The NFL Draft is fast approaching, and players’ stocks are rising and falling at a rate faster than Mel Kiper Jr.’s hair in the moments before he goes on set.
As the pundits fight about hand sizes and 40-yard dash times, the NFL remains a quarterback-driven league.
Despite the fact that defensive players like Khalil Mack and Jadeveon Clowney might be safer picks, the quarterbacks will draw the most attention as the May 8 draft nears.
Quarterbacks have always received more coverage in the draft, and understandably so. The position is the most prominent in the league and held most responsible for wins and losses on the field.
Look at the teams with high draft picks and then at their respective quarterbacks’ ranking according to ESPN’s total QBR statistic.
Obviously, poor quarterback play leads to losses in the NFL and in order to fix this, you need to draft a new quarterback.
The three best QBs in this year’s draft are Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles and Johnny Manziel.
However, there has been an upsetting trend among prospective NFL quarterbacks lately. They do not throw—or even participate—in the Annual Underwear Olympics, aka the NFL Combine. They instead throw in front of NFL scouts at their own designated Pro Day, which usually entails a rehearsed set of throws.
Bortles had the best Pro Day according to the media and scouts who attended, but a single performance, in perfectly controlled conditions, is no indication of how a player will perform in the NFL.
Bortles probably slept in, had a nice breakfast, got a good-luck text from his gorgeous girlfriend and had a lovely drive through sunny Orlando to the Central Florida indoor practice facility.
Now compare that to sleeping in a hotel and taking a bus to FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., to go play a noon game in the pouring rain in our nation’s capital. That’s what NFL quarterbacks go through the night before visiting the Redskins, and it's a bit different than the night before Bortles' Pro Day.
Only a complex study of player’s game film will determine who is the best draft prospect. Bridgewater, Bortles and Manziel all bring something unique to the table, but one good Pro Day does not make Bortles the lock for the overall No. 1 pick in May.
Houston could also go with one of the defensive players in the draft with its top pick. Regardless of which player they take though, the Texans’ staff will need to do much more evaluation than a lone Pro Day performance.
Who do you think will be the top pick in the NFL Draft? What are your thoughts on Blake Bortles' Pro Day? Does it matter? Email Grey at gsatterfield@wisc.edu and let him know your thoughts.
