I don't feel great about him but I do feel like be can become really reay good and if we hadn't taken him at #3 I really don't think he would have been there. Like others have said his flaws are very coachable so that's a good thing. Jus curious I've watched 4 or 5 game cuts ups and have yet to see him throw a good deep ball? Anybody else seen one ? You don't have to have a strong arm to make it in this league but I'm just curious ?
i hope the coaches can work on his footwork, which is what i see as his biggest issue. it does seem like he has above average ball placement but his wide receivers are ALWAYS get caught from behind.
his ball placement in touchdowns seem balanced. he like fade routes to the left, slants in the middle, and loves rolling to his right with a dragging receiver.
i've seen quite a few throws that go 45 yards down field with good ball placement.
The flaws I see are technique flaws and pretty minor ones at that. Give the coaches some time to work with him and he'll be fine. The most important thing is how he has a history of coming through under adversity which is a quality all the great players have.
Quote:But they are both 6'5" white QBs who came out early and unpolished. Not like there have been a million before those two, they must be similar, right? 
In all seriousness though Bortles is head and shoulders above Blaine when he was drafted. Bortles is a lot more clutch in big games, has a knack for making plays on third down/in fourth qtr, and his pocket awareness and escapability are wayyyyyy better. Bortles performs better under pressure than any other QB in this class, analytics support that.
As others have said, he's the anti Blaine. Whether he becomes a Franchise guy or not is a totally different story, but I have a good amount of faith he will be productive for the Jags. 
Don't forget they both have ridiculous last names!!!!11!
Quote:Bortles is very good when he has proper footwork. Thats a correctable issue. Like other people have mentioned he does many things well that you cant coach.
I was also surprised to see he has similar numbers to Teddy when facing pressure or blitzed. Im slowly warming up to the pick.
One of his best traits is that he's extremely accurate when throwing on the run, off balance, in imperfect circumstances.
So, even at his worst, he's at his best. That's not a bad "problem."
Biggest thing I worry about is that with a TE background, he's got a punish the tackler mentality. That kind of toughness is what makes him strong in the pocket, but he could get himself hurt with bigger faster defenders in the NFL when on the run. But then, Luck is an aggressive runner, too. Perhaps that's a positive all the way around with the way they've put skirts on the QB and throw a flag at looking at the QB wrong. Defenders are starting to pull up on running QBs so they don't get flagged for hitting them too hard.
^^^^^^
Agree. Part of Big Ben's injury history I believe.
He welcomes punishment.
Quote:Don't forget they both have ridiculous last names!!!!11!
And first names.
Quote:The only thing I've seen that I would consider a negative about Bortles is his tendency to throw off his back foot when standing in the pocket. His ability to extend the play outside the pocket and his accuracy on the run are very impressive. He is much more effective outside the pocket than in it, IMO, but his issues can be fixed pretty easily.
He tries to throw with his upper body instead of using his lower body.
Quote:And first names.
I know! They
both start with BLA and end with E.
When will NFL execs realize that NAMES are important! I bet a QB named Hadl or Tittle would
never succeed. I'd rather take a QB with a cool name like Colt McCoy.
Quote:You sir are right. Bortles did not have a true coach at QB. Charlie Taaffe is listed as UCFs - Offensive Coordinator/QBs coach on the teams website.
Good find.
That's incredible. He's actually far along, knowing that. Bortles has natural QB skills. I'm excited
Quote:But they are both 6'5" white QBs who came out early and unpolished. Not like there have been a million before those two, they must be similar, right?
In all seriousness though Bortles is head and shoulders above Blaine when he was drafted. Bortles is a lot more clutch in big games, has a knack for making plays on third down/in fourth qtr, and his pocket awareness and escapability are wayyyyyy better. Bortles performs better under pressure than any other QB in this class, analytics support that.
As others have said, he's the anti Blaine. Whether he becomes a Franchise guy or not is a totally different story, but I have a good amount of faith he will be productive for the Jags.
Blaine was given zero help too. Gene drafted terribly, we only had 4 other draft selections that year because he loved giving away draft picks. We got Shorts who is a good mid-round WR and has done well for us and rackley. Compare that to this year when we've got 2 top of the draft WRs (Lee is special, he could have easily went in the first) 2 linemen and a running back.
It felt like the Jags didn't have a plan under the previous regime. Just draft some players and try and get them to play together. Not drafting to fit the team like we do now (Gus is clearly going for defensive players he can plug and play) but hoping for the best. Some players only work in certain schemes, look at Ziggy Hood for a quick example. Beast in college but doesn't fit the Steelers offense and is a wasted first round pick.
Edit: To add to the discussion of Bortles in college; I noticed how Dave said a few times how they liked how he was "self-built". If he can get to the stage he's at now without any high-end coaching, imagine how good he can be with NFL-level guys.
Quote:I don't get how you can watch his game tape and me disappointed and not see positives. His pocket awareness is amazing. He climbs the pocket very well. His eyes are always down field. There's multiple plays where you can see him go through progressions. There countless times where a guy is coming at him unblocked and he stands in there takes a shot and still delivers and completes a pass. Are you really watching game tape and not seeing all this? Yes he has footwork problems and his decision making is questionable at points but like KY said they are coachable mistakes. I just don't understand how some of you guys can say you've watched his tape and don't see any of those positives.
I'm not saying hes a sure thing cuz honestly you can't say that about anyone but it's all right in the game footage. And no I'm not a homer. I've loved Bortles since before the draft. Was my favorite as soon as he decided to be the only QB to throw at the combine (Out of the top qb's anyway)
His footwork is odd, his throwing motion is awkward, his accuracy is below average in most of the games I saw, his arm strength/velocity on the ball isn't very good for a guy his size and he makes foolish mistakes in almost every game (Fumbing the ball then catching it and throwing it, throwing a screen pass even tho there were 3 defenders drapped on his RB, etc.)
I'm going to trust in Caldwell but they have a lot of work to do.
Well I've been watching film to and there are positives and Negatives. I notice when there's pressure he keeps eyes down field and steps up in pocket things Leftwich and gabber didn't do. I also saw some throws running to his left where he would turn his shoulder and make some impressive throws.I did notice in some games and Highlights were he had some batted passes.His release is a little different from time to time. He's pretty tough to tackle and Faster then I realize. I didn't see were he had to go through progressions very often. i didn't see him talking to oline,rb,te or wr to change play or tell them were to line up. Maybe he can just didn't see in Highlights I watch. I also didn't notice him making many timing throws. I know this is a lot but stuff I notice so far.
Quote:One of his best traits is that he's extremely accurate when throwing on the run, off balance, in imperfect circumstances.
So, even at his worst, he's at his best. That's not a bad "problem."
Biggest thing I worry about is that with a TE background, he's got a punish the tackler mentality. That kind of toughness is what makes him strong in the pocket, but he could get himself hurt with bigger faster defenders in the NFL when on the run. But then, Luck is an aggressive runner, too. Perhaps that's a positive all the way around with the way they've put skirts on the QB and throw a flag at looking at the QB wrong. Defenders are starting to pull up on running QBs so they don't get flagged for hitting them too hard.
I saw him completing a lot of balls even when he was throwing off his back foot. Biggest thing to me though is pocket presence and keeping his eyes down field. That as we saw with Blaine can't be coached and he just has it. As everyone else mentioned footwork is his biggest issue. And once (or if I should say) he gets that down, everything else will fall into place.
Quote:His footwork is odd, his throwing motion is awkward, his accuracy is below average in most of the games I saw, his arm strength/velocity on the ball isn't very good for a guy his size and he makes foolish mistakes in almost every game (Fumbing the ball then catching it and throwing it, throwing a screen pass even tho there were 3 defenders drapped on his RB, etc.)
I'm going to trust in Caldwell but they have a lot of work to do.
The accuracy goes back to the footwork.
Quote:The accuracy goes back to the footwork.
Actually he's very accurate, completing 68% of his passes during his career. But improving his footwork will help improve all facets of his game no doubt.
Quote:Actually he's very accurate, completing 68% of his passes during his career. But improving his footwork will help improve all facets of his game no doubt.
That in itself shows how much potential he has.
I went back today and watched a bunch of tape on him. I pretty much agree with my initial eval, he's going to be a very good QB with some seasoning, but I tend to agree with the notion that he needs to take his time and develop some before he gets thrown in the fire. I don't agree however that he should sit much past Week 5 or 6 because I think that he will end up surpassing Henne relatively quickly. He's a great athlete and has great improvisational skills, similar to that of Manziel and keeps his eyes downfield and moves naturally through his progressions like Teddy. A few concerns I have are that he also tends to make some questionable decisions and his accuracy is a bit inconsistent. His footwork isn't quite as bad as some of you make it sound, but it is another area that can be improved.
Quote:Actually he's very accurate, completing 68% of his passes during his career.
Yeah, but completion % does not equal accuracy. It's kind of like control vs command for baseball.
I didn't really like the pick, but it's starting not to bother me as much. I don't really think he's an elite franchise QB, but at the same time I don't see any reason he can't become an above-average game manager. With our defensive-minded HC building a solid D, and using this draft to put solid pieces around Bortles, I think we'll be competing again for the playoffs soon.