St. Louis Rams GM Billy Devaney and head coach Steve Spagnuolo were on the scene to watch Sam Bradford's pro day, along with lots of other big names from around the NFL. By all accounts Bradford wowed those in attendance, at worst, he did nothing to diminish his status a potential first overall pick in the draft.
Here's some more reaction from pundits and draftniks on the scene...and possible implications for the top of the draft.
Gil Brandt of NFL.com compared Bradford's workout to that of Troy Aikman, whom the Cowboys drafted first overall in 1989, Brandt's last year as VP of player personnel, and generally gushed about him.
Sam Bradford just finished his workout, and let me tell you, it was near flawless. I’m not saying he solidified his spot at the top of the draft, but he sure didn’t hurt himself. It was one of the best individual workouts I’ve seen in a long time. A real Picasso.
Here's the Aikman comparison...
It really was a treat to watch, and I think everyone here was in awe of Bradford’s performance. In fact, he put on the best quarterback workout by a draft prospect that I’ve seen since I watched a private workout Troy Aikman put on for us with the Cowboys in California.
New Seahawks coach Pete Carroll came away impressed, via Twitter:
Sam Bradford had a great workout at his pro day … He lit it up!
Chad Reuter of CBS and NFLDraftScout.com said this:
Bradford did nothing today to hurt his chances of being a top five pick. He completed 62 of 63 passes on the day, first warming up with his receivers before running through a 50-pass scripted session. The routes to be run were passed out to teams before the event started so they knew exactly what to expect. Bradford was crisp and accurate, with no signs of any problems with the shoulder injury that knocked him out for most of the 2009 season. He did not run or perform any other drills during the workout.
Some heavy hitters in attendance today, besides Pete Carroll, included Mike Holmgren, Washington GM Bruce Allen, Bills GM Buddy Nix, 49ers director of player personnel Trent Baalke and others.
Obviously, today's performance firms up the possibility of Bradford's status as a top pick in this year's draft. Though the Rams will have another private workout with him prior to the draft and bring him in for a visit next month, it seems more and more like the OU quarterback is a viable option for the Rams with the first overall pick in the draft.
There's another thing to consider here. If other teams think Bradford is a viable future face of the franchise, it just might give them more motivation to swing a trade, or at least consider that option. All in all, Bradford's effort today will at least keep things interesting atop the draft.