Editor's Note: Dick Weiss, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, has covered college sports in Philadelphia and New York for more than 40 years. He will be providing regular commentary for the American Athletic Conference during the 2013-14 season.
The American Athletic Conference is constantly banging on the door, fighting for respect on the college football stage.
But the league, which just completed its first year of competition, has done its part to keep itself relevant nationally.
The University of Central Florida, in particular, has added to the American's luster after the Knights outscored Big 12 champion Baylor, 52-42, to win the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.
Quarterback Blake Bortles enjoyed a breakout performance that night, completing 20-of-31 passes for 301 yards and rushing for an additional 93 for the nationally ranked 13-1 Knights, who painted a bright picture for a program on the rise in the Sunshine State. NFL scouts certainly took notice and Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley and general manager Dave Caldwell became particularly intrigued after watching Bortles perform in a 30-minute, scripted pro day workout on campus that was also attended by the Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders. Bortles showed he could make all the throws that day and showcased his passing skills by having two players running routes for him at the same time.
The towering 6-5, 230-pound redshirt junior, a prototypical NFL quarterback prospect with a competitive attitude, authored the prefect finish to a storybook college career Thursday night when he was the first quarterback selected in the NFL Draft held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
"I had no clue,'' Bortles said in a conference call from the city. "I would have been surprised if I went No. 1 or I went No. 100. But I'm glad it was Jacksonville and I get to play in my home state.''
Bortles was chosen by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the third pick overall in the NFL draft. He was taken ahead of Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner who was expected to go in the top three, but slipped all the way to No. 22; and Louisville star Teddy Bridgewater, another American star who went 32nd to the Vikings.
"With Johnny he's always going to be Johnny,' Caldwell said. "He's going to be electric, he's going to be dynamic, he's a great player. But for our system and what we want to do offensively, we felt like Blake was the best fit."
Bortles is already drawing comparisons to Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was selected only behind players from the SEC and ahead of stars from the Big 12, Big Ten, ACC and Pac-12. Jacksonville was so enamored with Bortles that Bradley said he would have taken Bortles even if South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney – the top overall pick – was still on the board.
Bortles selection and the fact three Louisville players – safety Calvin Pryor (18th to the Jets), defensive end Marcus Smith (26 to the Eagles) and Bridgewater - were selected in the first round highlights the quality of competition in The American last year. Put simply, the Oct. 18 game between UCF and Louisville featured four players who would go on to be taken in the first round. By comparison, the BCS National Championship between Florida State and Auburn had three.
It is also a testament to the quality of coaches like George O'Leary who have transformed prospects who might have been overlooked or under recruited in high school into NFL material.
During his high school career in Oveido, Florida, Bortles passed for 5,567 yards and 53 touchdowns. But none of Florida's big three - Miami, Florida State and Florida -- recruited him as a quarterback. Florida State thought he might he might be good enough to play tight end. He eventually chose UCF over Tulane and Purdue because he wanted to stay close to home.
Bortles was redshirted his first year, but he led the Knights to bowl victories in each of his two years as a starter and was selected the American Offensive Player of the Year last fall after completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,581 yards and 25 touchdowns. Bortles led UCF to six second-half comebacks, which tied for the most among FBS quarterbacks.
According to ESPN's comprehensive statistics, he had a 89.6 total quarterback rating when trailing in the second half, second only to Bridgewater nationally. Despite being sacked 51 times during his three seasons, Bortles never missed time to injury. According to ESPN, he also completed 50.7 percent of his passes while under pressure last season, which was fourth-best among quarterbacks from automatic-qualifying conferences.
Caldwell said he liked the fact that the Bortles was the only top quarterback to do every drill and workout in the NFL combine in last February.
"I love to compete," Bortles said. "I love to play football and I mean anytime somebody's going to ask you to throw at the combine, you get an opportunity to do that in front of every single NFL coach and GM in the country, I don't know what's wrong with you if you don't take that challenge on and go compete."
Bortles is the sixth quarterback the Jaguars have drafted and just the second since 2003. He is only the second UCF player drafted in the first round. Daunte Culpepper, the Knights' only other first-round pick, was taken with the 11th pick in 1999. The Jaguars plan to ease him into their system. Caldwell said Chad Henne will be the team's starter this upcoming season and Bortles will get the chance to develop without the pressure to win games. The Jaguars, who lost their first eight games last season and finished 4-12, scored just 15.4 points last season and ranked 31st in total offense, 31st in rush offense and 22nd in pass offense.
"Obviously, I have things I need to work on," Bortles said. "I've never looked at an NFL playbook, so there are going to be challenges that I'm going to have to overcome, but I can't wait to get there and work to be the best I can be and start competing."
He added that he would have no problem with being a backup for all of 2014.
"But, I would go into practice every day and prepare every day like I'm a starter," Bortles said. "I think that's the kind of mindset you've got to have when you're in that position. But, I would have no problem doing that and taking a full year to learn and soak up as much information as I can."
Jacksonville threw Brian Leftwich and Blaine Gabbert onto the field in the first months of their rookie seasons and it backfired both times. Neither proved to be a franchise quarterback and both were eventually cut before their rookie contracts expired.
But Bortles could eventually be the franchise quarterback the Jags have been looking for. He played in a pro system and ran a similar scheme.
"This is not a quick journey," Caldwell said. "It's a marathon. Well, hopefully not a marathon. We want to build for the long term. Johnny's a heck of a football player. Johnny's game isn't going to change a lot from Year 1 to Year 2. We felt Blake has some development from Year 1 to Year 2. This first year is going to be critical for him to develop."