Well the NFL offseason is fully underway and teams are now assessing the talent that is coming out of college and are ready to become professional football players. The best time to evaluate this upcoming talent is through the NFL combine that takes place in Indianapolis, where all the highly rated prospects come for different body measurements and review of their athletic ability through different drills. For the quarterbacks, the most important things NFL scouts look at include their hand size, body height and weight, 40 yard dash time, and of course their throwing ability. For the top 3 quarterback prospects, Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, and Blake Bortles of Central Florida, it’s an opportunity to show they should be drafted first.
Starting with the measurements, hand size and body, the things that stood out when looking at those measurements include how Manziel had the biggest hands among the 3 which is important for a quarterback to grip the ball. Bridgewater’s biggest issue with scouts was his small body frame but when his body measurements came back he was much bigger than anticipated and really improved his draft stock. Bortles was the tallest of these 3 and was the biggest one, which are things that teams definitely want in their starting qb.
Going on to the abilities portion of the combine, which includes the 40 yard dash and the throwing abilities, there was a result that was expected and one that caused a lot of conversation. For the 40 yard dash, many expected the faster Manziel to outrun the other 2 quarterbacks and that held true. The thing that drew conversation was the decision to not throw by Manziel and Bridgewater which left Bortles impressing scouts with his passes.