Broncos quarterbacks Blake Bortles and Jeff Driskel are two sides of the same coin

Like many suburbs in Florida, the city of Oviedo, a few long passes from Orlando, has exploded in population over recent decades. In just the last 30 years, it has tripled in size.

Nevertheless, you don’t expect a single town of approximately 41,000 to produce two NFL quarterbacks — let alone two on the same team at the same time.

Jeff Driskel and Blake Bortles didn’t attend the same high school; Oviedo is now big enough for two. Bortles went to Oviedo High School, a member of the class of 2010. Driskel attended Hagerty High School, graduating one year later.

One year, 5.6 miles and a world of attention separated the two.

They were rivals in football and teammates in baseball, playing travel ball together in 2009.

“It’s kind of a unique situation, pretty cool, for our hometown to have two guys in the NFL,” Driskel said.

And over the last decade, their paths keep diverging and crossing, their fortunes ebbing and flowing.

In 2011, Driskel was the No. 1 quarterback in Scout.com’s recruiting rankings. Alabama, Auburn and Florida were among the schools who knocked on the five-star recruit’s door before he chose to stay in-state with the Gators.

A year earlier, Bortles was the No. 33 pro-style quarterback in those same rankings, a three-star recruit whose suitors included Tulane, Western Kentucky, Purdue and Colorado State. He, too, chose to stay close to home, signing with Central Florida.

By 2013, their fortunes had reversed. While Bortles led UCF to an undefeated season and a Fiesta Bowl win, Driskel recuperated from a broken right fibula that limited his season to three games. Florida collapsed to 4-8 in his absence and fared little better when he returned in 2014, leading to his benching. Only a transfer to Louisiana Tech allowed him to rebuild his resume enough to be a sixth-round pick, leading to a five-season career in which he’s worked as a backup.

Bortles, meanwhile, was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, going two hours up Interstates 4 and 95 to Jacksonville. But his fortunes eventually faded, to the point where by the 2020 offseason, he found himself as a backup without a team. Driskel, meanwhile, quickly signed with the Broncos in free agency last month.

So it is appropriate that the two quarterbacks find themselves together now. Especially since they are nearly identical — aside from starting experience.

• Bortles’ career passer rating is 80.6; Driskel’s is 80.2.
• Bortles’ completion percentage if 59.3; Driskel’s is 58.7.
• Bortles throws a touchdown pass once every 25.6 attempts; Driskel throws a touchdown once every 26.3 attempts.
• Bortles averages 6.7 yards per passing attempt; Driskel averages 6.2.
• Bortles averages 6.2 yards per carry; Driskel averages 5.8 yards per carry.
• Bortles is 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds; Driskel is 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds.

Although there are some dissimilarities — particularly their sack rate, which is one every 14.5 dropbacks for Bortles and one every 10.5 dropbacks for Driskel — Xerox would have a harder time producing a more precise copy than these two appear to be of each other as quarterbacks.

And perhaps that’s why the Broncos settled on Bortles when they needed to fortify the depth at the position in the wake of Drew Lock’s shoulder injury. They will likely adapt the offense to suit more of Driskel’s strengths, particularly on the run, when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Bortles should be able to do exactly what Driskel can, right down to being able to take over with his legs. He showed that in one of his two playoff wins, a wild-card triumph with the Jaguars over Buffalo in January 2018, when he gained more yards on the ground (88) than through the air (87) against a stifling Bills defense.

And if Driskel struggles or the Broncos continue to have a collective sack rate that is among the league’s highest, they will need Bortles. Through 10 games, Denver quarterbacks have absorbed one sack every 11.3 pass plays. Just five teams are worse, and that isn’t sustainable — even though the blame can be shared between quarterback and protection; sacks are not solely on the offensive line.

The Broncos expect Lock back in the next three-to-five weeks — and by not putting him on injured reserve, they hope he’s back sooner rather than later.

For now, they’ll rely on two quarterbacks whose similarities are stunning.