Yes. Bradford's was neither poor nor good as a prospect. His pocket presence itself was fairly average. His pocket movement was poor. And that was mainly because he wasn't forced to do a lot of it in college.
Bradford is fixable to an extent. IMO, he'll never be Manning or Brady but his pocket movement has improved a lot over the past two years with better coaching. His presence is still hit and miss at times but it's improved too with his movement.
However, Bradford was not a guy to see ghosts in the pocket and sack himself...Gabbert was. And I've seen the same thing in Garoppolo. That's hard to overcome.
Bortles is great already. It's all about instincts, eye discipline, and poise. Bortles isn't elite because he has a tendency to fall away from pressure at times when throwing rather than standing tall. Needs to work on that. And his movement, while he shows flashes of greatness, needs to be more consistent. He can get a little too comfortable leaving the pocket and scrambling.
But I'll show you why I think he's great already:
Recognizes the blitz pre-snap, tricks the blitzer into thinking that he doesn't see him, spins away and escapes, keeps his eyes down the field and delivers a pass as he takes a hit
Player comes off the edge, Bortles stands tall and delivers the pass right before the hit comes
Sees the pressure getting too far up-field, climbs the ladder to evade the pressure, slips but stays poised and keeps his eyes down-field, hits the open WR with the pass
Keeps his feet active, climbs the pocket, and takes the hit but still steps into and makes the throw
Spins away from the free rusher on the blitz, keeps his composure, and lofts the ball over the defense to his check-down option for a TD
Climbs the pocket, pulls free from Clowney's big mitt, keeps his eyes down-field and delivers a strike for a TD
I'm not really sure I need to say too much on this one...haha...that was some Big Ben esque magic
Climbs the ladder to escape the pressure, extends the play, and then realizes nothing is there so he tucks it for a TD
Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4iDpPeoaKI#t=12m28s
Copy and paste that link for the ultimate Big Ben play haha