Teddy Bridgewater vs. Blake Bortles: Who Will Play Better In First Start?
By Ryan Ratty
@RyanRattyNFL
Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Perhaps the two best quarterbacks in the 2014 NFL Draft, Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Teddy Bridgewater of the Minnesota Vikings, will be making the first starts of their careers on Sunday.
Both teams aren’t going to make the playoffs, so playing the rookies is a wise move because it gets them experience and the fans can finally see how the face of the franchise plays. Because of how good both of them are, the main storyline to follow between the two of them is who will have the better performance on Sunday.
I’m not a betting guy, but if I were to put my money on one of them, I’d choose Bortles over Bridgewater. I remember scouting the quarterbacks of this year’s draft class and Bortles was my favorite of all of the quarterbacks. At 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, with great pocket presence and a strong arm, I have compared Bortles to Ben Roethlisberger for months now. While he is still a bit raw, I fully believe Bortles has the ability to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
While Bridgewater has the potential to be just as good, I like Bortles’ matchup more in Week 4. Bortles will be going up against the San Diego Chargers, the 22nd ranked secondary in fantasy football, while Bridgewater is going up against the Atlanta Falcons, the eighth ranked secondary. In limited action last week, Bortles threw for over 220 yards and two touchdowns. While he did throw for two interceptions, Bortles simply needs to learn that he can’t make some of the throws he did in college.
Bortles has a great grasp of Jacksonville’s offense and he has already built a great rapport with receivers Allen Robinson and Marqise Lee. Don’t expect a huge day out of him, but Bortles will fare well against a weak secondary.
Ryan Ratty is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL or add him to your network on Google.
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