I've been in football scouting for several years now.  I was with Ball State during the 2012 season.  During that year we went to a bowl game in St. Petersburg and played against UCF, and Blake Bortles.  

It was during his junior year.  In prep for the game I studied every snap during that season and produced a lengthy report.  I believed he would kill us.   I saw a QB who was frequently under pressure and managed to avoid a lot of top rushers and make the best of what he had.  He had some talented receivers to work with, too.  Our defensive coordinator disagreed and didn't think he could do much damage.  

He had a field day against us; our defense was terrible throughout the season, but he completely dominated.  AFter the game, I stood next to Blake and so did our coordinator, who ate a slice of humble pie.  He told Blake "I underestimated you" and wished him well.  Here is a cutup of all his throws against us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp930aTlYaQ

Anyway, it's been a long time since I looked at NFL with detail because it's hard to do when you have to evaluate hundreds of high school players from 4 states (including FL) every month.  I did watch the Pittsburgh and New England games, and I thought Blake performed better than expected during both.  He didn't put team in jeopardy, didn't throw any picks, and remained pretty calm on third down.  He IS a little rough around the edges; the ball needs to be placed ahead of receivers on under routes and crossers when throwing over the middle of the field.  That would have made a big difference.  

Real issue in my opinion was the playcalling (there's a lot of issues with that not jsut with the Jaguars but with almost every team; it's like their butt muscles tighten inside the 20).  First down runs weren't going anywhere.  The Jags had a lot of success with swing passes to RBs / Fournette / Yeldon in 1st half.  They kind of stuck with it too much in the 2nd half and it got very predictable; the Patriots adjusted extremely well.  I wouldn't give up on your QB yet because the days of once-in-a-lifetime quarterbacks like Peyton and Brady are coming to a close; you have a great defense (Jack, Campbell, the cornerback whose name I'm forgetting at the moment), a great young RB, and a solid offensive line.  It's obvious that Coughlin has added a spark.  Throw in Polian, and David Caldwell form here in Indy, and you have a great front office.  Future looks bright!  

Take care, B
Twitter - @Bryan_Ault

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Football scout w/National Preps.  Former Ball State, FC, Cleveland Browns.  

He was a sophomore the year you mention. He was a junior in 2013 and left for the draft prior to his senior year. He did have some excellent receivers at UCF as you mention.

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I've been in football scouting for several years now.  I was with Ball State during the 2012 season.  During that year we went to a bowl game in St. Petersburg and played against UCF, and Blake Bortles...


...
Anyway, it's been a long time since I looked at NFL with detail because it's hard to do when you have to evaluate hundreds of high school players from 4 states (including FL) every month.  I did watch the Pittsburgh and New England games, and I thought Blake performed better than expected during both.  He didn't put team in jeopardy, didn't throw any picks, and remained pretty calm on third down.  He IS a little rough around the edges; the ball needs to be placed ahead of receivers on under routes and crossers when throwing over the middle of the field.  That would have made a big difference.  

Real issue in my opinion was the playcalling (there's a lot of issues with that not jsut with the Jaguars but with almost every team; it's like their butt muscles tighten inside the 20).  First down runs weren't going anywhere.  The Jags had a lot of success with swing passes to RBs / Fournette / Yeldon in 1st half.  They kind of stuck with it too much in the 2nd half and it got very predictable; the Patriots adjusted extremely well.  I wouldn't give up on your QB yet because the days of once-in-a-lifetime quarterbacks like Peyton and Brady are coming to a close; you have a great defense (Jack, Campbell, the cornerback whose name I'm forgetting at the moment), a great young RB, and a solid offensive line.  It's obvious that Coughlin has added a spark.  Throw in Polian, and David Caldwell form here in Indy, and you have a great front office.  Future looks bright!  

Take care, B
Twitter - @Bryan_Ault

The bolded are my thoughts exactly.  

Thanks for the great post.

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Ball placement is far and away his biggest issue. He seems to be improving with it though. 

Maybe another offseason of work gets him there.

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I feel like last year he got hammered by his receivers for hanging them out to dry by throwing it too far in front, then this year he over adjusted so it was behind. Hopefully next year he will be just right. Additionally it doesn't help he was throwing to 3 rookies for most of the season. Seemed like all his throws to lewis were on target positioning wise this year.

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Ball placement is far and away his biggest issue. He seems to be improving with it though. 

Maybe another offseason of work gets him there.

This is true. It bothered to still see multiple balls thrown behind receivers on Sunday though. I know he's getting better, but there was still too much inaccuracy on display to make me feel OK not adding competition at the position. 

I also wonder where he's at in terms of being comfortable (and free to) make more calls at the line. Would be nice to see him check out of a run every now and then and exploit a mis match.  I wonder if that may be a way to adjust/counter the Hackett conservatism when it happens?

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He is inaccurate quite a bit, but I wonder how much of that can be contributed to chemistry with receivers. At game speed a slight variation in a route or speed of a receiver can mean a pass that is off target. Top receiver Cole was a rookie who likely wasn't getting many reps before the season. Westbrook and Fournette also rookies. Lee and Hurns missing time due to injury. Robinson out for the year. I want to see him with a healthy Robinson and a TE that is more of a pass threat.

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He is inaccurate quite a bit, but I wonder how much of that can be contributed to chemistry with receivers. At game speed a slight variation in a route or speed of a receiver can mean a pass that is off target. Top receiver Cole was a rookie who likely wasn't getting many reps before the season. Westbrook and Fournette also rookies. Lee and Hurns missing time due to injury. Robinson out for the year. I want to see him with a healthy Robinson and a TE that is more of a pass threat.

That's part of it at times for sure, but missing those underneath crossers over and over all year long is pretty tough to chalk up to "chemistry."

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Ball placement is far and away his biggest issue. He seems to be improving with it though. 

Maybe another offseason of work gets him there.

This is true. It bothered to still see multiple balls thrown behind receivers on Sunday though. I know he's getting better, but there was still too much inaccuracy on display to make me feel OK not adding competition at the position. 

I also wonder where he's at in terms of being comfortable (and free to) make more calls at the line. Would be nice to see him check out of a run every now and then and exploit a mis match.  I wonder if that may be a way to adjust/counter the Hackett conservatism when it happens?

I get more than a little worked up about it. It contrast to Brady it stood out quite a bit more than usual. 

It’s tough because Bortles is above average in nearly every other aspect (hard to say how he reads the field from my couch but he looks like he’s made strides) but that one negative is a drive/YAC killer.

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Appreciate the insight!

I'm not sure what will happen but as critical as I've been in the past I find it hard not to root for him to succeed. I also believe he has matured as a man and a football player while with Jax.

He may never be a Top 5 QB but I do think he can make it in the Top 10 if he continues to work at it (which you can tell he does).

I think it's foolish to throw out a QB if you have one that is in the top half of starters in the NFL. As Vic used to say, there's not a QB tree out back.

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On some of his throws, doesn't it look like he is measuring his throws, like a basketball player with a bad outside shot trying to make a basket from beyond 17 feet.

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3 years 65mil...third year player option.

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Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.

Bortles had a chance to stake his claim to this team and he failed. The Jaguars need a quarterback that at least gives a chance to come back from behind. Those are the drives that define a QB, and he FAILED. He is NOT the answer for this team, I do not think a "serviceable" QB is going to cut it anymore. The Jags front office needs to be bold and go get this team a QB that can win.

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"If you always do what you've always done, You'll always get what you always got"

Bortles had a chance to stake his claim to this team and he failed. The Jaguars need a quarterback that at least gives a chance to come back from behind. Those are the drives that define a QB, and he FAILED. He is NOT the answer for this team,  I do not think a "serviceable" QB is going to cut it anymore. The Jags front office needs to be bold and go get this team a QB that can win.

Drew Brees

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Bortles had a chance to stake his claim to this team and he failed. The Jaguars need a quarterback that at least gives a chance to come back from behind. Those are the drives that define a QB, and he FAILED. He is NOT the answer for this team,  I do not think a "serviceable" QB is going to cut it anymore. The Jags front office needs to be bold and go get this team a QB that can win.

Oh Yea? Give us your list of and available that "can win". Also make sure that these quarterbacks have at least made a superbowl. Because if they haven't made it further in the playoffs than Blake obviously that means they also can't win.

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On some of his throws, doesn't it look like he is measuring his throws, like a basketball player with a bad outside shot trying to make a basket  from beyond 17 feet.

Yes. BB5 even said himself during the scouting process that he wasn't a natural thrower of the football. 

The Jaguars drafted a "football player" with the prototypical build you want in a franchise QB. A tiger can't change it's stripes.

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Bortles had a chance to stake his claim to this team and he failed. The Jaguars need a quarterback that at least gives a chance to come back from behind. Those are the drives that define a QB, and he FAILED. He is NOT the answer for this team,  I do not think a "serviceable" QB is going to cut it anymore. The Jags front office needs to be bold and go get this team a QB that can win.

Oh Yea? Give us your list of and available that "can win". Also make sure that these quarterbacks have at least made a superbowl. Because if they haven't made it further in the playoffs than Blake obviously that means they also can't win.

Your criteria for upgrading BB5 is a QB that has made it to the Super Bowl solely based on the logic that a team with arguably the best defense in the league led the team to the AFCC?

Isn't that logic a bit extreme?

Based on your pattern, you wouldn't want Jimmy G. here, right?

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Bortles had a chance to stake his claim to this team and he failed. The Jaguars need a quarterback that at least gives a chance to come back from behind. Those are the drives that define a QB, and he FAILED. He is NOT the answer for this team,  I do not think a "serviceable" QB is going to cut it anymore. The Jags front office needs to be bold and go get this team a QB that can win.

Sure.  They'll just go pick one from the quarterback tree.   Or maybe the Pats will trade us Tom Brady.

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He was a sophomore the year you mention. He was a junior in 2013 and left for the draft prior to his senior year. He did have some excellent receivers at UCF as you mention.

Thanks.  Sorry, hard to keep things straight.  Got hundreds of players watching every year.  By the end of the fall my mind is pretty blown out!

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Appreciate the insight!  

I'm not sure what will happen but as critical as I've been in the past I find it hard not to root for him to succeed.  I also believe he has matured as a man and a football player while with Jax.  

He may never be a Top 5 QB but I do think he can make it in the Top 10 if he continues to work at it (which you can tell he does).  

I think it's foolish to throw out a QB if you have one that is in the top half of starters in the NFL.  As Vic used to say, there's not a QB tree out back.

Thanks.  One thing that kind of puts the Jags in a bind is starting over with a rookie QB takes a lot of time.

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Football scout w/National Preps.  Former Ball State, FC, Cleveland Browns.  

Bortles had a chance to stake his claim to this team and he failed. The Jaguars need a quarterback that at least gives a chance to come back from behind. Those are the drives that define a QB, and he FAILED. He is NOT the answer for this team,  I do not think a "serviceable" QB is going to cut it anymore. The Jags front office needs to be bold and go get this team a QB that can win.

He didnt fail. Many times this season he brought us back only to have somthing not of his control ruin it. The JETS game he did a game winning drive which ended in a pass to 4net for a TD(a fantom holding called ruled it out) Then in arizona he drives us down the field and puts a perfect pass into Lees hands would be in Field goal range to win the game(lee drops it), In san fransico after the defense gave up all those points he brought us back to give us  a chance to win( one bad read by him for int cost us). and lets not forget pittsburg. Its not that he failed its the coaches. What you want is a Brady Breese Ben madden type to sling the football. It aint gonna happen. You half to look at this team and especiialy the coaches and who they are. Even if you get cousins or smith or draft a top QB that throws good. The coaches game plans are not going to change. They do not curtail the playcalling because of bb5, That is their playcalling and style. You bring in cousins he will still only pass 20 % of the time it will be run run pass its who marone and hackett are. they do not have a high powered passing attack. BB5 is more then just a serviceable QB and will continue to get better.

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