Finally Saw Bortles

I saw Blake Bortles' highlights.  Naturally, these are the best plays he made, so it's one-sided.  But these videos are useful for showing you how guys move, lead, throw, etc.

The guy who compared him to Big Ben--I just don't know what he was looking at.  That's Andrew Luck.  No I'm not saying he's that good (yet), but he's athletic and fast, which Ben is not.

I also watched the last three minutes of his game with Bridgewater and Louisville.  Bortles was down by four points, and he covered around eighty yards, mostly by air, finishing with a touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone off a roll-out.

What I learned: That looked like a pro-style offense to me, for one thing.  I was also very impressed by some of his tight throws way downfield.  I mean guys were absolutely well-covered, but he put that ball in this tiny little bucket where only his (by the way impressive) recievers could catch it.

Those were NFL throws.  The pros can't cover better than that without interfering.  They were also gutsy throws.

He's not a yeller or a foot-stomper.  He looked calm at all times.  No doubt because of his coolness, some will question his leadership.  Some people think leadership means you yell and scream a lot.  Ignore them.  Quarterbacks who don't get rattled are instant leaders.

These videos didn't show him running much, and I gather that he has a professional-type attitude about only running when he has to, or when it counts.  The one run I saw was a TD scramble from the 6 yard line.

I'm not the expert on mechanics that Norv Turner is, but I also saw him throw while moving with precision.  He has remarkable body control and balance.

I really like this guy!  

One thing I didn't see (or I might have missed it) was his throwing with anticipation.  I don't believe that offense uses timing that much, and it's not his fault.

I do know that when Norv and company work him out with real recievers, one of the first things they'll do is have him throw timing routes.  They'll say "he's going to break inside eleven yards downfield--a slant not a cross--and when he turns to look, that ball needs to be almost there".

Seriously, this is very hard for some guys.  I'll bet Bortles will be fine, because of the guts it took to make some of those throws I saw him make.  He's just not the scared type.

No doubt, there is some work to do on him--which wasn't evident in the videos I watched, but he sure looked like an NFL quarterback to me, and I'm not at all surprised that some of the smarter mock drafters have the Browns taking him (with Carr gone).

In re that, I just gave up trying to watch the Carr highlights.  They did show that he's emotional and fiery, so shallow analysts will recognize leadership--but they mostly showed that and not many actual plays.

We have yet to see the Bowl games, Senior Bowl, combine etc., but I kind of doubt that Bortles is going to slide any.  I do think that Derek Carr will pass Bridgewater as the better NFL prospect, and maybe be drafted ahead of him.

In fact, I think a lot of people are already selling this draft class short in acting like the very idea of comparing Carr to Luck and Bridgewater to RG3 is rediculous.  

Not at all!  It's a good comparison.  It's just that preconcieved notion/prejudice thing.  I mean, there just couldn't be two drafts like that only a year apart!

Bortles to the Browns...a year behind Carr at most, developmentally.  I like it.