Given how much everyone in the media is so down on Blake Bortles and his horrific 3rd season, I thought it might be interesting to compare Bortles with Roethlisberger and Eli Manning in their 3rd seasons in the league.

 

First, let's look at Blake Bortles and his 2016 stats: 

 

58.9% Completion Percentage

368 completions out of 625 Attempts (Note 625 Attempts)

3905 Yards Passing - 6.28 YPA

23 TDs with 16 INTs

78.8 QBR

 

Blake regressed from his 2015 season stats:

 

58.6% Completion Percentage

355 completions out of 606 Atempts

4428 Yards Passing - 7.31 YPA

35 TDs with 18 INTs

88.2 QBR

 

 

Now compare this with Eli Manning (winner of TWO Super Bowls)

 

in his 3rd season in the league, Eli Manning put up these stats:

 

57.7% Completion Percentage

301 Completions out of 522 Attempts (almost 100 attempts less than Blake in 2016)

3244 Passing Yards  - 6.21 YPA

24 TDs with 18 INTs

77 QBR

 

In his 4th season in the league, Eli Manning put up these stats:

 

56.1 % Completion Percentage

297 Completions out of 529 Attempts

3336 Passing Yards - 6.31 YPA

23 TDs with 20 Ints

73.9 QBR

 

NOTE: The MAXIMUM Number of Pass Attempts in his CAREER has been 618 in 2015, which is less than Blake in 2016

 

Does Blake look any worse than Eli at this stage in his development - based purely on stats and not on specific bone headed Pick 6 plays?

 

Now let's look at Ben Roethlisberger (Winner of TWO Super bowls) in his 3rd season: (2006)

 

59.7% Completion Percentage

280 Completions out of 469 Attempts

3513 Passing Yards - 7.49 YPA

18 TDs - 23 Ints

75.4 QBR

 

In 2007, Big Ben started to come into his own

 

65.3% Completion Percentage

264 Completions out of 404 Attempts

3154 Passing Yards - 7.81 YPA

32 TDs with 11 Ints

104.1 QBR

 

The MAXIMUM number of Pass Attempts in his Career has been 608 in 2014, which is comparable to Blake's 2015 season

 

CONCLUSIONS:

 

Other than some bone headed plays that young QBs will do, Blake is reasonably comparable to Eli Manning at this stage in his career and not far behind Ben Roethlisberger, both of whom WON TWO Super Bowls.

 

Blake is throwing TOO MANY PASS ATTEMPTS, suggesting that if he had a ground game to compliment his passing game, he might be able to perform a little better.

 

SO, based upon this information, is it really prudent to THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATH WATER just because Bortles had a BAD (REALLY, REALLY BAD) 3rd season in the league.

 

Clearly, Blake is the FIRST and ONLY QB to ever have a REALLY REALLY BAD 3rd Season and therefore it is TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE for him to ever potentially lead the Jags to a winning season, much less an appearance in a Super Bowl.

 

OR IS IT?

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