Quote:While the board was down I came across this article

 

https://sports.vice.com/ca/article/is-bl...elite-mook

 

It goes over the ups and downs of Bortles play so far. That article specifically did not interest me too much, but it was the article it led me to that did. 

 

http://www.footballperspective.com/how-l...break-out/

 

This asks the question how long does it take for a great QB to break out? It comes to the conclusion that, barring outstanding circumstances, the minimum should be two years. That typically QBs who have terrible rookie seasons don't usually come back to be good.

 

Reading articles like this really makes me think about how impressive it is what Blake has been able to do just to survive these first two years, and just how underrated he is. How many QBs do you think would have survived what Bortles has been put through? 95% of them would have been crushed. He was a project coming out of college and wasn't supposed to start and was not prepared to start. He is thrust in 3 games into the season behind the worst O-Line in the league, surrounded by a bunch of rookie receivers and the only "vet" was constantly hurt, no legit pass catching tight end, and Toby Gerhart and Denard Robinson as his running backs. I would call that, as that article puts it, an outstanding circumstance.

 

Then to come back this year and improve as much as he has is nothing short of incredible. The fact he's made it through 29 games behind this O-Line without ever missing a snap is incredible. I can almost guarantee any other QB would have been hurt by now. Mariota would have been on a stretcher here. I can name probably 3 QBs in the league right now who would have been able to survive the situation here and come out unscathed from it, and those are Cam, Luck, and Jameis. And I'm not sure if even any of them would have gotten BETTER after it, let alone significantly so. The more I think about it the more I think the national media's stance on Bortles is crazy. This guy has potential to be really good considering what he's had given to him these two years and what he's been able to achieve as a player despite it. Put a line in front of this guy and a defense behind him and I bet he will be unquestionably a top 5, not just top 10, QB. He's shown that kind of moxy and mental fortitude that I believe he will get there someday and someday soon.

 

The first link is somewhat interesting, but it's telling that the bad throws the writer finds to illustrate his problem with Bortles are all from the first half of this season. Bortles play from a statistical point of view has picked up very strongly after the first colts game. In fact I think his passer rating has gone up about 10 points since then and his biggest problem with short routes right now is the constant drops from Nard-dogg and ridiculously bad play selection on WR screens.

---