Teddy Bridgewater may have breezed through the NFL Scouting Combine doing little more than interviewing with clubs and skipping more drills than he participated in, but that has only set up a more demanding pro day workout for him.
Bridgewater is vying to be the No. 1 overall pick of the Houston Texans, and former Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage told College Football 24/7 that NFL clubs will be expecting him to make up for all his missed action when Louisville holds its pro day March 17.
"That will be almost required at his pro day, that he finishes the rest of the (combine) workout," Savage said. "Every player basically has what I call an inventory sheet. And these teams are looking to fill in every blank on that sheet. Whether it's character questions (answered) through the platform of an interview, the 40-yard dash, the 20-yard shuttle, whatever. They want you to fill out a full resume. Bridgewater will end up running the 40 and doing the other drills he missed, then do his (throwing) workout."
Bridgewater not only opted out of throwing at the combine, he also skipped most of the drill work. His only participation came in the broad jump and the 20-yard shuttle, both of which he scored well on. Clubs were also pleased that he had added some weight (214 pounds), allaying concerns about his slight build.
Savage cited one of the risks of skipping the combine workouts: "What happens if he strains his hamstring doing the 40? Now that's going to impact the rest of his workout. So you are putting all your eggs in one basket."
Bridgewater will have about a three-week layover between the combine and his pro day, perhaps enough to shave some time off the drill times he would have turned in had he fully participated in Indianapolis.
But it will be his throws, more than his times, that make the real difference in how he is evaluated.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
