Blake Bortles made the type of rookie mistakes that can be corrected. He also made five plays nearly every game that few other starters could pull off. His numbers were absolutely dreadful, rivaling the worst
rookie seasons in QBR since 2006. The tape told a different story. He looked so much better on film than guys like
Jimmy Clausen,
Blaine Gabbert and
Alex Smith as rookies.
Jacksonville planned to give Bortles a redshirt season and must have wondered if they were doing permanent damage by playing him behind a depressing offensive line. No rookie quarterback dealt with more quick pressure or inexperience around him. Too many plays and games were over before Bortles did anything wrong. While Bortles'
mechanics fell off late in the year, his decision-making improved. His athleticism came to the forefront. He never lost his aggressiveness and his coaches put more on his plate as the year wore on. That's a great sign.
There are concerns, of course. Some of those sacks were on him and he was often fooled by defenses. Short, touch passes were far from routine. Still, Bortles showed off a bigger arm and even more athleticism than I expected. He looked like
Cam Newton at times. He could improvise and throw well on the move. He performed well in the two-minute drill. A lot of the "tough-to-find" traits are there. The flash is there. Bortles has potential to make a huge leap in Year 2 by improving the basics and getting a little help from his teammates. His ceiling could still be higher than Bridgewater's, but he's far from a sure bet.
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