Let's not pretend to overly hype up pro days for quarterbacks: They stand in a t-shirt and shorts and throw to wide open receivers.
Nevertheless, there is still pressure on these NFL hopeful gunslingers to perform at a high level. And in the recent days, two of them have.
Bryce Petty of Baylor and Colorado State's Garrett Grayson, both projected to be mid-round picks, are garnering some buzz in league circles.
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Petty has been commended as a field general, coming up with big-time throws in clutch situations while leading Baylor to back-to-back Big 12 conference championships.
Petty effectively operated Baylor's run-and-shoot spread offense, but that's exactly the question that's surrounded him throughout the pre-draft process – does his skill set transfer to a pro-style offense?
To take action on this, all of Petty's 77 passes at his pro day were from under center, and he completed 69 of them (five of those incompletions were dropped by receivers). Cowboy's quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson told the Dallas Morning News it was Petty's touch passing that has intrigued Dallas and other teams to take a harder look at the quarterback.
The most recent quarterback prospect to take center stage is Grayson. The 6-foot-2, 213-pounder thrived for the Rams in the Mountain West, tossing 32 touchdowns, 4,000 yards and only seven interceptions during his senior season. NFL.com wrote that Grayson is perceived much higher in the scouting community than he is from media mock drafts.
A pulled hamstring caused Grayson to miss the NFL Combine back in February, but in his own private workout Monday at Colorado State, he took control of his narrative.
Grayson, Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and quarterbacks coach Kevin O'Connell in attendance, completed 70-of-74 passes and ran an unconfirmed 4.59-second 40-yard dash.
Scouting reports say Grayson is accurate and showed an adept pocket presence in college but doesn't have the strongest arm and uses a wacky throwing motion.
The Browns gobbled up Josh McCown before free agency started and the Texans struck a deal with Brian Hoyer. Behind those two, the pickings have been slim in terms of quarterbacks, which means many teams are going to heavily consider both Petty and Grayson to bring in additional competition.
