Early years

Bortles attended Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida, where he starred in football and also played baseball. As a senior, he completed 151 of 233 passes for 2,211 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He finished his career with a Seminole County record 5,576 career passing yards and 53 touchdowns.

Labeled a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Bortles was listed as the No. 44 pro-style quarterback in his class. Bortles chose UCF over offers from Colorado State, Purdue, Tulane, and Western Kentucky.

College career

Bortles accepted the offer from UCF, the first college to offer him a scholarship and one near his home. He was redshirted as a true freshman in 2010. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he played in 10 games, completing 75 of 110 passes for 958 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. As a sophomore in 2012, he started all 14 games at quarterback. He completed 251 of 399 passes for 3,059 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 285 yards and scored eight touchdowns. He was the MVP of the 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl after completing 22 of 32 passes for 271 yards with three touchdowns and 79 rushing yards.

In 2013, Bortles led the Knights to the inaugural championship of the American Athletic Conference, earning the league's automatic berth to a BCS bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Passing for 301 yards and rushing for 93 yards and four touchdowns, Bortles led UCF to an upset of fifth-ranked Baylor, 52-42. Winning UCF's first major bowl, he was named Offensive MVP.

Statistics

As a starter (2012-2013), Bortles owns a 22-5 (.815) record. As of the end of the 2013 season, Bortles statistics were:

		Passing									Rushing
Season	Team	GP	GS	Rating	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	INT	Att	Yds	TD
2011	UCF	10	0	153.9	110	75	67.8	958	6	3	21	4	1
2012	UCF	14	14	144.5	399	251	62.9	3,059	25	7	87	285	8
2013	UCF	13	13	163.4	382	259	67.8	3,581	25	9	87	272	6
	Totals	37	27	153.9	891	585	66.2	7,598	56	19	195	561	15

Professional career

2014 NFL Draft

On January 5, 2014, Bortles announced that he would forgo his senior season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 5 in	232 lb	32 7⁄8 in	9 3⁄8 in	4.93 s	1.75 s	2.86 s	4.21 s	7.08 s	32 1⁄2 in	9 ft 5 in		28

Jacksonville Jaguars

2014 season

On May 8, 2014, at the 2014 NFL Draft, Bortles was chosen 3rd overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bortles was the first of an eventual 14 quarterbacks to be drafted. On June 18, he signed his rookie contract worth $20.6 million guaranteed for four years.

On September 21, 2014, Bortles made his regular season debut when he came in relief of Chad Henne in the second half of a blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He went on to complete 14 out of 24 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Following the game, head coach Gus Bradley named Bortles the starter going forward.

On September 28, 2014, Bortles made his first career start in a road game against the San Diego Chargers. Bortles ended the game 29-37 for 253 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in a 33-14 loss. His 78.4 percent completion percentage set a record for a rookie quarterback's first start.

In Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, Bortles produced 336 passing yards but the Jaguars lost 14-16 due to a blocked field goal. In Week 13 against the New York Giants, Bortles threw for 194 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions with 68 rushing yards in the Jaguars' largest comeback win in team history. They won 25-24 after trailing by 21 points. In Week 16, Bortles led the Jaguars to a Thursday Night Football win over the Titans, 21-13. He completed 13 out of 26 passes for one touchdown and no interceptions with 50 yards on the ground.

Bortles established himself as a dual-threat quarterback, rushing for 20 or more yards seven times in 2014, second only to Russell Wilson.

2015 season

Bortles, after having a strong preseason in his second year, started slow with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions in a 20-9 loss at home against the Carolina Panthers in week 1. In week 2, Bortles led a comeback drive against the Miami Dolphins to seal their first victory of the season. He threw for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. In week 5, Bortles threw for a then-career-high 4 touchdowns along with 303 yards and 21 yards rushing. However, this wasn't enough as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won 38-31. In week 13, Bortles broke the Jaguars single game record with five touchdown passes in a 42-39 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Bortles enjoyed a breakout season in 2015, setting the Jaguars single-season franchise records for passing touchdowns (35), passing yards, (4,428), pass completions (355), and pass attempts (606). His passer rating only went below 80 five times in the season, in weeks 1, 6, 7, 10, and 17. He also threw a touchdown pass in the Jaguars' first 15 games of 2015, a franchise record. After finishing his 15th game, he had the second most touchdown passes in the league with 35, but after throwing no touchdowns in a week 17 matchup against the Houston Texans, he had to share second place with Eli Manning, Cam Newton and Carson Palmer, behind only Tom Brady's 36. He was also seventh in the NFL in passing yards with 4,428, behind Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Brady, Palmer, Matt Ryan, and Manning.

Statistics

Season	Team	Games		Passing							Rushing
		GP	GS	Comp	Att	Pct.	Yds	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
2014	Jacksonville Jaguars	14	13	280	475	58.9	2,908	11	17	69.5	56	419	7.5	0
2015	Jacksonville Jaguars	16	16	355	606	58.6	4,428	35	18	88.2	52	310	6.0	2
Career total		30	29	635	1,081	58.7	7,336	46	35	80.0	108	729	6.8	2

Source

Jaguars franchise records

• Most passing touchdowns in a single season - 35 (2015)
• Most passing yards in a single season - 4,428 (2015)
• Most pass attempts in a single season - 606 (2015)
• Most pass completions in a single season - 355 (2015)
• Most passing touchdowns in a single game - 5 (Week 13, 2015, vs. Tennessee Titans)
• Most consecutive games with a passing touchdown - 15 (Week 1, 2015-Week 16, 2015)

Personal life

Bortles is the son of Rob and Suzy Bortles. Rob was a wrestler and football player in high school; Suzy played high school softball. Blake's brother, Colby, is a junior third baseman with the Ole Miss baseball team as of 2015.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]