarter mark, the big-bodied passer displayed plus arm strength and unique athleticism. Bortles also struggled mightily with his accuracy and decision-making, but those traits are bound to improve with an entire offseason under Olson.
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