Wednesday, February 20, 2013
To throw, or not to throw, at combine
By Tom Carpenter
To throw, or not to throw, that is the question at hand for the 16 young quarterbacks who will attend this week's combine. We already know that USC's Matt Barkley won't throw; instead, opting to rest his shoulder until his pro day. Kansas State's Collin Klein will take the other route, though, according to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora.
"Kansas State QB Collin Klein will be throwing and doing all drills at the combine. Will be interesting to see which guys boost their stock," he tweeted late Tuesday evening.
Players will begin arriving for the combine today, though they won't begin the workouts until Saturday. ESPN NFL Insider John Clayton thinks that most of the QB hopefuls in this year's class need to follow Klein's plan in order to improve their draft value:
Jon Clayton
QBs and Te'o have much to prove"Normally, agents instruct the top quarterbacks at a combine to wait until their pro days to throw. Agents prefer that their top quarterbacks have more control over their auditions. Throwing at his own school to his college receivers gives the quarterback the best opportunity to shine. But the quarterback class of 2013 doesn't have that luxury. These quarterbacks keep hearing that their ratings may not merit first-round selection. This group is smart, though. Most of the 16 quarterbacks are thinking about doing all the drills. Geno Smith of West Virginia and Ryan Nassib of Syracuse have said they will throw Sunday. They need to do that. Matt Barkley of Southern California, who won't throw, couldn't play in the Senior Bowl because of a shoulder injury, but the quarterbacks did so poorly at the Senior Bowl that Mel Kiper thought Barkley's stock improved the most. Yes, the others played that poorly. Smith didn't help himself by not attending the Senior Bowl, but he has a chance to shoot up the draft boards if he can wow teams. Mike Glennon of North Carolina State and Tyler Wilson of Arkansas need to be more consistent to persuade teams to take them in the first round."
