Quote:Agreed here. If there one area that's strikingly lacking with Bortles it's his completion percentage. While drops factor in here, this just won't cut it. Gabbert often had a completion percentage below 50 percent. In an effort to see where he should be at I looked at starters around the league and concluded that the absolute minimum to be an effective starter is 59 percent. 54 percent isn't quite cutting it, and I realize it's not all him and that drops are part of it.


 

Looking around the league so far this year, the top guys in this category like Roethlisberger and Romo are around 75 percent. Half of the starters in the league are at 65 percent or more. Another dozen starters taper down from there between a 60 to 64 percent completion percentage. Then it gets ugly with a few just below 58 percent, namely Clausen, Tannehill and surprisingly Luck. Below them is a group of guys right around 55 percent with Newton, Winston, Hoyer and Bortles. The only qbs with a worse completion percentage than Bortles are Manziel and Mallet.


 

If Bortles can get his percentage from out among the bottom of the barrel to say an average-looking 61 percent, this offense would look so much better.

 

Quote:The drops are not really any different than last year. The difference is the level of difficulty on his throws. Most of the second half of last year he never passed more than like 5 yards from the LOS. This year he is taking a ton more shots downfield and just tougher throws in general. So it's not like he has regressed in accuracy since last year. He does need to get the percentage up to the 60 mark however.

 

Agreed with Pujo. IMO Comparing Gabbert and Bortles' completion percentage isn't fair. The "Gabbert Zone" was created because Gabbert never through the ball more than five yards down the field. Bortles is hurt not only by drops but by the fact that he throws the ball down the field much more than Gabbert ever did. Even if Bortles was much more accurate than he has been, throwing down the field is more likely to amount to incompletions. 

 

Bortles definitely has to raise his completion percentage but if this is the type of offense he is going to be in during his career  I don't ever see him being a super high completion percentage type QB. Hovering around 60-65 might be the right spot for an offense that pushes the ball down the field plenty of time. 

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