http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...n-rankings
Benching Bortles would be an act of mercy if this continues any longer. You can almost hear all the conflicting noise in his head as he winds up to throw each fastball. I had him higher than Stafford or Carr going into the season, which was a terrible misevaluation -- but it also serves as a reminder that Bortles has shown off his incredible natural ability at times as a pro. He can be fixed, but it's hard to see that happening without some sort of break. He is lost for the moment.
Youch!
I think he needs to be benched too
Where's spacecoastjag to tell us all it's not his fault and we don't deserve him.
He stopped to make a sacrificial offering at the Tebow shrine in Gainesville and should be along soon....
Quote:Where's spacecoastjag to tell us all it's not his fault and we don't deserve him.
I can fill in for spacecoast in his absence for the time being:
"Greg Rosenthal = inpet. Doesn't he realize that no QB can win with a terrible organization and a #26 or worse PPG Defense? I can't wait until Bortles goes to a real franchise!"
Like a broken record.
Just read that too. He's not wrong in what he said. But he kind of gave him a backhanded compliment. He was ranked ahead of Carr and Stafford before this season kicked-off. His problem is that he needs to basically flip flop his mentality. We need the 2nd half Bortles to show up early in the 1st half. But that's asking him to read defenses, make tight throws in small windows, make in game play changes and not turn the football over. He's pressing so hard in the first half of contests it's insane. I really do believe he's overthinking things and he's the epitome of a rhythm quarterback. He has to move fast, call plays fast and run around out there to be at his best. We saw that in Chicago. That's really the only difference Hackett can bring to the table here. We just have to go old school 90's no huddle Bills style offense for this kid to look the part. If that's what it takes to win games. So be it.
You can go back and watch the highlights from his college days at the UCF too. He likes moving around A LOT. Virtually all of his big plays came off a bootleg or fake or where he had to avoid the rush and find someone deep. He's not a pocket passer. I don't think he's ever going to be a pocket passer at this level because he's never had to play from the pocket because he can get away with his size and mobility. That's what they have to do for him to succeed. When he's forced to drop back and stay inside the pocket he's pretty bad. He'll stare down receivers and freeze up like a statue. His passes are getting batted down. He's winding up longer from his throw because it's taking him longer to process the play from the pocket. When he's able to scramble around a bit you're making his job and life easier by making his choices on the field smaller and easier to figure out. It's already been shown that in this leauge he's successful playing just like that.
Quote:You can go back and watch the highlights from his college days at the UCF too. He likes moving around A LOT. Virtually all of his big plays came off a bootleg or fake or where he had to avoid the rush and find someone deep. He's not a pocket passer. I don't think he's ever going to be a pocket passer at this level because he's never had to play from the pocket because he can get away with his size and mobility. That's what they have to do for him to succeed. When he's forced to drop back and stay inside the pocket he's pretty bad. He'll stare down receivers and freeze up like a statue. His passes are getting batted down. He's winding up longer from his throw because it's taking him longer to process the play from the pocket. When he's able to scramble around a bit you're making his job and life easier by making his choices on the field smaller and easier to figure out. It's already been shown that in this leauge he's successful playing just like that.
Not trying to compare Blake to Rodgers here, but, Rodgers is another guy who's at his best when he's moving/outside the pocket. To his credit, he's also a good pocket passer, but his biggest plays come from making something happen.
You can win a SB playing the way Blake excels at. It may not be as sustainable ala Brady/Peyton, but it's definitely doable
He still gets hecka fantasy points so I'm fine with it
Quote:You can go back and watch the highlights from his college days at the UCF too. He likes moving around A LOT. Virtually all of his big plays came off a bootleg or fake or where he had to avoid the rush and find someone deep. He's not a pocket passer. I don't think he's ever going to be a pocket passer at this level because he's never had to play from the pocket because he can get away with his size and mobility. That's what they have to do for him to succeed. When he's forced to drop back and stay inside the pocket he's pretty bad. He'll stare down receivers and freeze up like a statue. His passes are getting batted down. He's winding up longer from his throw because it's taking him longer to process the play from the pocket. When he's able to scramble around a bit you're making his job and life easier by making his choices on the field smaller and easier to figure out. It's already been shown that in this leauge he's successful playing just like that.
Why would you want to play to the QB's strengths? Hopefully Hackett figures this out. They say a QB has to play from the pocket to be successful. Brett Favre had a pretty damn good career moving around. Blake is mobile and the line blows which makes it all the more reason to get him moving around and playing up tempo. They say playing fast puts the defense back on the field. Well 3 and outs put the defense back on the field even faster.
Quote:Not trying to compare Blake to Rodgers here, but, Rodgers is another guy who's at his best when he's moving/outside the pocket. To his credit, he's also a good pocket passer, but his biggest plays come from making something happen.
There's also a big difference between Blake being successful at designed rollouts to cut the field in half and make his decision making a lot easier, and Rodgers' version of being successful outside the pocket that comes from keeping a play alive after the pocket breaks down and he is forced to improvise. Those are the most demoralizing too since the defense really does everything right and Rodgers slithers out of the pocket and makes you pay.
Quote:Not trying to compare Blake to Rodgers here, but, Rodgers is another guy who's at his best when he's moving/outside the pocket. To his credit, he's also a good pocket passer, but his biggest plays come from making something happen.
You can win a SB playing the way Blake excels at. It may not be as sustainable ala Brady/Peyton, but it's definitely doable
It's honestly been the trend for awhile. It can be done with a pocket passer or an unconventional passer. Rodgers in my eyes is just a modern day Roger Staubach and right handed version of Steve Young as far as pocket awareness and mobility. Andrew Luck is the same way. That's what separates them as passers. They can beat you inside the pocket or on the run. Bortles just has a lot of work to do in the pocket at this level. Until then they need to keep this kid moving left and right to fit his strengths. It's easier said than done but that's the only way right now I see this offense getting better. But we've seen this done before. Russel Wilson does it in Seattle. Ben Roethlisberger did it during his youth in Pittsburgh. Granted, they've had strong running games behind them to make their selling points in the passing game easier. But that's essentially what Blake is right now.
Didn't seem harsh. Seemed accurate.
It just makes it hard for me to slam this kid completely on some of his short comings. We've seen in the past where coaches and offensive coordinators come up with a gameplan that suited their quarterback's strengths. Denver didn't try to force Tim Tebow to be a pocket passer because that's not what he was. They tailored that offense to run around his lack of passing abilities and leaned towards his abilities as a runner. Atlanta never tried to slow down Michael Vick from being a scrambling nightmare. And the one season where they tried to make him throw from the pocket more often actually lead to him getting hit and dinged up and he wasn't the same guy. That was a short lived experiment and for good reason. Washington didn't force RGIII during his rookie season to be anything other than what he was coming out of Baylor. Is he an afterthought now? Sure. But at that time it was the best decision for that offense and it worked. You're seeing Mike Mularkey doing the same thing with Marcus Mariota with the tacks as well. A good coaching staff doesn't force it's personnel to fit into it's scheme. A good coaching staff will adjust or adapt it's scheme to fit it's personnel. Right now it's 50/50. Blake needs to step it up. And the offensive gameplaner needs to step it up. I'll be fair here.
He's probably too high on this list.
Quote:I can fill in for spacecoast in his absence for the time being:
"Greg Rosenthal = inpet. Doesn't he realize that no QB can win with a terrible organization and a #26 or worse PPG Defense? I can't wait until Bortles goes to a real franchise!"
Like a broken record.
I'm dying
RE: playing to Blake's strengths -
Blake's protection has actually been pretty good this year. It's a real shame he struggles from the pocket, because he's actually had one this season more frequently.
Also - Olson DID actually have him rolling out quite often in three or four of the games this season. I'll have to do the research to be sure, but I'd guess he rolled out 25-30 percent of the time in a few games. I remember being glad it was in the game plan. That rollout stuff is not gonna work much more than that before it gets sniffed out by the defense. You can't do it constantly.
And guess what, he still threw some pretty craptastic passes while rolling out as well. He's making it pretty tough to play to his strengths this year.
Still - I would like them to utilize the rollouts and keep the tempo from sagging to slow as it will give him a chance.
The thing that bothers me the most looking throughout the all22 stuff is how often he never looks in the direction of an open (sometimes even uncovered) receiver, TE or RB because he is squarely locked on one guy. He's let a lot of opportunities slip away.
Man the poo is flying at the dude from all angles. I am guilty of some flinging myself. Tough gig to have. Pays well though.
Last year he was the best thing since sliced bread.
Quote:Man the poo is flying at the dude from all angles. I am guilty of some flinging myself. Tough gig to have. Pays well though.
Last year he was the best thing since sliced bread.
Good point. I'd much rather be making $30M getting bashed by the media and the jags board than what I'm making.