Anybody watch Blake Bortles in college?

Quake Griffin · Post #1 » by **Quake Griffin** » Fri Feb 7, 2014 11:33 pm

anybody have their own personal scouting report?
ideas about his makeup.

i saw his last game against Baylor and thought he looked nice...real mobile, solid arm strength
then I hear Mel Kiper ragging on his arm earlier this morning.

thoughts? anybody wanna clear that up?

Post #2 » by **craig01** » Sun Feb 9, 2014 2:38 pm

I've watched him in person during his entire career.

First, his size is totally legit (6-4, 230)

Secondly, he is very mobile, has terrific pocket pressure instincts, and has deceiving speed for his size

Arm strength is good, but is not the second coming of john elway.

Accuracy is consistent but could be better, and he's continually focusing on improvement

Bortles has exceptional field vision when being chased, and is very accurate while throwing on the run. His decision making while on the run has been rock solid.

His work ethic is at 100 percent. He's deeply committed to be the best. He's played with a chip on his shoulder because he was mostly recruited as a TE coming out of Oviedo HS. much of the local/national recruiting focus his senior year was aimed towards jeff driskel, who was the no. 1 QB prospect in the nation and just happened to play at Hagerty HS, which was just a couple of miles away.

His biggest obstacles? He tends to finesse the ball too much, can get "happy feet" while in the pocket, throws off the back foot at times, and sometimes gets locked in on a receiver.

The biggest intangible? His proven and demonstrated leadership. He will wow the scouts at the combine, as Bortles is so well grounded and keeps focus on the big picture.

Personally I would have liked Bortles to stick around another year. And I think it will take him a year to get acclimated to the NFL. But for an NFL team to invest that high of a draft pick, Bortles has the best long term value of the three guys coming out.

And I won't give my opinion on Mel Kiper, who I have little respect for.

The draft gurus just throw crap out there to be relevant. They have only about half of the information that the NFL teams do.

Quake Griffin · Post #3 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sun Feb 9, 2014 4:56 pm

from the game I saw...

i liked the size, mobility, arm and pocket instincts. I didn't know how to judge it against a Baylor defense...but I think this kid can be really good.

I want the Raiders to take him at 5.
I think he's better than Pryor and McGloin.

Post #4 » by **craig01** » Sun Feb 9, 2014 5:19 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:from the game I saw...

i liked the size, mobility, arm and pocket instincts. I didn't know how to judge it against a Baylor defense...but I think this kid can be really good.

I want the Raiders to take him at 5.
I think he's better than Pryor and McGloin.

He'll need time to adapt in the NFL, but he brings a lot to the table.

Many compare him to Ben Rothlisberger in style, size, and intangibles.

Post #5 » by **Icness** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 1:23 pm

He's got the complete physical package. He's tall, thick, moves well, and has enough arm. Others (D. Carr, L. Thomas) have bigger arms in this draft class but Bortles is good enough.

His game is hit and miss. I've broken down four of his games now: Penn State, South Carolina, USF, and SMU. The last two games are interesting because they played predominately cloud zone coverage, which means they offered the short passes but took away stuff down the field. Bortles still tried to force throws down the field and ignored open outlets underneath, and he wasn't nearly as sharp. Worth noting that the SMU game was played in very cold and windy conditions and it clearly bothered him.

Against PSU he looked very much like a guy who should be the #1 overall pick. Excellent ball placement, hit receivers in stride in traffic. Showed he could throw guys open.

Against SC his quick release came into play because the Cocks were all over him early. Yes, I just typed cocks were all over him :lol:

Gus Fring · Post #6 » by **Gus Fring** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:11 pm

I definitely watched his girl

LAKESHOW · Post #7 » by **LAKESHOW** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 12:54 pm

I only got to see 1 game from this dude. But in that one game, Im sold on this kid. Sorry, no further analysis

Post #8 » by **gswhoops** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:05 pm

Quake Griffin wrote:from the game I saw...

i liked the size, mobility, arm and pocket instincts. I didn't know how to judge it against a Baylor defense...but I think this kid can be really good.

I want the Raiders to take him at 5.
I think he's better than Pryor and McGloin.

Damned by faint praise

Celtsfan1980 · Post #9 » by **Celtsfan1980** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:27 pm

With their management change, I'm thinking there's a 50% chance he'll be a Brown. I gather he's basically a less accurate version of Big Ben?

Post #10 » by **gswhoops** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:13 pm

Celtsfan1980 wrote:With their management change, I'm thinking there's a 50% chance he'll be a Brown. I gather he's basically a less accurate version of Big Ben?

I've seen a couple sources describe him as a poor man's Andrew Luck. Similar stature and arm talent, though Luck was obviously much more advanced at reading defenses and commanding an offense than Bortles is right now.

GS Warriors 1 · Post #11 » by **GS Warriors 1** » Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:37 am

I would not take him #1 if I'm Houston(I like Bridgewater better) but he should certainly go in the top 5.