Once mentioned in the conversation as the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, Blake Bortles has seen his stock plummet of late — so much so that Sports Illustrated’s Peter King is sure he won’t fall anywhere within the top 10 picks.
According to King, Bortles could be in store for an Aaron Rogers-esque fall come Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall. After making phone calls around the league, King said he “couldn’t find a Bortles lover.”
The news comes from King’s mock draft, in which he has Bortles falling to the Cleveland Browns with the No. 26 pick. King has the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals all looking past Bortles.
Per King:
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. Donald has some freakish athletic traits. Not quite John Randle, but the man is quick and can get to the passer.
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.
It’s a major turn of events for both Bortles and a lot of other marquee prospects.
In the mock, King has the Texans picking Khalil Mack over Jadeveon Clowney, who he expects to be scooped up by the Atlanta Falcons by trading for the fourth pick.
Johnny Manziel is the first quarterback selected in the mock — falling to the Bucs at No. 7 — and Derek Carr coming off the board ahead of Bortles to Arizona at No. 20.
As reported on Monday, King has the Vikings landing Aaron Donald over Bortles and the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Odell Beckham Jr. sweepstakes, but needing to trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers to pull it off.
