For most of the fall, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was talked about as being almost a lock to be the first quarterback selected in the NFL Draft and perhaps the first overall selection by the Houston Texans.
As the draft has drawn closer, that sentiment no longer seems to be the case. However, Bridgewater still seems likely to be one of the first few quarterbacks when the draft finally gets here on May 8. That hasn’t stopped a somewhat unexpected projected from Mel Kiper in his latest mock draft for ESPN.com on Thursday.
Kiper has Bridgewater falling out of the first round with the Houston Texans selecting him with the first pick of the second round.
Kiper’s reasoning is as follows:
“Let me be clear: This is the top-rated quarterback on my Big Board, a player I have rated higher than Bortles, Manziel or Carr,” Kiper wrote. “But my reading of the tea leaves in speaking with many evaluators around the league is that Bridgewater could drop if he slides past a couple of points early on. If I could project trades, I’d have someone taking him later in Round 1 having moved up. Obviously, he’s a steal at this point.”
Perhaps this is the tangible result of the draft being pushed back an extra two weeks. More time is available for front offices to out-think themselves or for teams to disparage a prospect in the hope he falls farther down on the draft board. It seems somewhat crazy that a quarterback some people still rank as the best in this draft could fall out of the first round based on a non-stellar pro day or workout instead of the performances at Louisville that grabbed the attention of scouts in the first place.