Tennessee’s Pro Day will take place on Wednesday, and no one doubts that quarterback Tyler Bray will show off an NFL-ready arm. The problem for Bray is that there’s a lot more to being an NFL quarterback than having a strong arm.
Bray, who left Tennessee with a year of eligibility remaining, will face questions about his accuracy and about his preparation, and those are questions that a player really can’t answer sufficiently in the scripted environment of a Pro Day. NFL Network’s Mike Mayock says the only way Bray could have answered those questions was to return to Tennessee for his senior season and put those questions to rest on the field.
“I was really surprised he came out,” Mayock said of Bray. “I thought he should have come back and refined his name a little more. If you ask me, who are the quarterbacks with the most arm talent in this draft, he’d certainly be in the top three. He can wing it. There’s no doubt about that. however, the ball’s all over the place. He’s inconsistent from an accuracy perspective, and you also have to get comfortable with the kid. What kind of kid is he? What kind of work ethic does he have? There are some concerns there from several of the coaches I talk to.”
Bray will surely be drafted, because a quarterback with that kind of arm always gets a shot in the NFL. But he probably won’t be drafted where he thought he would have when he decided to enter the NFL draft.