Bortles says he’ll throw at combine

Former UCF quarterback Blake Bortles will show off his arm at the combine. (USATSI)

A day after Johnny Manziel's agent said he wasn't going to throw at next week's NFL combine, the potential No. 1 overall pick announced that he's taking a different approach to his workout.

Dreamt about the combine since I was a kid! Fired up to compete in all aspects of it, especially throwing!

— Blake Bortles (@BBortles5) February 18, 2014

So, yeah, Bortles is going to throw.

In case you're not in the know, Bortles is the UCF quarterback who has been predicted by three of our four CBSSports.com mock drafters to be selected by the Texans with the No. 1 overall pick (NFLDraftScout.com's Rob Rang has Jadeveon Clowney going No. 1 and thinks Bortles will have to wait until the No. 4 pick before he's taken by the Browns).

Quarterback passing drills are scheduled for this Sunday in Indianapolis, and Bortles will hope to improve on some of his anticipated weaknesses.

As we write in Bortles' pre-combine analysis, "[Bortles] can make every throw, but lacks elite arm strength. Ball placement has room for improvement and his touch is undeveloped. Throwing mechanics have room for refinement. Doesn't always step into his throws and will sometimes deliver with his momentum falling away from his target."

At least Bortles will give himself the chance to improve some of those criticisms.

NFL Hot News

Rams HC Fisher committed to Bradford at QB



In an interview with ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike Tuesday, St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher gave a vote of confidence to Sam Bradford as the team's starting quarterback. "Sam's doing great with the rehab," Fisher said. "He's really excited. He took on a leadership role last year and he's maintained that and he's our quarterback, and we've said that." Bradford missed the last 10 weeks of the 2013 season with a torn ACL. Prior to the injury, Bradford was off to the best start of his career, averaging over 240 yards/game, completing 60% of his passes, and having a touchdown to interception ratio of 14 to 4 through seven games.



With the emergence of RB Zac Stacy as a true feature back (973 yards rushing and 7 touchdowns after taking over as the starter in Week 3) and the late-season, on-field realization of the already known fact that WR Tavon Austin is an all-around, big-play threat (in the last four games, he had a 32 yard reception, touchdown catches of 81 and 57 yards, a touchdown run of 65 yards, and another 56 yard run), the Rams will have true weapons at the quarterback's disposal in 2014.If Bradford can come back healthy and pick up where he left off last year, the Rams will have three players under the age of 26 who could be extremely productive in 2014 fantasy leagues. Bradford was on pace for almost 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns passing before his injury last season. With the emergence of the two young stars who he'll enjoy getting the ball to, he should produce the same or better numbers next season. Stacy is almost a lock for 1,000 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns is more than likely. Austin, however, is the one that I'm most excited to see next season. He has a similar skill set to fellow NFC West WR Percy Harvin. WIth a full season of good health, Bradford and Austin could develop an exciting chemistry that results in some huge fantasy games.