Greg Cosell’s Film Review: The ups and downs of Blake Bortles
Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaguars is still learning the nuances of playing quarterback in the NFL.
He’s in his second season, and you see some very good things from him. Other times, he misses things. The Jaguars hope that can be chalked up to growing pains.
Take a look at this play from last week against the Houston Texans. On Bortles’ first dropback of the third quarter, he rolled right. He was initially looking at Allen Hurns, who was behind cornerback Johnathan Joseph, and the safety to that side was low after reacting to the shotgun play-action fake. But Bortles came off Hurns. There’s a lack of recognition and clarity on Bortles’ part there. Take a look, he missed what could have been a 75-yard touchdown:
There are the ups and downs of a young quarterback. I want to take a look at some of the good from early this season (he has 1,630 yards and 13 touchdowns, both in the top 7 among NFL quarterbacks), and some of the mistakes he’s still making. Let’s take a look at a couple interceptions from last week first.
Near the end of the first half Bortles threw a red-zone interception to Texans safety Andre Hal, and it was a terrible read and throw by Bortles. The Texans played red-zone “quarters” zone, with Lonnie Ballentine dropping out from the line of scrimmage and carrying tight end Julius Thomas on his inside slant route. Hal was focused right on Thomas and jumped the route before Bortles turned it loose. It was a bad play by Bortles all the way.
Hal’s second interception was another bad read by Bortles. Thomas ran a “Y stick,” and Thomas read the outside leverage of Hal. He throttled down after his out cut. Bortles did not account for Hal’s alignment and threw the Y stick — right to Hal. Hal returned it for an interception, a key play as the Texans came back in the fourth quarter to win.
Bortles, whose mechanics slipped late in his rookie season, still has a little hitch in his delivery; he has a slight pause after he separates his hands and brings the ball back. And he’s not as consistently precise with ball placement as he needs to be, so he misses some throws he has to make.
But Bortles also slows flashes that he can become a quality NFL starter. He makes some outstanding throws. He’s willing to turn it loose with the mentality of a pocket quarterback.
[Play Yahoo Daily Fantasy and get a 100% deposit bonus with your first deposit]
Bortles also shows on some plays that he’s making progress. Two weeks ago against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had a nice touchdown to Hurns. The play was designed to the tight end to his right, Marcedes Lewis, but Lewis didn’t win the one-on-one matchup early so Bortles came off him. Bortles’ initial look to his right moved the single-high safety, and then Bortles came back to Hurns, who was in the opposite slot against outside leverage by the cornerback. Then Bortles made a precise throw with good ball placement.
Bortles can make some big-time throws too, like this 13-yard touchdown to Allen Robinson. It was outstanding anticipation and precise ball placement between two linebackers in zone coverage. It’s just an excellent throw into a tight window.
Bortles is making incremental steps in his development. He does some good things from the pocket at times. He can make big-time throws. There are times though, he looks like a quarterback who is still early in his second year. The Jaguars are hoping he continues on the right path in his development and becomes a quality NFL starting quarterback.
– – – – – – –
NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
