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.

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