The reviews are in on the Pro Day performance from Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, and observers said he looked good.
NFL Network’s Mike Mayock lists Weeden as his No. 4 quarterback in this year’s draft, behind Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Ryan Tannehill. Weeden isn’t as good an athlete as any of those quarterbacks, but he showed good enough measurables that his athleticism isn’t a concern.
“I’m guessing he’s going to go in the second round,” Mayock said. “He ran a 4.9 40, he did all the shuttles, he did all the jumps, he’s more athletic than people thought he was.”
Also not a concern is Weeden’s arm: He had good passing numbers at Oklahoma State and threw well today.
“He made every throw you can make,” Mayock said. “The ones I wanted to see were outside the numbers. I know he can drive it inside the numbers, I know he can throw the seam, the deep in cuts — he showed me that in the game. What I saw today was the ability to drive it outside the numbers. . . . He showed every throw, he made every throw, and it was really impressive.”
What is a concern is age: Weeden is 28, having played five years of minor league baseball before committing himself to college football, and NFL teams wonder how many good years they’ll get out of him. He’s not a quarterback to draft as a long-term project, he’s a quarterback to draft if a team wants a rookie who’s capable of starting in Week One.
Peter King quoted one general manager comparing Weeden to Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton as someone who’s able to learn an NFL offense quickly and start as a rookie. If Weeden is that kind of player, he’ll be a good deal for some team — even if he is two months older than Aaron Rodgers.