Casserly: Bradford 'throwing pain free'; best QB in draft
Published: 2/26/2010 1:10 PM
Last Modified: 2/26/2010 1:10 PM
By John E. Hoover
World Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Charley Casserly, a former NFL general manager and now an NFL Network analyst, is just getting started in scouting this year's draft class. Going into Friday's session at the NFL Scouting Combine, Casserly has studied tape on just one player.
Sam Bradford.
"I had a report last week that he's throwing pain-free, and he's throwing now," Casserly said.
Bradford isn't throwing for scouts at the combine. He'll save that until his pro day workout on March 25.
But the rehab of his surgically repaired shoulder, Casserly hears, is going well, and he and everyone else are eager to see Bradford in person.
"Clearly, Bradford's physical is huge in this," Casserly said during a press conference at Lucas Oil Stadium. "So you start there. You've got to cross that bridge. Then you've got to cross the workout. Then you can say, 'OK, now we've got all the pieces together; now we can decide if we're gonna take him.' "
That's the dilemma facing NFL teams with early picks in the first round, primarily the St. Louis Rams, who have the No. 1 pick and are seemingly in the market for a starting quarterback.
Casserly said he's touched on his vast NFL resources to interview 16 teams for evaluative grades on this year's class, and asked that group on the issue of Bradford or Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen as the better NFL prospect, "it was unanimous on Bradford over Clausen.
I've only done three games on him at this point, but after the three games, the No. 1 thing I want to see on him are throws under pressure," Casserly said. "Had a clean pocket a lot of times. That's playing with good players. Now, on the plays I did see, I had no question about toughness. I saw guys right there on that nose, and this guy never flinched, and threw the ball and completed it. At times, had some pressure, and was accurate. So I want to get a reel on every pressured throw, and that would give me a composite on where he is. What I saw was positive.
"You like his decision-making, his accuracy and his athletic ability. I think all those things are all at the top level of the draft."
John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
