Is Bridgewater's stock falling?

[ThomasTomasz]

In the weeks and months between the end of the college season and the NFL combine, Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater was considered not just the best quarterback available but one of the draft's two or three best players. A shaky pro day led coaches, scouts and draft experts to revisit their notes and reevaluate Bridgewater's NFL potential.

Seems reasonable given the stakes: a first-round pick, the contract that goes with it, and more importantly, the opportunity cost of hitching your wagon to something less than the franchise quarterback you thought you were getting.

Now, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Bridgewater's individual workouts with interested NFL teams haven't exactly been redeeming. In fact, Mortensen says the workouts "have also gone very shakily." Apparently, there are concerns that Bridgewater's hands are too small, which explains, in part, why he wore gloves in college (but doesn't explain why he didn't wear them during his pro day).

Bridgewater's agent, Kennard McGuire, very politely refuted Mortensen's claim.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for journalists who work in this new age of media,” McGuire told PFT via email. “While I am certain this statement wasn't intended to be misleading, it is my duty to remove and eliminate any doubt. Teddy has visited multiple teams with more workouts and visits coming in the near future. The assessment we received from the one workout was ‘simply amazing and sharp,' and we expect nothing short or less than stellar in the upcoming workouts in the very near future.”

Conflicting reports about a player as the draft approaches isn't new. In the weeks and months leading up to the 2005 NFL Draft, Alex Smith heard similar criticisms about small hands, and they were only exacerbated when he fumbled 11 times in nine games as a rookie with the 49ers. And he still hears about it, though mostly from his family.

"It's still a family joke," Smith said last August, according to the Sacramento Bee. "My little sister still calls me 'small hands.' It won't ever die. If hands come up as a topic, someone's going to make a crack."

But Smith's hand size is 9 3/8 inches, the same as Aaron Rodgers. Bridgewater, meanwhile, has a hand size of 9 1/4 inches, smaller than likely first-rounders Blake Bortles (9 3/8) and Johnny Manziel (9 7/8). And in case you're wondering, 5-10 Russell Wilson, who is three inches shorter than Bridgewater, has enormous mitts -- 10 1/4 inches.

So now it appears Bridgewater is in a pre-draft free fall. How long he'll last is anyone's guess, but maybe he'll be available when the Browns go on the clock with the 26th pick. They're in the market for their next franchise quarterback, and much like the Bengals did in 2011 with A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, Cleveland could land an all-everything wide receiver early (they have the No. 4 pick, too, and Sammy Watkins makes a lot of sense) and grab a QB at No. 26.

Speaking of the Bengals, they have the No. 24 pick. Any chance they'd consider Bridgewater there? Dalton's in the last year of his rookie deal, and despite votes of confidence from coach Marvin Lewis and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, the reality is that Dalton has a knack for disappearing in big games. If the owner Mike Brown doesn't think he's worth, say, $15 million a year, Bridgewater could be an option.

Then again, maybe this is less about Bridgewater and more about the pre-draft obfuscation that's become as much apart of the evaluation process as pro days and private workouts. We'll know one way or the other on May 8.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...bridgewaters-private-workouts-have-been-shaky

 

[Maynard]

the media is bored and has nothing to report so they come up with this kind of garbage. you notice how they never quote anyone anymore?

bridgewater is still the best QB available with Bortels having the most potential as a prototype QB - while Johnny Rotton is the 3rd horse in the desperate for a QB top 10. Of course his people are releasing any piece of positive info they cam to bump his stock, but my guess is he will be the guy in the green room everyone is laughing at all night. he has brady quinn written all over him

 

[Tyused]

None of these QBs seem like a franchise QB to me

 

[Hasselbeck]

the media is bored and has nothing to report so they come up with this kind of garbage. you notice how they never quote anyone anymore?

bridgewater is still the best QB available with Bortels having the most potential as a prototype QB - while Johnny Rotton is the 3rd horse in the desperate for a QB top 10. Of course his people are releasing any piece of positive info they cam to bump his stock, but my guess is he will be the guy in the green room everyone is laughing at all night. he has brady quinn written all over him

Maynard Kiper everybody

 

[Maynard]

am i wrong hassel? nope.

 

[CaribbeanJoseph]

I hope so, if he's still there at 11 oh boy :fap:

 

[Woy]

Teddy is the clear-cut best quarterback in the draft and it's hilarious that he might slip up out of the top 10. Titans should absolutely grab him if he's there at 11 - Locker's proven / is going to be a good quarterback as long as he stays healthy, but Bridgewater's potential is on a different level than the current Titans quarterback.

 

[Maynard]

Woy Kiper eveybody

 

[RyanLeaf16]

Teddy is the clear-cut best quarterback in the draft and it's hilarious that he might slip up out of the top 10. Titans should absolutely grab him if he's there at 11 - Locker's proven / is going to be a good quarterback as long as he stays healthy, but Bridgewater's potential is on a different level than the current Titans quarterback.

I totally agree. None of us are experts, otherwise we would be working in an NFL front-office right now. However, I have seen Bridgewater against my school for 3 years in a row, plus all the other Louisville games that were on ESPN, the Sugar Bowl, etc.

I've seen enough of him to be impressed. I think he is still the best QB prospect out there. That is just my opinion and I'm sure that there are people who would disagree. But, the kid didn't forget how to play the game. Was the pro day less than stellar? Yeah. However, that was one workout. Private workout reports from anonymous sources don't convince me of shit.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

There aren't any real criticisms that pertain to him being an actual football player or quarterback. Its all measurables and other non-field related questions. To be fair, he IS small. Small hands, small and lean in stature.

I mean, its doubtful he goes in the Top 3 at this point, so I guess if he slides to Tennessee @ 11, it is technically a slide.

With that said...let'em slide to Round 2...surely the Jaguars would be glad to take him there. Hell, I'd be all for a trade back into the first round to get this guy.

 

[Hasselbeck]

With that said...let'em slide to Round 2...surely the Jaguars would be glad to take him there. Hell, I'd be all for a trade back into the first round to get this guy.

If one slides to 32, I guarantee Pete Carroll and Gus Bradley are having a little pow wow.

 

[Tyused]

If one slides to 32, I guarantee Pete Carroll and Gus Bradley are having a little pow wow.

I think they draft a well needed qb with their first pick

 

[ThomasTomasz]

I think they draft a well needed qb with their first pick

Though an argument can be made for assembling the rest of the cast first, and then putting the QB in after some of the other players have played together for a season or two. That way, you lessen some of the growing pains. It just depends on the organization's philosophy.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Jaguars are an impact defender away from becoming a Top 15 defense. If they are staring an impact defender in the face at #3, will be tough to pass on him to take a QB they may not be A+ convinced on.

Jaguars need a quarterback, but they may opt to go find a QB that could be a game manager in the interim, hoping to win with good defense and a strong running game. Either way, the team has a ton of needs and they couldn't go wrong with anything @ 3.