Blaine Gabbert’s NFL career has taken a path that, unfortunately, many young signal-callers before and after him will have to take. Gabbert is now one of the backup QBs to Patrick Mahomes on the Kansas City Chiefs. How he got here is a tale that includes many twists and turns.
Blaine Gabbert Grabs Attention of College Coaches
Gabbert was a sensation during his high school career at Parkway West High School. He was a five-star All-American, and every team in the country coveted and recruited the prototypical signal-caller.
Gabbert was invited to the Elite 11 quarterback competition to show off his tremendous upside, and he did just that, as he was named camp MVP over Andrew Luck and others.
Most scouting syndicates considered Gabbert the top pro-style quarterback in the nation coming out of high school. After careful consideration, he verbally committed to the University of Nebraska.
Gabbert never began his Huskers career, however, as Nebraska fired head coach Bill Callahan. Gabbert then went back to the drawing board and would eventually commit to the University of Missouri.
Blaine Gabbert’s Career at Missouri
In his first season at Missouri, Gabbert was a third-stringer. Many head coaches would have redshirted Gabbert, but Gary Pinkel wanted to get the true freshman some game action — deciding to play him sparingly throughout the year.
Gabbert had the advantage of getting his feet wet while learning from established starter Chase Daniel. Following his freshman season — with Daniel off to the NFL — Gabbert prepared to take over as the Tigers’ starting QB, where he wasted no time establishing himself as a premier college football quarterback.
As a sophomore, Gabbert was named second-team All-Big 12, totaling the third-highest single-season passing numbers in Missouri history with 3,593 yards.
Gabbert continued his momentum in his junior season. He and the Tigers upset No. 1 Oklahoma, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Sooners. The upset crystallized Gabbert’s value to the program and the NFL scouting community.
Despite his production dipping slightly during his junior campaign, the damage was done as NFL front offices had seen enough of the Missouri QB. Nevertheless, it left many surprised by Gabbert’s announcement that he would be heading off to the 2011 NFL Draft.
Blaine Gabbert’s NFL Career
In 2011, the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Gabbert at No. 10 overall, anointing him as the franchise savior. Unfortunately for Gabbert and the Jaguars’ fan base, this would not be the case.
The original plan was not for him to start so early in his rookie season, but life comes at you fast in the NFL. Jacksonville had released then-starting QB David Garrard in the preseason, and Luke McCown played miserably during his two-week starting stint to kick off the 2011 NFL season. The Jaguars’ coaching staff and front office determined that the future was now and turned the keys of the franchise over to the rookie.
At 22 years old, Gabbert became the youngest player in NFL history to start 14 games or more at the QB position. It appeared to be too much, too soon, as a lack of accuracy, habit of committing turnovers, and the Jaguars’ offensive line allowing numerous sacks caused Gabbert to lose favor in Jacksonville.
In his first three NFL seasons, Gabbert would play for three head coaches, leading to a complete lack of continuity of an offensive playbook. Following the 2013 season, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a sixth-round pick.
Since then, Gabbert has become the definition of a journeyman QB, having played for the Jaguars, 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and now, the Chiefs.