Quarterback Countdown- #1 Teddy Bridgewater- Louisville

Teddy Bridgewater has been taking shots from the media this entire off-season. Bridgewater began his junior season regarded by most as the top college QB in the country without any clear competition. All he did during his junior season was put up his best statistical year yet while leading his team to a 12-1 record (the team's best record in 30 years). You would think Bridgewater's performance this past season would solidify his position as this year's top quarterback. But after Bridgewater's highly criticized pro day performance, it seems like ESPN and NFL Network are determined to knock him down a few notches. But luckily for Mr. Bridgewater, there are still a lot of us who care more about his performance during the actual football season than his performance during the Underwear Olympics (also known as the NFL Scouting Combine) and his pro day. Teddy Bridgewater is still the best quarterback in this draft class and it's not close.

Teddy Bridgewater played in 39 games during his three year career at Louisville. During that time he passed for 9,817 yards, 72 TDs, 24 INTs, with a 68.4% completion percentage. In his final season at Louisville, Bridgewater passed for 3,970 yards, 31 TDs, and 4 INTs, while completing 71.0% of his passes. Bridewater had his best statistical year by far in his final season. His TD/INT ratio of 7.75 to 1 was the best of all my top 10 QBs. Bridgewater's most noteable performance of his junior season came against Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Bridgewater went 35 for 45 for 447 yards, with 3 TDs and no interceptions.

Strengths:

Decision Making/Timing Routes- The most impressive facet of Bridgewater's game is his ability to get through his progression quickly. He not only makes the correct decision, he makes it quickly. On the majority of Bridgewater's drop-backs, he'll hit the last step in the drop, set and fire the ball. This is a testament to Bridgewater's mastery of Louisville's offense and his ability to make a good pre-snap read. Watch the video below and pay attention to how quickly the ball comes out of Bridgewater's hands after he reaches the top of his drop.

Footwork/Pocket Presence- Bridgewater has the best footwork in this draft class by a wide margin. His footwork is precise and deliberate. He gets away from the line quickly, gets a lot of depth, and when he reaches the top of his drop the ball comes out. If there isn't an open receiver, Bridgewater will climb the pocket and wait for a receiver to come open. Most QBs have a tendency to sit at the top of the pocket which makes the job of the left and right tackle a lot more difficult. Offensive tackles expect their QB to step up into the pocket. When an edge rusher tries to use an outside speed rush, tackles are taught to push the rusher past the QB. When the QB sits at the top of the pocket, the tackle may end up pushing the pass rusher directly into the QB. Climbing the pocket also gets the QB's momentum moving forward which adds velocity to the throw and reduces the distance that the ball has to travel. The plays in the video below all illustrate how comfortable Bridgewater is operating inside of the pocket.

Eye Control- Bridgewater understands how to use his eyes to manipulate the defense. He routinely uses his eyes to move safeties and linebackers. This is an extremely important tool to have at the pro level. You can see examples of this in the video below.

Throwing on the Run- After Bridgewater's pro day there were a lot of questions being raised about his ability to make accurate throws on the run. Kurt Warner and Mike Mayock went to town talking about how poor Bridgewater's throwing motion was on the run. If you go back and watch Bridgewater make these throws during an actual game, your doubts will be put to rest. See the video below.

Touch- Teddy has great touch. He's not quite on the level of Derek Carr or Jimmy Garoppolo but he can drop the ball in when he needs to.

Weaknesses:

Deep Ball Accuracy- This is the only area of Bridgewater's game that really concerns me. He hasn't shown the type of chemistry with his receivers down the field that you would like to see out of a top QB prospect. Ryan Tanehill exhibited the same inability during college and it has continued to be an issue for him as pro. Teams will have to take a closer look at this in private workouts to determine whether or not they think this can be fixed.

Ball Security- Much like Manziel, Bridgewater has a tendency to hold the ball with one hand when he starts to scramble. Luckily Bridgewater doesn't scramble nearly as much as Manziel. This isn't a huge issue because Bridgewater keeps two hands on the ball whenever he's in the pocket. But it's something teams should keep an eye out for.

Overview:

Teddy Bridgewater is the best QB in this draft class, right now. His football IQ and work ethic are his biggest assets. He doesn't have prototypical size or arm strength but he more than makes up for these deficiencies with the strengths that I just mentioned. Derek Carr has the most upside of any QB in the 2014 class but Bridgewater is the most pro-ready. I think Bridgewater will be able to step in and start immediately.

Draft Projection- 1st Overall. Let me point out that this is where I think Bridgewater should be selected. With the way that things are going, I think Teddy will come off of the board between pick 5 and pick 8. But if the Texans do pass on Teddy Bridgewater for Blake Bortles, they will be regretting it for quite some time.

That's all for now. I'm thinking that I'll move on to profiling some receivers next but we'll see what happens.

And thanks again to everyone at draftbreakdown.com for all of the work you guys to compiling prospect video.

Quarterback Countdown- #2 Derek Carr- Fresno St.

 Derek Carr has the most upside of any quarterback in this year's draft class. He has elite arm strength, arm strength comparable to Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler. In fact, Derek Carr reminds me of Cutler quite a bit. Both have a similar build, electric arms, above average athleticism and both are fierce competitors. And like Jay Cutler, Derek Carr is a bit inconsistent. Before I get into Carr's strength's and weaknesses, let's look at his stats.

Carr played in 44 games in his four years at Fresno State. Carr passed for 12,843 yards, 113 TDs, 24 INTs and completed 66.7% of his passes. In his final season as a Bulldog, Carr passed for 5,083 yards, 50 TDs, 8 INTs and completed 68.9% of his passes. During his senior season, Carr ranked third in completion percentage and last in yards per completion among my top 10 quarterbacks. Fresno State's offense substituted run plays with screens. So naturally Carr's completion percentage was boosted while his yards per completion average was pulled down. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Carr's passes were short, he definitely has the ability to push the ball down the field. In fact, that might be Carr's greatest strength.

Strengths:

Deep Ball Accuracy- Like I said before, Derek Carr can push the ball down the field. He has the arm strength to drive the ball deep and he's accurate when he does. Watch the video below and keep an eye on how far the ball travels in the air. Derek Carr is going to give secondaries fits.

Touch-  In addition to having the best arm in this years draft class, Carr might also have the best touch. His ability to float the ball in on corner routes and fades is really impressive. It makes him deadly in the redzone. His ability to fit the ball in between the defender and the sideline is second to none. He just picks out the single coverage and lets the ball go. Watch the video below to see examples of Carr's touch.

Arm Strength- Carr has the velocity to make all of the deep out, comeback and dig throws that most NFL teams need their quarterbacks to make.

Mobility- Carr has above average athletic ability for a quarterback. He's no RGIII but he can move when you give him an opportunity.

Leadership- Derek Carr is a competitor. He's a vocal leader and he commands the attention of his teammates when he speaks. Carr's charisma and fire will help him win over the veterans on whatever team he goes to. He'll be the guy firing his teammates up before a game and he'll let them know if he thinks they aren't giving their best effort. His personality reminds me of a combination of Drew Brees and Jay Cutler. Not bad guys to be compared to.

Weaknesses:

Footwork- I watched 479 of the throws that Carr made this past season. Of those 479 snaps, Carr took one snap from under center. Carr will have to learn to play the position from under center which isn't that uncommon these days for college QBs transitioning to the pros. The bigger concern for me is the inconstancy in Carr's footwork. He has a tendency to let his feet get too close together. Once his feet are close together he uses a crow-hop to get his weight going forward. Other times he never shifts his weight forward and gets away with it because his arm is so strong. This inconstancy leads to inaccuracy. For Carr to reach his full potential he'll need to work on having consistent footwork.

Pocket Presence- Carr has a tendency to sit at the top of the pocket. It's a common problem and can be easily remedied.  But it's something that could get him in trouble if he doesn't address it. Quarterbacks who sit at the top of the pocket open themselves up for to more sacks and fumbles.

Overview:

Derek Carr is the most exciting quarterback in this draft class. His arm strength and touch allow him to attack every part of the field and that's valuable. When you pair that ability with his leadership and competitive fire, you get an elite talent with a ceiling as high as you can imagine. If Carr goes to a team where he isn't thrown into the fire immediately, I think he'll be very successful and we'll see him competing for rings for years to come.

Draft Projection- Pick 15-20- Carr has work to do with his mechanics but his ability is impossible to ignore. I think a team will fall in love with him and either trade up or trade back to take him here.

Thanks again to everyone at draftbreakdown.com for all of the work that you do putting together prospect video.

I'll be back soon with QB# 1, Teddy Bridgewater.

Quarterback Countdown- #3 Blake Bortles- Central Florida

There is a very good chance that Blake Bortles will be the first player selected in the 2014 draft. So why do I have Bortles ranked as my # 3 QB? Well that's a good question and I fully intend to explain. At the end of the 2012-2013 season it seemed impossible to imagine any quarterback other than Teddy Bridgewater being the first off of the board at the QB position. But scouts and critics have been chiseling away at Bridgewater's draft stock as is always the case with any top prospect playing in their final season. And with scouts raising questions about Bridgewater's potential, the door was opened for other passers to take the top spot among this class of QBs. Blake Bortles has done his best to seize that top spot including winning the head to head match up between the two signal callers. Bortles has prototypical size at 6'5" and 232 Lbs and can make plays with his legs. And what I keep hearing more and more about Bortles is that scouts and coaches think hthat he has the most upside out of the entire QB class. I disagree. That being said, I do think that Bortles has a great deal of potential as an NFL QB.

Bortles played in 37 games over three years at Central Florida. During that time Bortles passed for 7,598 yards, 56TDs, 19 INTs and a completion percentage of 65.7%. As a Junior he passed for 3,581 yards, 25 TDs, 9 INTs and 67.8% completion percentage. Bortles ranked 4th in completion percentage and second in yards per completion out of my top 10 quarterbacks. As a senior Bortles also rused for 272 yards and 6 TDs.

Strengths:

Reading Coverage/Using Eyes- Blake Bortles' ability to use his eyes to control opposing safeties and linebackers is top notch. He does a good job of diagnosing the coverage pre-snap and uses his eyes to pull the safety away from his intended target. Bortles is one of three QB prospects in this draft class that excels in this area. The video below illustrates Bortles' ability to use his eyes.

Touch- Bortles has shown the ability to apply touch to deep balls and intermediate passes. For a quarterback with Bortles' size this is impressive. Often times, larger quarterbacks struggle with touch because they naturally have more velocity on their passes. Bortles has the ability to take off as much velocity as needed to drop passes into tight spaces. Watch the video below to see examples of Bortles' touch.

Athleticism-Blake Bortles has exceptional athletic ability for a guy his size. Bortles has been compared to Cam Newton and Andrew Luck in terms of the combination of size and athleticism at the quarterback position. Those comparisons are a bit of a reach but Bortles is still very athletic for the position.

Weaknesses:

Footwork- I watched 174 of the passes that Blake Bortles threw during his senior season. 172 of those 174 snaps were taken from the shotgun. Bortles will have to learn to take snaps from under center and learn to make reads as he takes his drop. This is becoming a very common reality for college QBs making the transition to the pros as the number of college teams taking most snaps from the shotgun increases.

Release- Bortles has a prolonged release at times. He has a tendancy to let the ball dip far below his elbow, sometimes as low as his waist in a long, looping throwing motion. Bortles will need to shorten his throwing motion if he wants to succeed in the league. The split second that the looping motion adds to Bortles' delivery is all that NFL defensive backs need to make a break on the ball and take it the other way for six points. And pass rusher love to see QBs let the ball drop down low. NFL pass rushers understand how to jar the ball loose and given the smallest opportunity to do so, they'll take advantage.

Arm Strength- Blake Bortles is a big quarterback. Usually big quarterbacks have big arms. But when Bortles winds up and tries to throw a laser, I feel like his attempt at a fastball comes put looking like a change-up. There's a bunch of arm and body action but the ball comes out at half speed. I'm not sure what is causing it but it's definitely a concern. I definitely can't say that Bortles has elite arm strength. I don't even know that I can say that Bortles has above average arm strength.

Overview: Blake Bortles is a big, athletic quarterback who can manipulate the defense with his eyes. Bortles doesn't have elite arm strength or a quick release but his understanding of the defense that he's facing allows him to succeed. I think with some coaching on his mechanics, Bortles can be a very successful starting quarterback in the NFL. The thing that I disagree with most is the idea that Blake Bortles has the most upside out of all of the QBs in this year's class. The quarterback with the most upside in this class is my number two QB.

Draft Projection- Top 5-I don't think that Bortles should be selected before either of my to two QBs, who I'm sure you can guess at this point. But I think Bortles will be able to start immediately.

I'll be back soon with QB#2.

Thanks to all of the guys at draftbreakdown.com for all of the work you do putting together prospect video.

Quarterback Countdown- #4 Jimmy Garoppolo- Eastern Illinois

No player has ascended further up NFL draft boards this off-season than Jimmy Garoppolo. Despite his prolific stats this past season, most people considered Jimmy Garoppolo to be a 3rd-4th round talent. In the past few weeks I've seen him projected as high as the late first round. Garoppolo is an especially intriguing prospect because he attended such a small school. The football program at Eastern Illinois is probably most famous for producing Dallas Cowboys' Quarterback, Tony Romo. Naturally there have been quite a few comparisons made between the two. And there are definitely some similarities between the two passers. But before I get into that let's examine Garoppolo's collegiate performance.

Garoppolo played in 45 games during his 4 years at Eastern Illinois. During that time he passed for 13,156 yards, 118 TDs, 51 INTs and a 62.8% completion percentage. Garoppolo put up the best numbers of his career this past season as a senior. Garoppolo passed for 5,050 yards, 53 TDs, 9 INTs and a completion percentage of 66.0%. With a TD/INT ratio of nearly six to one, Garoppolo ranked 3rd among my top 10 quarterbacks in touchdown to interception ratio. But Garopppolo's statistical dominance comes with a caveat. Eastern Illinois is an FCS team, so Garopppolo didn't face the same caliber of opponent that the other top quarterbacks in this draft class faced during their careers. That being said, Garoppolo lead the FCS in passing yards as a senior. Regardless of the level of competition that Garoppolo faced, he made the best of it.

Strengths:

Reading Coverage/Using Eyes and Pump Fakes- The part of Garoppolo's game that impresses me the most is his ability to manipulate defensive backs and linebackers with his eyes and pump fakes. In fact, this is one of the similarities between Garoppolo and Tony Romo. Romo uses the pump fake more than any other QB in the NFL. But back to Garoppolo. At the collegiate level you don't see a lot of QBs use the pump fake because most quarterbacks have a hard enough time using their eyes to look off the defense. The way I like to judge a QB's ability to read/manipulate the defense is by answering a couple of questions. First, can the QB read the defense once the ball is snapped? Second, can a QB read the defense pre-snap? Third, can the QB use his eyes to manipulate the defense. And finally, does the QB use the pump fake to manipulate the defense? With Garoppolo it's easy for me to answer yes to every question. At this point in his career, Jimmy Garoppolo has already exhibited an elite ability to read and manipulate defenses. The video below is a compilation of plays in which Garoppolo displays this ability. Keep an eye on the reactions that linebackers and safeties have to his pump fakes. Also keep an eye on the position of the safeties once the ball is delivered.

Touch- Jimmy Garoppolo has repeatedly shown the ability to deliver passes with touch. He does a great job of putting just enough air on his deep passes to allow the receiver to run under the ball and catch it in stride. He also excels at dropping passes in between zone coverage. Watch the video below to see examples of the touch that i'm talking about.

Quick Release- Another similarity between Garoppolo and Romo is that they both have a very compact release. The ball stays high throughout the throwing motion which reduces both unnecessary movement and the amount of time that it takes the ball to get out of the hands. In addition to his compact throwing motion, Garoppolo's quick decision making helps get the ball out of his hands quickly. You can watch examples of this in the video below.

Weaknesses: 

Inexperienced Against Elite Competition- Garoppolo just hasn't played enough against top tier athletes to know how he'll handle the speed. Every QB making the transition from college to the pros has to adjust to the increased speed of the game.There will just just be a larger adjustment for Garoppolo than most.

Footwork- Out of the 180 throws that I watched Garoppolo make from the 2013 season, 166 (92.2%) of the snaps were taken from the shotgun. Garoppolo will have to learn to take snaps from under center and work on the footwork that comes with it. The other thing that Garoppolo will have to learn is to make post-snap reads while taking his drop. Like I said above, Garoppolo excels at reading the defense. But he has always read the defense from the shotgun. The change in perspective may take some time to adjust to. But there is no indication that Garoppolo should have trouble making the adjustment.

Overview:

Jimmy Garoppolo will continue to ascend draft board up until draft day. His ability to read and manipulate defenses is extremely developed for a college QB. The biggest question surrounding Garoppolo will continue to be whether or not he can continue to succeed against NFL caliber talent? I think that he will.

Draft Projection- Late 1st Round- Jimmy Garoppolo is a first round talent and team are beginning to realize that. I think that the Jaguars, Browns and Vikings re all candidates. The Vikings and Jaguars would have to either trade up from the second round or trade back from the first. The Browns are sitting in the perfect position to select Garoppolo if they are interested. Regardless of which team selects him, we should see Jimmy Garoppolo come off of the board in the late first round.

Thanks as always to the guys at draftbreakdown.com for all of the work you do compiling prospect video.

I'll be back soon with QB #3.