Teddy Bridgewater threw 1,142 passes in his three seasons at Louisville. He threw 65 passes at his pro day in March, a workout that has contributed heavily to his fall from potential No. 1 overall pick to possible second-rounder.
In an interview with ESPN on Thursday, Bridgewater addressed his declining draft stock, questioning why analysts seem to be putting a greater emphasis on one workout over three seasons' worth of production on the field.
"Put on the game tape," he said. "The game tape speaks volumes because I'm in live action, I'm out there making reads, going through progressions, redirection protection, signaling hot routes, getting the offense in and out of the right play. Looking at those things, I think those things outweigh the pro day."
The signal-caller threw for 3,970 yards with 31 touchdowns and four interceptions last season and led the FBS with a 71 percent completion rate.
Bridgewater was NFL Media's Mike Mayock's No. 1 quarterback prospect in his pre- and post-combine positional rankings but fell to No. 3 when Mayock updated his list shortly after Bridgewater's pro day. In Mayock's latest rankings, released last week, Bridgewater fell into a tie for No. 5 with LSU's Zach Mettenberger.
Mayock has said game tape typically is worth 85 percent of a player's grade and that he thought Bridgewater's tape revealed a player who had the potential to be a franchise quarterback. Bridgewater's pro day, however, raised several red flags for Mayock.
"I've never seen a top-level quarterback in the last 10 years have a bad pro day, until Teddy Bridgewater," he said. "He had no accuracy, the ball came out funny, the arm strength wasn't there, and it made me question everything I saw on tape because this was live.
"I went back and watched a bunch more tape and compared him to the rest of the guys in the draft," Mayock said. "And like it or not, I've come to a conclusion -- if I was a GM in the NFL, I would not take him in the first round of the draft."
Not all analysts agree with Mayock's grade. Only two of NFL.com's eight mock drafts have Bridgewater falling out of the first round, and NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah has held firm in his belief that Bridgewater is the best quarterback in the draft, rating him No. 11 overall among his top 50 prospects.
What matters, of course, is how NFL teams have graded Bridgewater. Whichever team ends up selecting him, and when, will be one of the most compelling storylines of next week's draft.
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