When I see Bortles mocked to Jacksonville with the tag, "Prototypical QB" or "Highest Ceiling" or worse, "Biggest Boom or Bust Prospect" it makes me cringe. It reminds me of another prototypical QB, Blaine Gabbert. Bortles and Gabbert's pre draft measurables are eerily almost identical. Barring a trade, the 3rd pick has to be, Clowney, Bridgewater, Manziel, Watkins or Mack.

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He was slightly more productive in college than Blaine, but yeah, I see some similarities - the late rise in the draft, mystery hype, the bulk of the hype based on measurables/ and supposed "ceiling", junior eligible,....

 

He's far from a sure thing. 

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He has way more presence than Gabbert, and he's not afraid to throw the ball. Any comparisons of anyone to Gabbert make me cringe. Gabbert is a special type of bad

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Don't see it

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Watch Bortles in the pocket. You can see him fear the sense of pressure and I do get Gabby flashbacks.

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He has way more presence than Gabbert, and he's not afraid to throw the ball. Any comparisons of anyone to Gabbert make me cringe. Gabbert is a special type of bad

 

^This.


 

I'm not at all impressed with Bortles, and hope the Jags don't draft him. I really hope the Texans take him at #1. But he doesn't curl up into a fetal ball every time a defender gets free.

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"Why should I give information to you when all you want to do is find something wrong with it?"

Only thing Bortles Resembles of Gabbert it the late rise up the draft board

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Only thing Bortles Resembles of Gabbert it the late rise up the draft board

They are both white. Let's not forget.

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http://www.gplus.to/WilliamSmith

Who the hell cares about all of those buzz phrases. Just watch a few games of the two of them and you can't possibly say they are similar. 

 

And for the last time (lol yeah right), Bortles wasn't a late riser he was merely a late declarer. He has long been seen as a top 10 draft pick, we just didn't think he would be in this draft. That's why the casuals didn't hear about him until rumblings that he might declare started happening. 

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Every late riser is the next blaine gabbert? lol. Stop being paranoid folks.

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I get it.


Every QB we don't like we compare him to Gabbert.


Amirite?

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

I get it.


Every QB we don't like we compare him to Gabbert.


Amirite?

This. They are completely different players. The only similarity is size.


This "late rise" point is so dumb. He was highly regarded before but no one thought there was any chance he would declare. He did and there is your "late rise".

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I dont like because he is more potential then anything else, he has bad mechanics, and he is mostly loved because his height eight speed, I wouldnt say he plays like Gabbert but he is most raw and needs the most time out of the top 4 QB's.  

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<B><FONT color=cyan>Jags this is your year</FONT></B>

I don't like Bortles.. but David Fales is a Gabbert clone, the way he backs away from hits it's like Deja vu

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I don't like Bortles.. but David Fales is a Gabbert clone, the way he backs away from hits it's like Deja vu

There has and there will never be another QB like Gabbert.


Who was Gabbert before Gabbert?


No one.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

This. They are completely different players. The only similarity is size.


This "late rise" point is so dumb. He was highly regarded before but no one thought there was any chance he would declare. He did and there is your "late rise".

 

then the same thing could be said for Gabbert's late rise since he declared early as well despite people thinking he'd stay for another year....

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Lemme guess....most of the defenders of Bortles in this thread are YOO CEE EFF fanboys.....? amirite????

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then the same thing could be said for Gabbert's late rise since he declared early as well despite people thinking he'd stay for another year....

Sure.


If you can watch Bortles and say he looks anything like Gabbert then I have no respect for what yiu say about qbs.


For the record I am a ucf fan. Doesn't mean I am overrating him though. I can be unbiased.

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And for the last time (lol yeah right), Bortles wasn't a late riser he was merely a late declarer. He has long been seen as a top 10 draft pick, we just didn't think he would be in this draft. 

I have to humbly disagree.

Going back to pretty much last July, the top 4-5 prospective QBs in this upcoming draft have ALL and ALWAYS been underclassmen, and nobody that I've seen was ever hesitant about talking about any undeclared quarterbacks. I say heed the OP's warning: Beware the Late-Rising QB.

 
I mean heck, the very definition of a late-rising QB should raise red-flags. There are traditionally 2-types in general.

<div>1)A QB who did not impress on the field(or at least not as much as his QB peers), but inexplicably rises up/above the other QBs on the draftboard thanks to more NFL-standard size, weight, and perceived potential of not what he is, but what he can become.
 
2)A QB who was not formerly thought of as a top tier quarterback, but thanks to a lack or dearth of QBs in the draft, goes higher than he would/should.

</div>
Bortles is a product of both of these IMO. Let me for example, show you at least 3-QBs in particular who Bottles can thank for rising so fast so late.
 
(1)Bryce Petty(prospected first round quarterback in 2014 Draft)
**couldn't post picture(too many in one post), so just imagine a Bryce Petty pic here. 
 
(2)Marcus Mariota(prospected first round quarterback in 2014 Draft)

 
(3)Bret Hundley(prospected first round quarterback in 2014 Draft)

I dare you to try and find any early draftboard/top QB list by any of the major sports outlets before Dec/Jan of this year that had Bottles over fellow undeclared underclassmen Petty, Mariota, Hundley, Bridgewater, or Manziel. I don't think anyone can.
Why? Because it was only after all three of these big QBs decided to not declare at the last second, that Bottles became a household name. If they were in this draft, Bottles would go back to being the 6th or 7th best QB in the draft IMO.
 
Case in point, way, way back in October 2013, ESPN ranked the 6 best possible QBs coming out for the draft. All in the top 6(except for Mettenberger) were underclassmen. None of them had declared yet.

<div>Quarterbacks
1. *Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville
A potential No. 1 overall pick. Has all the skills, only dinged by questions about a lack of competition so far in 2013.
2. **Marcus Mariota, Oregon
Physically gifted as an athlete, but patient as a progression passer, with a great arm. A clear challenger to Bridgewater.
3. **Brett Hundley, UCLA
Significant physical abilities and no questions about his arm. Shows plenty of toughness and is just scratching the surface.
4. **Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
Question his arm strength and occasionally his decision-making, but not his preternatural gifts as an instinctive playmaker.
5. Zach Mettenberger, LSU
6.Bryce Petty
 

 

</div>
The idea that people didn't talk about underclassmen/undeclared QBs is just not true. We've been talking about them for months. Even his fans have to admit that Bottles benefited from 3 major QBs not declaring, and the 2-major ones left(Manziel and Bridgewater) coming with supposed size issues at the combine. Ie, the prototypical late-rising QB.

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I want 3 players. Clowney, Bridgewater, Manziel. Jaguars have the number 3 pick. Just give me one of those 3 at 3, and I'm happy.

 

My top 6 favorite posters on these boards

Deacon
Pirkster
Shack Del Rio
Haterade
Hurricane
Badger

Every late riser is the next blaine gabbert? lol. Stop being paranoid folks.

Yes, but I think this also shows that Jaguar fans are learning from their mistakes, ie, not doomed to repeat them. 
 
I personally think if we got either Manziel or Bridgewater and they turned out to be busts, we could at least say, well we tried something completely new and it didn't work.
I feel if we get Bottles, a late-rising QB who benefited more from his combine than his collegiate career, and give him the franchise based more on potential than actual play, and then he's a bust, I fear we'll be looking back and thinking, did we just do the same thing over again that we did with Gabbert?
 
To be clear, you're right, no, he's not Gabbert. Every analogy breaks down somewhere. But his road to a top 10 draft pick is more similar than any QB I've personally seen since Gabbert. Honestly, Bottles may turn out to be one hell of a QB one day, but for JAg fans still licking their wounds after Blaine, buyers beware.

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I want 3 players. Clowney, Bridgewater, Manziel. Jaguars have the number 3 pick. Just give me one of those 3 at 3, and I'm happy.

 

My top 6 favorite posters on these boards

Deacon
Pirkster
Shack Del Rio
Haterade
Hurricane
Badger