Mock Draft Mode

The TMG Draft Zone had to take a break as I have been in the process of moving, and finding the time to write has been a bit on the difficult side lately. But now that I have just about everything in place once again, and with a week before the Super Bowl, it is just about time to get back into Mock Draft Mode here in the Draft Zone. As you all know, I do not put out my first mock draft until after the Super Bowl. I believe in getting the draft order set (unless there is a coin flip to determine a spot in the order) before trying to figure out who will be going where come draft time. But publishing mock drafts is now a year round business, and they have been coming fast and furious lately. The latest one I read has caused me to want to reveal who is going to be at the top of my first mock draft, and he will be at the top of all the mocks I put forth unless the Houston Texans go out and pick up a quarterback somewhere. I have seen Johnny Manziel listed at #1, along with Jadaveon Clowney, and just today I looked at a mock draft that had Blake Bortles going first overall. Houston needs a quarterback, and I will put Teddy Bridgewater in the top spot until the Texans make a deal to get a new signal caller in this off season, if they do at all. I have lived in the Louisville area the last 6 years, but that is not the reason I am putting Bridgewater at the top. He is by far the most pro ready quarterback with the fewest question marks going in to the draft, and he will be the best of the group down the road. I listened to a number of Louisville games on the radio, and I cannot tell you the number of times I heard the announcers complain that the Cardinals were running a boring offense. It was the type of offense where the quarterback took snaps from under center, handed the ball off to the running backs, ran play action passes, passed the ball from the pocket, where he used his mobility to makes plays outside the pocket in space to find an open receiver, and could run for first downs when no one was open. Does this sound familiar? It should. It is called a PRO OFFENSE. Bridgewater is not going to need to be schooled in how the pros run their offenses when he gets to the NFL. He has been running that system already. His accuracy from the pocket and on the move is tremendous. Can he make plays in the open field? Take a look at the last two plays against Cincinnati this year. He scrambled out and got a first down running backwards, then threw a touchdown pass from more than 30 yards as he was being pulled down to the ground to win the game. Some will say he played against inferior competition in conference play? Take a look at what he did against Florida in the Sugar Bowl and Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Others will point out that he is slight of frame. I'm sure that he is already on a training regiment that will get him more muscle, and no one should question his toughness after playing with a broken wrist in 2012 to clinch the Big East title and a BCS Bowl bid. But what I am looking to see out of Bridgewater at the NFL Scouting Combine is what he scores on the Wonderlic test. People I have talked to in Louisville who know Bridgewater say that he is one of the smartest, most intelligent people they have met. He graduated in 2 1/2 years while playing football, and his athletic ability on the field might even be surpassed by his intelligence level off the gridiron. There have been a number of quarterbacks taken high in the draft who failed miserably in the NFL, and too many of them did not have the prowess above the neck to match what they had below it. I'll be putting out my first mock draft next week, and you will see Teddy Bridgewater at the top. And unless the Houston Texans make a bold move to trade out of the top spot of go out and get another quarterback, you will be seeing Teddy at the top until the 2014 NFL Draft commences in May.