Top Washington Redskins draft prospect Sam Bradford will attend the NFL Combine but will not participate in throwing drills according to a story on NFL.com.
The former Oklahoma quarterback sprained his ACL in the first game of the 2009 season and re-injured his shoulder in an October game against Texas. He missed the rest of the season after shoulder surgery.
Bradford’s throwing motion is not quite at his best, but his surgeon, the highly regarded Dr. James Andrews, says Bradford’s recovery is ahead of schedule.
Former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen is recovering from toe surgery and is not ready to throw at the Combine. Like Bradford, he will participate in interviews and medical exams.
Both players will throw at their Pro Days when NFL scouts visit them on campus.
The smart money says that Washington’s Mike Shanahan will jump at Bradford, but I’m not so sure. In Daniel Snyder’s reign or error, the Redskins have never had both a head coach of stature and a legitimate general manager at the same time (well, a legit GM never). Shanahan and Bruce Allen are wild cards. We don’t know what they are thinking.
Using Washington’s first round pick on a quarterback depends on Shanahan’s assessment of Jason Campbell and on Campbell’s trade value.
Yes, Campbell indeed has trade value, though not the first and third round picks for a high tender veteran. There’s nothing that prevents the Redskins from accepting offers of multiple lesser picks for Campbell to give Allen more to work with to restock talent. A predraft trade of Campbell would suggest that the Skins will pick a quarterback in the first round.
But Campbell on the roster may mean the Skins will be open to trading down from their draft pick. The four teams selecting after Washington need a franchise quarterback and both the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns are interested in Bradford.
Offers for multiple high draft picks by those teams should intrigue Allen. If he can bring enough high calibre talent to the team, Shanahan may be enticed to work with Campbell for another year, especially if that new talent is on the offensive line.
Adding too many first and second rounders ordinarily means huge cap hits. That’s not a consideration this season with the No Salary Cap provisions of the CBA sure to kick in on March 5.
It’s Daniel Snyder’s dream scenario and this time he may have the brain trust to make good use of it.
Point After: Quarterbacks work out at the Combine Sunday, but offensive linemen start their drills today. Tackles Russell Okung (OK State), Bryan Bulaga (Iowa) and Trent Williams (Oklahoma) are projected first round picks. So they are the guys to watch today.
Colt Brennan has become the forgotten man in quarterback discussions.
Our colleague at DC Pro Sports Report posted on Jason Campbell vs Sam Bradford. Go take a look. We’ll be here when you get back.
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