Blake Bortles, An Elite Waiver Wire Pickup?

FAAB Bid: $6 - 8, 38% owned in Fleaflicker

Don't move too quickly to the waiver wire, as Bortles still looks very skittish and easily alarmed in the pocket and is now reportedly dealing with a Grade 1 sprain in his AC Joint (which has a small effect on throwing motion, but the worst is when you get tackled and come down on it). But if he can get the ball out then it appears he is worth adding.

Bortles's issue to date was being horribly inefficient, relying on volume to approach any sort of numbers that were going to be helpful. His first four games this year saw him complete 55%, 54.5%, 51.5%, and 56% of his passes. This past week against Tampa Bay he completed 23 of 33 passes, which comes out to approximately 70%. Now that is a completion rate I can jive with. Tampa Bay was stuffing the run so Jacksonville had to adjust and attack through the air, which has proven to be a worthwhile tactic against the Buccaneers so far this year.

He won't always get to face that porous secondary, but he does get to face Houston in Week 6 which is another favorable matchup. Bortles has a good receiver in Allen Robinson, an emerging #2 option in Allen Hurns, a stud red zone option in Julius Thomas who is finally working back from his broken hand, and a young talented running back in T.J. Yeldon. Perhaps they can all take steps forward together, or at the very least churn out some nice garbage time statistics for your team.