NFL Draft Thoughts

As May comes closer and closer, NFL fans and college football fans alike find themselves talking more and more about the draft; college fans speculating about where their favorite players are gonna go/should go and NFL fans speculating on what direction are the front offices of their favorite teams going to go in the draft. I, along with the rest of UCF Nation, eagerly look for any clues hinting at which team looks to draft Blake Bortles. With 4 four of the top 5 picks likely looking to draft a QB (Texans, Jaguars, Browns, Raiders), where each quarterback goes varies greatly in mock drafts across the country. Some experts link Blake Bortles to the Texans and the #1 overall pick; a legitimate possibilty. Blake's impressive pro day and individual workouts impressed many teams including the Texans and the current head coach at Houston, Bill O'Brien, witnessed first hand Bortles' capability at the head of an offense when he faced O'Brien's Nittany Lions at Happy Valley in week 4. Going to the Texans would be a good situation for Blake to be in, the Texans are not lacking in offensive weapons (Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, Arian Foster) and the defense is solid (led by JJ Watt, Johnathan Joseph, Brian Cushing). Of the teams potentially looking to pick a quarterback in the top 5 picks, the Texans look like the best fit for Blake.

I firmly believe Blake Bortles is the best quarterback in this draft class, but it must be noted that I do not think going #1 overall would be the best situation for him. Though the Texans would be a good fit for him, a high standard of expectations come attached to the label of being the #1 overall pick, or even a top 10 overall pick. From the perspective of an NFL front office, every draft pick made is assessed as an investment; the higher the round, the bigger the investment. As a high draft pick, the team expects the player to make an impact as immediately as possible; thus where the issue of drafting high and low comes into play. Unfair as it may be, going #1 overall as a quarterback holds him to the standards set by players such as Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, Matthew Stafford, Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, Michael Vick, etc. Players who were ready to start as soon as they entered the league and make an impact on the team. Blake has shown he's a fast learner and has tremendous football IQ, but even he himself admits that he would need at least a year to adjust to the speed of the game. Most evaluations of Blake Bortles conclude that he has all the physical ability and talent desired and needed to be a successful QB in the NFL, but his mechanics need polish; his footwork could use improvement and his decision making under pressure could continue to use work.

If it were up to me, I'd rather see Blake Bortles have time to learn the speed of the game then work his way up rather than be the #1 overall pick but be thrown into the fire and expected to succeed immediately while still having to adjust to the pro game.

Spring Game Observations

The spring game left me with a lot more questions than answers than I would have liked. The unorthodox system by which the teams were assigned certainly didn't help but it was hard to distinguish whether the offense's relatively low number of big plays was indicative of poor play by the offense or superb play by the defenses. However, the spring game revealed plenty of positives as well, most notably on the defense and the receivers.

QB Outlook:
I primarily was looking to see how the offensive line and QB interacted to make the pre-snap adjustments which Blake Bortles would make in his time here. Unfortunately, Joey Grant's inactivity due to injury makes it difficult to judge from a fan's standpoint how the new starting QB will perform next season so UCF nation will have to wait until after summer camp to see. That said, Holman is my bet to be the starting QB, in part due to a bit better athleticism and a stronger arm as well as he was the more consistent between himself and DiNovo. Odds are Tyler Harris will recieve a redshirt as DiNovo did the year before so that he has a year to work out with the team and learn the system better; a year with our coaching staff will work out any kinks and rough edges to his game and he will be in a better position to be the starter of the future.

WR Corps:
Quote me on this: the receivers will carry this offense, Stanback will be explosive but the receivers will be what causes defenses to have to worry about the pass. On multiple occasions we saw receivers make spectacular catches in traffic from passes that were not necessarily the most accurate (cough, cough; JJ). We saw our receivers use their legs and put moves on the defense to fight for more yardage (often significantly more yardage). JJ Worton is undeniably the star of this offense and it certainly shined bright with his performance. Taylor Oldham looked good with the touches he received and adds to the depth of an already deep receiving corps. This receiving corps will be instrumental in the development of the quarterbacks in the coming season.

DB Performance:
The first group I have to applaud on the defense are the DBs. Yes, the passing game was a bit spotty throughout the spring game but that in large part was due to the DBs shutting down the receivers in most 1v1 situations. Coverage was generally solid and we return 4 starters at all 4 defensive back positions. Going into camp, the defense mentioned how a lack of communication resulted in a lot of the big plays allowed last season. If the spring game is indicative of what is to come, there is a notable difference in the defensive performance.

Front 7 Performance:
Until the long William Stanback TD run, there was effectively no run game. Some of that may have to do with the overmatched 2nd string O-line facing the disruptive starting D-line, a lot of that has to do with linebackers throughout the depth chart making plays in the backfield. I particularly remember seeing Mark Rucker make several tackles for loss throughout the day and other linebacker Jared Henry returned a wayward pass for a TD.On the defensive line; Thomas Niles stood out spending much of the day in the backfield, blowing past the tackles and getting to the quarterback 5 times. The D-line overall held their ground much better than the year before, opening holes for the linebackers to get into the backfield and clogging the running lanes. As impressive as the front 7's performance was, their successes must be taken with a grain of salt in consideration of some of the mismatches between 1st and 2nd string offenses and defenses.

The offense gives me some reason for concern, especially the passing game's inconsistency. Hopefully in offseason camp, Coach O'Leary and the rest of the coaching staff can get the quarterbacks' consistency to where we want it to be, ideally eliminate the overthrown and under thrown passes. William Stanback spearheads a solid running game that will lead the UCF offense but the QBs need to develop enough consistency to at least be able to manage the game.