2014 NFL Draft: Peter King Can’t Find Anyone Who Loves Blake Bortles
By Dan Zinski
Sep 6, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Central Florida Knights quarterback Blake Bortles (5) under center against the Florida International Panthers in the first quarter at FIU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Peter King posted a mock draft on MMQB Tuesday morning, and because he’s Peter King, you are required to go and read it.
One thing you will notice? King has Blake Bortles dropping all the way to Cleveland at 26.
Why is this notable? Because Bortles actually seemed not long ago like he was the safest bet of all the QBs to go in the top 8.
Now I don’t know what to think.
King actually said in a recent piece that he believed Bortles would be a great fit in Minnesota but also said he didn’t think the Vikings would actually make the pick.
And he is standing by that position.
“Not buying the Blake Bortles buzz here, as much sense as it makes. The Vikings just have too many quarterbacks rated too closely, and they know they can get one with the 40th pick,” King says in explaining why he, like so many others, is mocking Aaron Donald to the Vikings at 8.
So King believes the Vikings have a bunch of QBs they like but not one they love. So it makes sense they would hold firm and wait until later to get their QB.
Apparently, the Vikings are not alone in their less-than-overwhelming feelings about Bortles as a QB prospect.
King later gives Bortles to the Browns, saying “The crash-and-burn that was Bortles’ night in the draft green room ends as Ray Farmer wins his game of chicken with the rest of the league. Can this happen? I am dubious, but I do think a very good player or two will fall precipitously, and as I made my calls in the past few days, I couldn’t find a Bortles lover. One may be in hiding. We’ll see.”
Either everyone who loves Bortles is successfully hiding their interest in said QB from the intrepid Mr. King, or there isn’t a single team in the NFL that really loves Bortles.
As King himself points out, there could be a team hiding their Bortles love behind a veil of smoke. King seems fairly convinced that if such a team exists, it’s not the Vikings.
But he could be wrong. We could all be wrong. We could be headed toward a very Blake Bortlesy future in Minnesota.
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