I think that this game more than any other excited me about Blake's future. This season he has had a completion percentage in the mid 50's. That in turn contributed to a lot of three and outs on offense. Blake has also been a little quick to leave the pocket and a little late to make his reads.
Tonight he was ON TIME for the most part. He hit his back foot and more often than not the ball came out. When the first guy wasn't there he hung in the pocket, climbed the pocket, side stepped, and only broke contain when he needed to. This was the most fundamentally sound performance that I have seen from him this season. He's always made plays but this looked like a more polished QB.
I disagree (don't get me wrong, I'm a BB believer). He threw off his back foot way too many times and doesn't have the greatest pocket presence (he bails completely out too much when just moving around in the pocket would be effective).
He still doesn't read defenses well pre-snap and doesn't anticipate throws that well in-play.
However, on the flip side, he obviously has some great flashes.
I do believe with good coaching that he can continue to improve his mechanics and his reading of defenses. I do think he still has plenty of potential and room for improvement. When this kid can really start to read defenses then watch out!
He looked much more poised tonight and had that one bonehead throw to Julius Thomas. He was stringing completion streaks together. If he can eliminate some of the bad bad decisions that usually cost us we've definitely got a top QB in this league.
Quote:I disagree (don't get me wrong, I'm a BB believer). He threw off his back foot way too many times and doesn't have the greatest pocket presence (he bails completely out too much when just moving around in the pocket would be effective).
He still doesn't read defenses well pre-snap and doesn't anticipate throws that well in-play.
However, on the flip side, he obviously has some great flashes.
I do believe with good coaching that he can continue to improve his mechanics and his reading of defenses. I do think he still has plenty of potential and room for improvement. When this kid can really start to read defenses then watch out!
Just to be clear, I didn't say he was Brady, I said that I saw better fundamentals and 70% completion. He's still a young QB in the 10th game of a new system.
If they are going to design protections that have the RB release late in the play, then eventually he is going to have to hit him. I say yeldon standing by himself on more than one occasion. He still double clutches too much against the blitz. That being said, I still think that tonight was a step in the right direction and that it supports the kind of trajectory that you want for a young QB.
Quote:He's always made plays but this looked like a more polished QB.
I agree. It's been fun to watch him get settled in as the season goes by. He still makes boneheaded decisions. Even Brady made boneheaded decisions once upon a time. He's getting more comfortable and letting plays develop, and when there's nothing there, he's not afraid to move around and create something. He's got a long way to go, particularly when it comes to his tendency to throw the ball at the wrong jersey under pressure, but he's getting better with every game.
It's also really nice to see Julius Thomas involved and getting into sync with Bortles. Once he's got a line in front of him, Bortles is going to be scary-good. The skill position pieces are in place.
He is a young Brett Favre.
You live with your gun slinger and you die with your gun slinger.