Fantasy Index

Factoid

Blake Bortles

Jaguars new quarterback is a gunner

The Jaguars are going with Blake Bortles at quarterback. It’s early, but I like his ability to get the ball downfield.

With most young quarterbacks, they’re kind of playing scared. They’re just looking to get the ball out of their hands and settle for short completions. They’ll gladly complete a 5-yard pass on third-and-13 and tort off the field.

With Bortles, he’s gunning it downfield. He’s not afraid of making mistakes. So he’s making a lot more big plays than the typical young quarterback.

I noticed this in the preseason. He averaged 16.3 yards per completion – best of every quarterback in the league.

And now that he’s playing in the real games, it’s starting to resurface again. He’s played only a half of football, but he’s averaging 15.9 yards per completion. Of the 37 other quarterbacks who’ve attempted at least 20 passes, none of them have averaged more than 13.2 yards per completion. The rookie quarterback who’s played the most, Derek Carr, is one of those just-hope-I-survive guys; he’s down at 8.6 yards per completion.

Strategically, this might not be a good idea. In trying the harder throws, Bortles probably won’t have a great completion percentage. He’ll get sacked more often, and he’ll throw more interceptions. Sometimes it’s smarter to just get the ball out of your hands.

But I like it. This stat – the idea of tracking yards per completion – was one I first started paying attention to about 10 years back with Ben Roethlisberger. He graded out really high in that area. And more so than any other quarterback, he’s the guy that Bortles tends to get compared to.

YARDS PER COMPLETION -- REGULAR SEASON
RkPlayerComYardsYPC
1Blake Bortles1422315.93
2Ryan Fitzpatrick4863413.21
3Andy Dalton5572213.13
4Nick Foles7597813.04
5Kirk Cousins5267713.02
6Drew Stanton3241112.84
7Matt Ryan7696512.70
8Carson Palmer2430412.67
9Teddy Bridgewater1215012.50
10Matthew Stafford7188312.44
11Jake Locker5768512.02
12Brian Hoyer6171611.74
13Chad Henne4249211.71
14Ben Roethlisberger6777811.61
15Philip Rivers6777811.61
16Cam Newton4653111.54
17Tony Romo6067411.23
18EJ Manuel5561311.15
19Austin Davis6875411.09
20Peyton Manning7481411.00
21Geno Smith6571310.97
22Aaron Rodgers6469710.89
23Russell Wilson6065110.85
24Jay Cutler7075010.71
25Derek Anderson2931010.69
26Andrew Luck8691210.60
27Colin Kaepernick6669410.52
28Drew Brees8386310.40
29Eli Manning6567410.37
30Matt Cassel4142510.37
31Alex Smith6464310.05
32Robert Griffin III313059.84
33Josh McCown434209.77
34Joe Flacco757289.71
35Tom Brady676329.43
36Ryan Tannehill706248.91
37Derek Carr685888.65
38Mike Glennon171217.12
YARDS PER COMPLETION -- PRESEASON
RkPlayerComYardsYPC
1Blake Bortles3252116.28
2T.J. Yates2843815.64
3Colt McCoy3249615.50
4Brock Osweiler2942314.59
5Zach Mettenberger4765914.02
6Austin Davis3953413.69
7Jimmy Garoppolo4661813.43
8Ryan Nassib4458813.36
9Kellen Clemens3344113.36
10Joe Webb2938713.34
11Russell Wilson3343713.24
12Scott Tolzien3847712.55
13Matt McGloin3847112.39
14Matt Moore3036812.27
15Matt Barkley4149512.07
16Joe Flacco2934511.90
17Brandon Weeden3438811.41
18Jay Cutler2831711.32
19Mike Glennon2427111.29
20Matt Simms2932311.14
21Ryan Griffin4853011.04
22Brian Hoyer2426110.88
23Derek Carr3032610.87
24Kirk Cousins3537010.57
25Seth Lobato2627110.42
26Ryan Tannehill2829110.39
27EJ Manuel5051610.32
28Kellen Moore3536110.31
29Sean Renfree2727810.30
30Johnny Manziel302969.87
31Dan Orlovsky363559.86
32Tyrod Taylor353459.86
33Peyton Manning434239.84
34Jason Campbell262539.73
35Dustin Vaughan222129.64
36Teddy Bridgewater302839.43
37Andrew Luck262459.42
38Logan Thomas222079.41
39Eli Manning201889.40
40Ryan Fitzpatrick252329.28
41Luke McCown262409.23
42Alex Smith312869.23
43Nick Foles333049.21
44Matt Schaub242189.08
45Chandler Harnish322838.84
46Blaine Gabbert221868.45
47Landry Jones272248.30
48Jeff Tuel292368.14

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index