Teams in need of a quarterback this offseason might not want to pass on what’s available on the free agent market because the QB class at the NFL scouting combine had a rough weekend.
Georgia’s Matthew Stafford might have been on to something when he didn’t workout this weekend at the combine, because his quarterback brethren didn’t fair too well according to the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock and Paul Burmeister. In fact, the quarterback who impressed the most during drills was West Virginia’s Pat White, who might not even project as a QB in the NFL. White apparently showed the best arm strength of any QB on out routes and also looked very comfortable on a whole.
Scouts said that Mark Sanchez’s (USC) throws were strong and powerful, although his release looked elongated. I had the chance to watch the combine on the NFL Network and I would say his accuracy wasn’t up to snuff, either (or at least not for a quarterback prospect expected to be selected in the first round).
Among the quarterback prospects that really struggled were Alabama’s John Parker Wilson, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman. Wilson and Harrell were going to be late round projects no matter how they fared at the combine, but Freeman was supposed to have the best physical tools of any QB in the draft. Apparently his first round projection in some mocks was way off.
Stafford’s gamble to not workout might have paid off. Sanchez was the only guy that could have unseated Stafford as the top quarterback prospect and while he was okay in drills, he was far from spectacular.
Teams might be better off waiting for Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas’s Colt McCoy to come out next year because outside of Stafford and maybe Sanchez, most of the quarterbacks in this year’s class are developmental projects at best.
