Still too many 1 read passes and screens for my liking and his "progressions" usually consist of locking onto his first target and if its not there checkdown.

 

For example in the first 2:00 mins of the vid he ends up 7/9 passing which seems nice but his only misses are on 2 passes that actually went beyond 10 yards in the air.

 

1st play Screen : Start easy for your QB. 1/1

 

2nd Play: Designed slant that he was gonna throw no matter what. I applaud him knowing where his hot read vs the defense was but those types of plays are more playcalling from the coaches and can lead to trouble if it becomes a habit which for Bortles it has. 2/2

 

3rd play : Another screen where the defense is predicting it. He has the choice to throw a slant to the other WR as he doesnt block but runs a route. 3/3

 

4th play: Hitch right at the sticks. Nice throw on his numbers to shield the ball but this should be routine for any QB. 4/4 at this point with 2 screens a hitch on 3rd and 4 and a designed slant on a good play call. going screen,slant,screen,hitch wont cut it at the next level.

 

5th play : First play where the ball has to travel some. Possible PI by the CB but even then the ball wasnt nearly on target and i've seen Bortles not throw the comeback well in other vids.  4/5 with a miss.

 

6th play : He looks middle for a split to suck the defenders inside second before turning back and locking in on the RB for the designed checkdown. Didnt try to scan the left for his other Wr and if you look he actually has 2 checkdown options on the play as the TE blocks and releases. It honestly looks like it was a naked screen type play and the routes outside are just diversions. 5/6

 

7th play: Nice ball fake and athletic ability which i cant knock him for he really has some wheels and the frame to take the hits.

 

8th play : Screen and the D is beginning to key in on it. 6/7

 

9th play : Another miss on the comeback route with a clean pocket and plenty of time to setup for the throw. 6/8

 

10th play: PA and i commend him on getting the ball out with a Defender in his grill but in that situation things can go badly quickly. Still a bang bang play where he came out on top. 7/9

 

11th play : Nice throw in rythm on the post route to beat zone traffic. THIS is the type of throw i need to see more of. The first 10 plays arent going to cut it at the next level but if he can do more of this stuff consistently then we are good. Showed some ability to look left than go back to his right. 8/10

 

12th play: Turns right around and misses horribly on a wide open WR from a clean untouched pocket and a nice play call. Nearly gets his guy rocked by hanging the ball high. As a WR these are the types of plays that make you uneasy with a QB. 8/11

 

13th play: Read option. Nice athletics again and if you notice he runs but doesnt get hit much in his shoulders and knees - the 2 death areas for QBs. He does a good job of absorbing the hits in safe spots.

 

14th play: Bortles doesnt read the play correctly or didnt want to the take the hit pick your choice. He had the RB behind clowney in the flat and was looking at him at the top of his step. He could have completed it taking the shot from clowney but did a ugly spin and then held onto the ball instead. This looked like a gabbert esque play at its finest.

 

15th play: Designed 1 read  A or B type play  where he locked on and was throwing it no matter what. It was the same screen / slant combo from earlier but this time he chose the slant. They seem to like that concept. 9/12

 

16th play: Gives a meh ball fake to move the secondary but he knows the blitz is coming. It appears he drops his eyes to the rush for a split second but im not sure. Good job of standing in taking the shot and giving his guy a chance but you'd like to see him have the ability to change plays or keep his form better under the rush. Still he does have the heart Gabbert lacked. 9/13

 

17th play : Another screen and the defense is showing they arent gonna be fooled. 10/14

 

18th play: Good job moving up in the pocket and finding an outlet. Actually uses his athletic ability unlike Gabbert. Accurate on the move. 11/15

 

19th play: We've gone to the land if 19 with this one. Completely on Bortles as he stares down his target from the start of the play leaving little doubt in the defenders mind as to where the ball is going.  Not a terrible throw but a bit high and left his guy exposed. Eli Manning used to do this to his WRs early on as well. It wasnt so much the location of the ball but that he telegraphed the throw and made his WR a easy target. 11/16

 

20th play: Quick rollout and designed throw to the flat. Not bad and a routine part of most offenses with a mobile QB. 12/17

 

21st play: Another screen / slant combo. This seems to be their basic fall back play on early downs and im guessing its done to help setup the run and read option stuff they do. Again these are mostly 1 read A or B plays with no need for going through progressions. 13/18

 

22nd play : Nice play and he avoids the bad throw by double clutching then gets the ball out with zip to where only his guy can get it. My issue? He doesnt look at the other routes and starts turning his feet to his target the second the ball is snapped predetermined in where he is going. This is what had people questioning Kaep in San Fran as defenders started keying in on his tells. 14/19

 

23rd play : Screen.  Not much to say. 15/20

 

24th play: Bad INT as he again predetermined his throw and this time paid for it.  He never looked away and the defender was never fooled in the least. He might as well have handed it to the CB. This was the same play as the 2nd but this time the D sat on it from the start. To me the constant repeating of basic plays shows a simplicity in the offense that usually means a QB is being coddled and isnt capable of opening up a full range of plays or lacks  the mental ability to breakdown coverages and make adjustments. 15/21

 

At halftime he is 15/21 with 1 Int and no passing TDs. Only 7 of his passes went farther than 10 yards in the air or had the WR break his routes after 10 yards and he went 1/7 on those throws with a bad INT and one where he got his WR killed staring him down. On only 1 of those 7 throws was he actually hit and had a full clean pocket on the other 6. For further point his next 4 plays outta the half are a designed 1 read throw to the flat ,  a sack  , another 1 read throw that was nearly picked , and finally a completion on that elusive comeback route part way into the 3rd quarter.

 

Is this game supposed to be a positive example of Bortles? He locks onto his 1st option on nearly every throw and struggles mightily on anything in the medium range or at least in this game he did. Offense is super simplistic and the Defense began to figure it out as the game wore on. Doesnt make checks or adjustments what so ever and has to be video game controlled. He gets very erratic when his first option is covered as well and tends to immediately look to the checkdown.

 

I will believe in Caldwell and adopt the wait and see approach but i did not want this guy at all. just my breakdown play by play of what i see.

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