JACKSONVILLE — Blake Bortles gave off the same calm, assured aura at the podium that he was so accustomed to last season as he guided UCF to their most successful campaign in program history.
He is not daunted by the task of turning around a franchise perennially amongst the bottom of the league, not even in a talent laden division that includes both the 2013 and 2014 No. 1 draft picks in Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck and Texans’ prodigy JD Clowney.
Rather, he had hoped to land here from the start.
“Everything went good. Everything felt right,” he said of his pre-draft visit to Jacksonville. “I told my Mom when I left that was by far the best visit, and by far the place I want to be.”
“It really was my favorite place, and the place I wanted to be.”
The No. 3 overall pick of the NFL Draft is ecstatic to stay so close to home, saying that “Playing in Florida is a blessing. I went to college five miles down the road and now I get to stay in Florida to play professional football. It’s unbelievable, and I can’t wait to start competing.”
Bortles will have to adjust to his new weapons in Cecil Shorts and second round draft pick Marqise Lee, whom ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay had given a first round draft rating before he fell to the 36th overall pick. He will be protected by last year’s No. 2 pick in the draft, lineman Luke Joeckel.
He will be leaving a system in which the entire receiving corps held significant value, each wideout contributing immensely to the successful UCF pass attack, and plans to continue his emphasis on total offensive chemistry.
“I think that’s when offenses are productive, is when everyone is on the same page. It’s definitely something that every offense needs to have,” he said.
“We had the opportunity to throw in California a couple times,” Bortles said about Shorts. “We just played catch, he was doing light stuff. Being able to throw with him, and just talk to him, spend some time and create a relationship was really cool.”
Lee was one of Bortles’ compatriots at EXOS Training Facility in Southern California during the pre-draft process, already enhancing a relationship the Jaguars plan to exploit for the foreseeable future.
He will hit the practice field for the first time with the full team on May 27th as part of the Jaguars’ initial Organized Team Activities before training camp begins on June 17th.
“It’s definitely a sigh of relief,” he said about finally ending this draft process. “I look forward to getting back to football and doing things that football players do.”
There will be a rookie indoctrination held the week after the draft.
