Blake Bortles has been a 'perfect backup quarterback' for Rams

[Riverumbbq]

By: Cameron DaSilva | 1 hour ago


It was a relatively quiet offseason for the Los Angeles Rams, but one of the notable signings they did make was bringing aboard Blake Bortles. They opted not to bring back Sean Mannion, signing Bortles to replace him as Jared Goff’s backup.

It’s still only training camp, and the Rams hope they don’t need Bortles at all this season, but it seems this experiment has worked out in Los Angeles’ favor. He’s received positive reviews from Rams coaches and looked good in practice, making quite a few impressive throws.

Pass game coordinator Shane Waldron made sure to mention Bortles when asked who has stood out on offense.

“[It] can’t go understated how well I think Blake has picked up this system,” Waldron said after practice with the Chargers. “He’s been in a few different systems and he’s come in and done nothing but be that perfect backup quarterback in the situation that he’s in right now. Great for Jared, but not just great for Jared, but on the field executing at a high level and he’s one of those new guys where you say, man, you walk in the door and there’s a system that’s been in place for a couple years and he’s been able to pick it up right away and execute it.”

Bortles made a terrific throw to Tyler Higbee on Saturday against the Chargers, finding him in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

He has excellent mobility and displayed the ability to throw on the run in the past, which is valuable in the Rams’ offense with all the bootlegs and rollouts Sean McVay calls.

The Rams got a bargain with Bortles, too, signing him to a one-year, $1 million contract. His best chance to stand out will come in the preseason, considering Goff isn’t expected to play at all.

All things considered, this will be Bortles’ most important offseason yet.


https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/08/04/nfl-rams-blake-bortles-backup-quarterback-perfect/

 

[den-the-coach]

What's not to like? First off, there is alliteration in the name, then Bortles IMO, dons the best QB number....5, it looks awesome, he's big and he can run the best running QB the Rams have had since, well, T.J. Rubley and I don't count Pat Haden as good running QB because, well, I don't think Haden did anything good.

Paul Justin was an excellent backup to Kurt Warner, seemed to play well in garbage time, but unfortunately when Justin was about to see the most snaps all year, in the last game at Philadelphia, he was hurt and we had to watch the deer in headlight Joseph Berton Germaine, who made Mike Martz so mad, he would never let another QB don the number 9 ever again!

 

[TexasRam]

Blake Bortles will lead the Rams to win the Super Bowl in the year 2020.

I have Forseen it!!!!!

 

[Corbin]

Haha watch him pull a Big Dick Nick and win the big game for us!

 

[Loyal]

Haha watch him pull a Big Dick Nick and win the big game for us!

Don't joke....I could see all the yahoos on sports talk, calling for Bortles if he plays decently i Preseason..."Just shows that Goff is a systems QB! Save the cash and sign Bortles to a long term deal and dump Goff at season's end!" ~ Foolio

 

[Corbin]

Don't joke....I could see all the yahoos on sports talk, calling for Bortles if he plays decently i Preseason..."Just shows that Goff is a systems QB! Save the cash and sign Bortles to a long term deal and dump Goff at season's end!" ~ Foolio

Fuck that! It doesn’t matter what they say, both McVay and Snead would laugh at that logic!

Also with that being said I don’t think it’s to far fetched for Bortles to put on a show this preseason. I actually think it’s likely!

 

[Merlin]

Yeah I think Bortles is going to look really good in preseason. And we're gonna have to weather that BS, well, from idiots like Simms and Foolio.

 

[Karate61]

Yeah I think Bortles is going to look really good in preseason.

Just curious as to why you think that? All I heard for years out of Jacksonville was that Bortles was awful. What's changed, if anything?

 

[Riverumbbq]

Just curious as to why you think that? All I heard for years out of Jacksonville was that Bortles was awful. What's changed, if anything?

Yeah, i'm not sure how much of an opportunity he'll have to shine while playing with the 2'nd/3'rd team offensive players trying to keep him upright. Playing against other 2'nd teams should give us a better perspective, but going up against 1'st team defenses may not be all that pretty.

 

[Corbin]

Just curious as to why you think that? All I heard for years out of Jacksonville was that Bortles was awful. What's changed, if anything?

Yeah, i'm not sure how much of an opportunity he'll have to shine while playing with the 2'nd/3'rd team offensive players trying to keep him upright. Playing against other 2'nd teams should give us a better perspective, but going up against 1'st team defenses may not be all that pretty.

Do you both think that Bortles has less of a shot to put on a show versus the 2nd or 3rd teams?
Hell even Mannion did that causing an uproar.

How much better is he going to look behind our offense and scheme compared to the multitude of shit they’ve had over the years in Jacksonville?

The guy has talent. There is no denying that. He played pretty average to good at times, in sure McVay will work things out to see what he has.

One things for sure is Goff isn’t going to play much in the pre season as per last season along with a lot of other starters.

That’ll give Bortles a chance as well as the others.

 

[Karate61]

Do you both think that Bortles has less of a shot to put on a show versus the 2nd or 3rd teams?

I don't think that. With all the Bortles negatives heard over the years, I'm just curious of the reasons you're high on him.

 

[NoCoNite]

If our new linemen don’t hold up I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bortles starting games. Jared’s not very good under pressure.

 

[Akrasian]

I don't think that. With all the Bortles negatives heard over the years, I'm just curious of the reasons you're high on him.

Well, I'm not Corbin, but Bortles is a physically talented QB who managed to look acceptable to better in those horrendously designed Jacksonville offenses. In an offense designed by somebody brilliant, he should be good. Not Goff good, but good - the best backup QB the Rams have had in years.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Do you both think that Bortles has less of a shot to put on a show versus the 2nd or 3rd teams?
Hell even Mannion did that causing an uproar.

How much better is he going to look behind our offense and scheme compared to the multitude of crap they’ve had over the years in Jacksonville?

The guy has talent. There is no denying that. He played pretty average to good at times, in sure McVay will work things out to see what he has.

One things for sure is Goff isn’t going to play much in the pre season as per last season along with a lot of other starters.

That’ll give Bortles a chance as well as the others.

Bortles will have a chance, and like I said, "playing against other 2'nd teams should give us a better perspective". The thing is though, McVay tends to rest his starters more than other coaches for pre-season games, so he'll be pitting our 2'nd team offensive units against our oppositions 1'st team starters more often, making Bortles' opportunities to shine a little more difficult.

 

[VegasRam]

If our new linemen don’t hold up I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bortles starting games. Jared’s not very good under pressure.

Are
You
Fucking
Kidding
Me?

Note to self - don’t check out ROD after a Sunday nite party. Might (justifiably) overreact.

Holy Jesus!

 

[Merlin]

Just curious as to why you think that? All I heard for years out of Jacksonville was that Bortles was awful. What's changed, if anything?

He's got great coaching and a good system. That plus talent plus buy-in (he signed here cheap to be with McVay) usually means good things.

And add that preseason defenses are very simple. I'll be surprised if he doesn't show extremely well.

 

[NoCoNite]

Are
You
freaking
Kidding
Me?

Note to self - don’t check out ROD after a Sunday nite party. Might (justifiably) overreact.

Holy Jesus!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tu...ks-under-pressure-los-angeles-rams-jared-goff

The numbers are there man.

 

[NoCoNite]

Are
You
freaking
Kidding
Me?

Note to self - don’t check out ROD after a Sunday nite party. Might (justifiably) overreact.

Holy Jesus!

I want Goff to be good. He just doesn’t react to pressure well.

 

[Loyal]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tu...ks-under-pressure-los-angeles-rams-jared-goff

The numbers are there man.

It has been said, that if you have two starters, you really don't have a single starter.

McVay has said multiple times that Goff is his QB. Don't you think they have a guy with a stat sheet who knows whatever the true figures are on something like this, and that he would never say anything but coachspeak about Goff's future if it was a worry? If Bortles starts even once for Goff, when Goff is healthy, that will be the last year Goff is a LA Ram.

IE, this is not happening to the #7 QB on the 2019 NFL Top 100 list.

 

[oldnotdead]

I said it in another thread. I think Bortles was a steal. The question is who will be there next year? Bortles has the talent to be a starting QB if he has some talent around him, and in the proper system. The Jags ran a west coast offensive scheme. People don't realize that the west coast offense is more difficult to master than commonly held. It requires a lot of familiarity between the QB and his receivers. Both must read the defense the same. Many times all the routes could have 3 options depending upon how the receiver reads the coverage. It then require the QB to read the coverage the same and make a timing throw assuming the receiver will read it the same and be there. That's what went wrong with Bortles and some claiming his inaccuracy lead to a lot of INT's.

We have seen in camp Bortles is not an inaccurate thrower if he knows where the receiver is going to be. McVay's scheme is extremely flexible. Routes are designed around what the receiver does best. In other words McVay designs his routes around the player, not forcing the player to integrate himself into a particular mold. Once the QB becomes familiar with his WR's he knows where they will go. Conversely normally takes a QB two to three years to learn a west coast system. In that time he needs the same WR's to build that connection. In a west coast system mistakes by the WR almost always make the QB look bad.

Personally I like Bortles and think he's a huge upgrade over Mannion. I don't see him sticking around long, two years at most. In the right system he could be a very good QB. A system with a lot of similarities to the Rams is used by the Vikings with Kubiak as OC. It's run heavy offense using a lot of play action and crossing routes with occasional shots down field. Also there are similarities with Norv Turner's offense in Carolina. If Blake shows well here he becomes a very marketable QB next year, showing that in the right system he can show case his talent.