There is a very good chance that Blake Bortles will be the first player selected in the 2014 draft. So why do I have Bortles ranked as my # 3 QB? Well that's a good question and I fully intend to explain. At the end of the 2012-2013 season it seemed impossible to imagine any quarterback other than Teddy Bridgewater being the first off of the board at the QB position. But scouts and critics have been chiseling away at Bridgewater's draft stock as is always the case with any top prospect playing in their final season. And with scouts raising questions about Bridgewater's potential, the door was opened for other passers to take the top spot among this class of QBs. Blake Bortles has done his best to seize that top spot including winning the head to head match up between the two signal callers. Bortles has prototypical size at 6'5" and 232 Lbs and can make plays with his legs. And what I keep hearing more and more about Bortles is that scouts and coaches think hthat he has the most upside out of the entire QB class. I disagree. That being said, I do think that Bortles has a great deal of potential as an NFL QB.
Bortles played in 37 games over three years at Central Florida. During that time Bortles passed for 7,598 yards, 56TDs, 19 INTs and a completion percentage of 65.7%. As a Junior he passed for 3,581 yards, 25 TDs, 9 INTs and 67.8% completion percentage. Bortles ranked 4th in completion percentage and second in yards per completion out of my top 10 quarterbacks. As a senior Bortles also rused for 272 yards and 6 TDs.
Strengths:
Reading Coverage/Using Eyes- Blake Bortles' ability to use his eyes to control opposing safeties and linebackers is top notch. He does a good job of diagnosing the coverage pre-snap and uses his eyes to pull the safety away from his intended target. Bortles is one of three QB prospects in this draft class that excels in this area. The video below illustrates Bortles' ability to use his eyes.
Touch- Bortles has shown the ability to apply touch to deep balls and intermediate passes. For a quarterback with Bortles' size this is impressive. Often times, larger quarterbacks struggle with touch because they naturally have more velocity on their passes. Bortles has the ability to take off as much velocity as needed to drop passes into tight spaces. Watch the video below to see examples of Bortles' touch.
Athleticism-Blake Bortles has exceptional athletic ability for a guy his size. Bortles has been compared to Cam Newton and Andrew Luck in terms of the combination of size and athleticism at the quarterback position. Those comparisons are a bit of a reach but Bortles is still very athletic for the position.
Footwork- I watched 174 of the passes that Blake Bortles threw during his senior season. 172 of those 174 snaps were taken from the shotgun. Bortles will have to learn to take snaps from under center and learn to make reads as he takes his drop. This is becoming a very common reality for college QBs making the transition to the pros as the number of college teams taking most snaps from the shotgun increases.
Release- Bortles has a prolonged release at times. He has a tendancy to let the ball dip far below his elbow, sometimes as low as his waist in a long, looping throwing motion. Bortles will need to shorten his throwing motion if he wants to succeed in the league. The split second that the looping motion adds to Bortles' delivery is all that NFL defensive backs need to make a break on the ball and take it the other way for six points. And pass rusher love to see QBs let the ball drop down low. NFL pass rushers understand how to jar the ball loose and given the smallest opportunity to do so, they'll take advantage.
Arm Strength- Blake Bortles is a big quarterback. Usually big quarterbacks have big arms. But when Bortles winds up and tries to throw a laser, I feel like his attempt at a fastball comes put looking like a change-up. There's a bunch of arm and body action but the ball comes out at half speed. I'm not sure what is causing it but it's definitely a concern. I definitely can't say that Bortles has elite arm strength. I don't even know that I can say that Bortles has above average arm strength.
Overview: Blake Bortles is a big, athletic quarterback who can manipulate the defense with his eyes. Bortles doesn't have elite arm strength or a quick release but his understanding of the defense that he's facing allows him to succeed. I think with some coaching on his mechanics, Bortles can be a very successful starting quarterback in the NFL. The thing that I disagree with most is the idea that Blake Bortles has the most upside out of all of the QBs in this year's class. The quarterback with the most upside in this class is my number two QB.
Draft Projection- Top 5-I don't think that Bortles should be selected before either of my to two QBs, who I'm sure you can guess at this point. But I think Bortles will be able to start immediately.
I'll be back soon with QB#2.
Thanks to all of the guys at draftbreakdown.com for all of the work you do putting together prospect video.
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