In an official announcement that doesn't really come as any surprise, former Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford has announced that he will not work out at the NFL Scouting Combine next week. He will work out for scouts on March 25, his own workout day.
Dr. James Andrews, who performed Bradford's shoulder surgery, also had a statement included in the Bradford announcement. Andrews confirmed what Bradford had already been telling the media, that he was ahead of schedule.
The Combine is an important scouting tool, but most teams, including the Rams, are pretty open about making hours and hours of game tape their primary tool for judging a prospect. The tape will speak volumes about Bradford, but the lack of tape from last season puts the big question mark on his status. The chance for teams to get their hands on him, medically speaking, will be invaluable and could really fuel a move for him back up draft boards.
Still, with a March 25 workout and a month to go before the draft, there will be plenty of time to get in a good horse race for the first overall pick.
Jimmy Clausen, the other guy leading this year's QB class, will also skip the Combine workouts because of his recent toe surgery. For him, the interview process, if it goes well, will put to rest some of the (mostly trivial) questions about his personality and get his hype machine firing on all cylinders.
We've got a great discussion going on around the most recent mock draft from MTD that has the Rams drafting Bradford and USC WR Damian Williams with their first two picks in the draft. Jump in.