He's going to be a high 1st round pick. I've had him second only to Teddy Bridgewater since around early October once I finally got a good look at him.
Brian Griese recently revealed during one of UCF's games that he's aware of several teams that actually have Bortles above Bridgewater as the #1 QB in the Draft. Bortles' people believe the chances are about 70/30 that he comes out. I believe he's got his degree already so there's no real reason for him to stay unless he feels UCF can actually compete for a BCS Championship which I doubt. They're going to a BCS game. For that program, that's probably as good as it gets for now.
I spoke to one person who is friends with the former baseball coach of Bortles and Jeff Driskel. Said that when it came to crunch moments in the game Bortles would always come through, while Driskel would always fall apart. I think that shows in his game as a quarterback too. He's a clutch player. You see him interviewed and he's also a man. There's no boy in him. He's a mature leader. He can take a beating on the field. He never feels physically overwhelmed even if he's up against the most fearsome defensive lineman in the college game (Clowney).
Aside from playing well in clutch moments, the second thing he does (and this is something that should become obvious to whoever watches him) is he's about as good with pressure in the pocket as you're going to get on a guy that isn't Cam Newton-esque. He's pretty much Andrew Luck, the spitting image of Andrew when it comes to his elusiveness and ability to work the pocket against pressure. To make matters better he's extremely accurate throwing while rolling to his right or especially his left against his body. It's fun to watch.
Very smart guy, field commander in charge of the offense. Knows when to check it down and has a feel for when to attack deep. Processes a lot of information on the field and is able to make use of a lot of the weapons at his disposal including his face fundamentals (eyes, head, shoulders, etc). He's a natural with misdirection stuff.
Accuracy can be an issue at times (ball placement) because he has a tendency to throw off his back foot unnecessarily. He needs to clean up his lower body mechanics and make them consistent. Be Tom Brady. Be Drew Brees. Be Peyton Manning. Also he can kind of live and die by the sword sometimes when it comes to his tendency to use his eyes to draw defenders away from his target. He'll click back to his target and throw the ball before seeing if the way is clear.
He's not really a concern for Miami fans. He's going to go high and Miami is going to continue with Ryan Tannehill.
Jimmy Garoppolo will be the next guy to come out of "nowhere" and go hot in the media circuits.
