Blake Bortles

Blake Bortles

Bortles playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014
No. 5  Jacksonville Jaguars
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: April 28, 1992
Place of birth: Altamonte Springs, Florida
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight: 232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school: Oviedo (FL)
College: Central Florida
NFL draft: 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2014
TD–INT: 11–17
Passing yards: 2,908
QB Rating: 69.5
Stats at NFL.com

Blake Bortles (born April 28, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Jaguars third overall in the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at UCF.

Bortles was the Knights' starting quarterback from midway through the 2011 season to 2013. In 2012, he led UCF to a Conference USA East Division Championship and bowl victory. In 2013, Bortles led the Knights to an upset of then−No. 8 Louisville to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship, and an upset victory over sixth-ranked Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl.

Early years

Bortles attended Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida, where he starred in football and also played baseball. As a senior, he completed 151 of 233 passes for 2,211 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He finished his career with a Seminole County record 5,576 career passing yards and 53 touchdowns.

Labeled a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Bortles was listed as the No. 44 pro-style quarterback in his class.[1] Bortles chose UCF over offers from Colorado State, Purdue, Tulane, and Western Kentucky.[2]

College career

Bortles accepted the offer from UCF, the first college to offer him a scholarship and one near his home. He was redshirted as a true freshman in 2010. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he played in 10 games, completing 75 of 110 passes for 958 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. As a sophomore in 2012, he started all 14 games at quarterback. He completed 251 of 399 passes for 3,059 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 285 yards and scored eight touchdowns.[3] He was the MVP of the 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl after completing 22 of 32 passes for 271 yards with three touchdowns and 79 rushing yards.[4]

In 2013, Bortles led the Knights to the inaugural championship of the American Athletic Conference, earning the league's automatic berth to a BCS bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Passing for 301 yards and rushing for 93 yards and four touchdowns, Bortles led UCF to an upset of fifth-ranked Baylor, 52–42. Winning UCF's first major bowl, he was named Offensive MVP.[5]

Statistics

As a starter (2012–2013), Bortles owns a 22–5 (.815) record. As of the end of the 2013 season, Bortles statistics were:[6]

Passing Rushing
Season Team GP GS Rating Att Comp Pct Yds TD INT Att Yds TD
2011 UCF 10 0 153.9 110 75 67.8 958 6 3 21 4 1
2012 UCF 14 14 144.5 399 251 62.9 3,059 25 7 87 285 8
2013 UCF 13 13 163.4 382 259 67.8 3,581 25 9 87 272 6
Totals 37 27 153.9 891 585 66.2 7,598 56 19 195 561 15

Professional career

2014 NFL Draft

On January 5, 2014, Bortles announced that he would forgo his senior season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft.[7][8]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht WtArm lengthHand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BPWonderlic
6 ft 5 in 232 lb32 7⁄8 in9 3⁄8 in 4.93 s 1.75 s 2.86 s 4.21 s 7.08 s 32 1⁄2 in 9 ft 5 in 28
All values from NFL Combine[9]

Jacksonville Jaguars

Bortles vs. Ravens in 2014.

On May 8, 2014, at the 2014 NFL Draft, Bortles was chosen 3rd overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bortles was the first of an eventual 14 quarterbacks to be drafted.[10][11] On June 18, he signed his rookie contract worth $20.6 million guaranteed for four years.[12]

On September 21, 2014, Bortles made his regular season debut when he came in relief of Chad Henne in the second half of a blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts.[13] He went on to complete 14 out of 24 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Following the game, head coach Gus Bradley named Bortles the starter going forward.

On September 28, 2014, Bortles made his first career start in a road game against the San Diego Chargers. Bortles ended the game 29–37 for 253 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in a 33–14 loss. His 78.4 percent completion percentage set a record for a rookie quarterback's first start.[14]

In Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, Bortles produced 336 passing yards but the Jaguars lost 14–16 due to a blocked field goal. In Week 13 against the New York Giants, Bortles threw for 194 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions with 68 rushing yards in the Jaguars' largest comeback win in team history. They won 25–24 after trailing by 21 points. In Week 16, Bortles led the Jaguars to a Thursday Night Football win over the Titans, 21–13. He completed 13 out of 26 passes for one touchdown and no interceptions with 50 yards on the ground.

Personal

Bortles is the son of Rob and Suzy Bortles. Rob was a wrestler and football player in high school; Suzy played high school softball.[15] Blake's brother, Colby, is a sophomore third baseman with the Ole Miss baseball team as of 2014.[16][17]

References

  1. ↑ "Rivals.com pro-style quarterbacks 2010". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  2. ↑ Ryzewski, Steven (May 8, 2014). "The Bortles File: Covering Blake Bortles through the years". Seminole Chronicle. Retrieved May 10, 2014."Turning down offers from Purdue, Colorado State and Tulane, Oviedo quarterback Blake Bortles committed to UCF on Saturday."
  3. ↑ Tenorio, Paul (August 27, 2013). "New year brings new expectations for UCF quarterback Blake Bortles". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ Tenorio, Paul (December 21, 2012). "UCF's Blake Bortles leads Knights to 38-17 win over Ball State in bowl". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ Gillespie, Ryan (January 2, 2014). "No. 15 UCF stuns No. 5 Baylor in Fiesta Bowl". USA Today. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Blake Bortles Stats - UCF Knights". ESPN.com. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
  7. ↑ Greenspan, Dan (January 5, 2014). "Report: UCF QB Blake Bortles to declare for 2014 NFL Draft". nfl.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  8. ↑ Clarke, Patrick (January 5, 2014). "Blake Bortles Will Declare for 2014 NFL Draft". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Blake Bortles". nfl.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  10. ↑ Rosenthal, Gregg (May 8, 2014). "Jacksonville Jaguars take Blake Bortles with No. 3 pick". nfl.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ Bien, Louis (May 8, 2014). "NFL Draft results 2014: Blake Bortles goes No. 3 to Jaguars". SB Nation. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  12. ↑ Patra, Kevin (June 18, 2014). "Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars strike contract". National Football League. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ Edholm, Eric (September 21, 2014). "Jacksonville Jaguars finally turn the ball over to Blake Bortles". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  14. ↑ King, Peter. "DeMarco Murray, Philip Rivers lead NFL MVP race; Steve Smith Sr., more".
  15. ↑ Cousins, Jill. "BLAKE BORTLES – At home,on the field". Lake Mary Life. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  16. ↑ Adelson, Andrea (December 30, 2014). "Blake Bortles is unknown no more". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
  17. ↑ Brinson, Will (February 26, 2014). "Blake Bortles asked about girlfriend Lindsey Duke in combine interviews". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 10, 2014.

External links