Why a poor man's Luck? 

 

In watching Andrew Luck for a couple of years now, he's not a flawless technician.  He's not a guy like Manning.  He's good, don't get me wrong, but is he really in the same level as a Manning, Brady, or Rodgers?  I don't think so.  I think he's part of the next tier of QBs.  I think that with work, Bortles can certainly get to the same level as a Luck. 

 

Now, if we were talking about a guy we drafted in the 2nd round who we thought could develop into a Luck, then fine, he's a poor man's luck.  Bortles is the 3rd pick in the draft, and the first QB taken this year.  There's nothing poor about that.

 

I think that Luck was/ is more sound as it pertains to the pro style system/ as well as instincts, than Bortles. Granted, that is something that Bortles can improve/ learn upon. I think Luck is a better athlete than Bortles as well. But I don't mean that as saying Bortles isn't a good athlete - he is especially at his size for the position....its just that Luck's is a bit better. 

 

All in all, yeah, I agree that if everything goes right for Bortles in the development process he could get pretty close to Luck, even potentially exceeding him in a few areas - one being I could see Bortles being less INT prone. Luck seems like more of a natural gunslinger though. 

 

Either way, I meant it as a compliment. Luck might not be Peyton and never get there, but Luck is still one of the better QB in the sport today. 

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From Matt Miller on Savage: 


 

 

 

Does accuracy get better in the NFL? Lot of people will tell you it can't. Lot of examples show it doesn't. Tom Savage is very inaccurate.

 

Matt Waldman had this to say about him:

 

While I understand why some teams may value Savage as a fast-rising prospect, I question their evaluation practices. Rarely have I seen Savage hold a safety or come off a first read when the game is still up for grabs. Even Matthew Stafford and Jay Cutler demonstrated this skill in the SEC despite proclivities for squeezing the ball into tight spaces in crunch time.

 
Tyler Bray had a better arm than Savage with some similar issues. Off-field issues dropped the Tennessee quarterback to free agent status. Would Bray have been a first-round pick if not for these issues?
 
Even if I want to scoff at the notion, the rumored rise of Savage’s draft stock lends credence to that possibility. While Savage could mature and prove that he’ll develop better habits that others with big arms, prototypical quarterback bodies, and rising draft stock have not, I’m not buying it.
According to one connected NFL employee I’ve spoken with about Savage, there is an assessment that is similar to mine about the Pittsburgh quarterback’s tape. And the conclusion is that Savage’s play is commensurate with a player whose primary goal is making a team and not competing for a starting job.

 
Personally I was surprised to see Savage go ahead of some of the other Quarterbacks.  Personally felt that Mettenberger, Murray, and McCarron were better.  Maybe even Fales.  Though I'd say Mettenberger fell for a number of reasons.  I think Tennessee may have gotten a better deal in the 6th with him.

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I was wrong about Trent Baalke. 

 

From Matt Miller on Savage: 


 

 

Matt Waldman had this to say about him:

<div> 
Personally I was surprised to see Savage go ahead of some of the other Quarterbacks.  Personally felt that Mettenberger, Murray, and McCarron were better.  Maybe even Fales.  Though I'd say Mettenberger fell for a number of reasons.  I think Tennessee may have gotten a better deal in the 6th with him.
 

</div>

 

I also think that Tennessee got a better QB in Mettenberger, than the Texans did with Savage in the 4th.....but Mettenberger has no pocket mobility or any mobility....and that was pre-ACL....thats not going to improve post-surgery....

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I see a lot of Big Ben and Andrew Luck in Blake.

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Yet the SC game is the very one that most who don't like the pick fixate on.  Kudos to you for at least doing some research and not locking in on one performance. 

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but why are people fixating on that South Carolina game?

 

He was 25 of 36 (69.4% completion.  He did have two interceptions, but he had a 160.19 passer rating.  He went cold in the 3rd quarter, but turned it on again in the 4th.  If I were looking at it, I would have said against a tough defense he had a pretty good game.

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I'm not trying to be a jerk, but why are people fixating on that South Carolina game?

 

He was 25 of 36 (69.4% completion.  He did have two interceptions, but he had a 160.19 passer rating.  He went cold in the 3rd quarter, but turned it on again in the 4th.  If I were looking at it, I would have said against a tough defense he had a pretty good game.

 

A lot of that comp pct was shot passes designed to account for Clowney. Can't always just look at the box score at face value. The SC game was one of Bortles less impressive games. Were there circumstances for that? Sure. And I probably judged him too harshly on that game. 

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Im Impressed by TMD going back and doing more research and keeping an open mind about Bortles.


I did the same.


Before the draft I joked with my coworkers saying "I don't want Blake.. Blake sounds a lot like Blaine"

 

I never gave him much thought because of it....

 

I was wrong

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A lot of that comp pct was shot passes designed to account for Clowney. Can't always just look at the box score at face value. The SC game was one of Bortles less impressive games. Were there circumstances for that? Sure. And I probably judged him too harshly on that game. 

 

Watching that game, I was impressed with what he did for the most part.  They had to do short game passing to account for Clowney (at least for the 40% of the game where he didnt just completely quit)....They still had at least two guys on him.  Something had to make up for that.

 

They were able to pressure him in the third and he got a little rattled, but he bounced back and almost pulled out the game.  The talent SC had far outweighed what UCF had.  Blake Bortles (and Storm Johnson) really kept them in the game.  UCF will have a couple receivers coming into the NFL soon.  They may make an impact as well.

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I should have done more research on this player pre draft than I did. I based a lot of my pre draft Bortles opinion off of the SC game, and that wasn't fair to Blake. 

 

Admitting your mistakes is good for the soul. Now we just need to pray that Blake will find it in his heart to forgive you. Rumor has it he was devastated to receive your initial evaluation of him. 

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"I am only an average man, but by George, I work harder at it than the average man." - Teddy Roosevelt

I also think that Tennessee got a better QB in Mettenberger, than the Texans did with Savage in the 4th.....but Mettenberger has no pocket mobility or any mobility....and that was pre-ACL....thats not going to improve post-surgery....

Add to that his off-field issues. 

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"I am only an average man, but by George, I work harder at it than the average man." - Teddy Roosevelt

Not really.  Accuracy is usually due to footwork, which is easily fixed.

 

Where most fail are with improving their timing (speed of the game) and the mental game (identifying and beating defenses.)

 

Regarding the statement in bold...I agree with the part before the comma.

 

Based upon everything I have seen in interviews with Bill Walsh and other QB gurus, proper footwork is a key to QB accuracy. 

 

I don't necessarily agree with the second part.  I think so many teams lack QBs in part because coaches don't know how to develop them.

 

If anyone could have developed accuracy, it would be Jake Locker. 

 

He had the athletic ability to have good feet/footwork, but he was inaccurate in college and he's been inaccurate in the NFL.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Regarding the statement in bold...I agree with the part before the comma.

 

Based upon everything I have seen in interviews with Bill Walsh and other QB gurus, proper footwork is a key to QB accuracy. 

 

I don't necessarily agree with the second part.  I think so many teams lack QBs in part because coaches don't know how to develop them.

 

If anyone could have developed accuracy, it would be Jake Locker. 

 

He had the athletic ability to have good feet/footwork, but he was inaccurate in college and he's been inaccurate in the NFL.

 

I think Locker's biggest problems are from his neck up. He's got a bit of Henne in him.

 

I'm sure he's received plenty of coaching on his footwork, but even if he got his footwork solved he'd still make boneheaded throws at the end of close games like checkdown Chad.

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Why a poor man's Luck? 

 

In watching Andrew Luck for a couple of years now, he's not a flawless technician.  He's not a guy like Manning.  He's good, don't get me wrong, but is he really in the same level as a Manning, Brady, or Rodgers?  I don't think so.  I think he's part of the next tier of QBs.  I think that with work, Bortles can certainly get to the same level as a Luck. 

 

Now, if we were talking about a guy we drafted in the 2nd round who we thought could develop into a Luck, then fine, he's a poor man's luck.  Bortles is the 3rd pick in the draft, and the first QB taken this year.  There's nothing poor about that.

 

I agree with that Luck assessment.  It's as if he over-thinks a situation sometimes and makes mistakes he shouldn't be making, missing some simple things by making them out to be more complex than they are.  Perhaps sometimes letting himself get fooled by the D.

 

Blake is more like Roethlisberger.  He's confident and sometimes takes chances he shouldn't.  Over aggressive.  That's not the same as the over-analyzing Luck seems to do.

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"You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud."

I think that Luck was/ is more sound as it pertains to the pro style system/ as well as instincts, than Bortles. Granted, that is something that Bortles can improve/ learn upon. I think Luck is a better athlete than Bortles as well. But I don't mean that as saying Bortles isn't a good athlete - he is especially at his size for the position....its just that Luck's is a bit better. 

 

All in all, yeah, I agree that if everything goes right for Bortles in the development process he could get pretty close to Luck, even potentially exceeding him in a few areas - one being I could see Bortles being less INT prone. Luck seems like more of a natural gunslinger though. 

 

Either way, I meant it as a compliment. Luck might not be Peyton and never get there, but Luck is still one of the better QB in the sport today. 

 

I disagree with Luck being uber-instinctive.  The strongest instinct he has is pocket presence.  But when I see him play football I don't see a particularly instinctive football player.  I see a cerebral football player that makes up for that.  He's more mental effort than instinct, IMO, which accounts for a lot of his mistakes (over analyzing the game rather than simply playing football.)

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"You do your own thing in your own time. You should be proud."

Disclaimer/Cause and effect: Titans fan, Locker fan, Little drunk

 

Locker's accuracy was dramatically improved last season before he found his annual crutches. Not just by the numbers. It was passing the eye test.

 

 

IT CAN HAPPEN.

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Disclaimer/Cause and effect: Titans fan, Locker fan, Little drunk.


Locker's accuracy was dramatically improved last season before he found his annual crutches. Not just by the numbers. It was passing the eye test.



IT CAN HAPPEN.

And before 7:00! Kudos to you sir!

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I'm trying to make myself more informed and less opinionated.

Stop saying whatever stupid thing you're talking about and pay attention to all the interesting things I have to say!

Impressed by TMDs research too.. Perhaps the most impressive things about Bortles IMO was his improvement from 2012 to 2013. He's night and day a different player and that makes me believe his ceiling could be really high in the NFL.

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I really think the Texans made a mistake dumping Schaub. .

 

We'll see. Schaub was a system QB. That system moved on. It was time for Schaub to move on. 

 

I'm not saying I'm thrilled about our QB situation, but I am optimistic... just the way I am. Replacing Schaub isn't going to be like replacing Brett Favre, or Peyton Manning. Heck, New England made Matt Cassel  look like a pro bowler. If we can get a little bit of that out of FitzKeenYateSavage, maybe we can eek out eight wins or so. If Watt, Clowney, & Nix becomes the three headed monster we hope, maybe ten. 

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ImATexan

I went back and watched more of Bortles this past week, and listened to interviews and just did some more overall research, and I came away thoroughly impressed. He's bright, big, tough, charismatic (which is important in leadership), throws a very nice deeper pass and doesn't seem afraid to do so when the opportunity presents itself, steps up in the pocket (how refreshing), and still has a bit of room for improvement/ potential once the coaches iron out some of the fixable area's like footwork. In addition to that, he's a gamer. Lots of come from behind victories. 

 

I should have done more research on this player pre draft than I did. I based a lot of my pre draft Bortles opinion off of the SC game, and that wasn't fair to Blake. 

It was only a little late, I asked Kodiak to do more film breakdowns cause it seems like everyone was just going off the film in his sigs.  Working night shifts i was awarded the ability to watch pretty much all his games that were on youtube as well as the rest of the prospects which is why I was saying bortles back during the bowl games

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We'll see. Schaub was a system QB. That system moved on. It was time for Schaub to move on. 

 

I'm not saying I'm thrilled about our QB situation, but I am optimistic... just the way I am. Replacing Schaub isn't going to be like replacing Brett Favre, or Peyton Manning. Heck, New England made Matt Cassel  look like a pro bowler. If we can get a little bit of that out of FitzKeenYateSavage, maybe we can eek out eight wins or so. If Watt, Clowney, & Nix becomes the three headed monster we hope, maybe ten. 

 

He wasn't even a system QB, he was just a David Garrard level QB who, unlike Garrard, lucked out to not have to face Manning for a couple of years.

 

If the Jaguars didn't have Manning in their way back in 2007 and 2010 they would have won the division not based on QB play but on everyone except for the QB.

 

The texans really followed the Jaguars example on Schaub. They bother overvalued guys that were being carried and overpaid them. Difference is that Garrard didn't have his coach fired out from under him before he got injured.

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