The Process is more Flawed Than Bridgewater

The name Mike Mamula still haunts Radio City music hall. A player that fails to reach his potential isn’t rare, but in the case of Mamula he exposed a flaw in the NFL’s draft apparatus. As we watch Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s freefall from overall number one pick to possible the second rounder, another flaw in the system is being exposed.

Mamula skyrocketed up draft boards after a spectacular combine. Before the combine, the Boston College defensive lineman was a projected third round pick. His numbers are still impressive, 4.58 40 yard dash, 25 bench press reps and a 38 inch vertical leap.

The rise of Mamaula has served as a cautionary tale to scouts, coaches and general managers, trust the film, don’t prioritize one day over an entire college career. Sadly the hive mind has been ensnared into a similar paradigm.  

Ten years of offensive leaning rule changes have maximized the impact of NFL signal callers. Teams know that if they want to reach the Promised Land they had better find Moses. Increased intensity has lead to increased scrutiny, with every word and  gesture serving as confirmation of a prospect’s ability to lead a franchise. 

A quarterback’s first big hurdle is the combine; from there its a series of interviews, then a heavily scripted pro day and finally private workouts. Each step in the journey is rotated within the collective NFL personnel zeitgeist and amplified by a rapidly increasing industry of draft “experts”.

The most important trait that a quarterback needs to show during the process is leadership. Teams want a man with the wits of Tyrion Lannister, with the swagger and looks of his brother Jamie. There’s a familiar refrain in scouting circles, they want a guy who commands the room. 

The rules of this gloried beauty pageant are simple, be perfect. Any hint of weakness will cause a grizzled scout to raise dreaded red flags. In reality the NFL’s powers that be need to raise a white one to the belief that a bad pro day or interview should supersede a player’s on field ability.

Teddy Bridgewater is far and away the most NFL ready quarterback in this draft class, he ran a pro style system at Louisville and called his own audibles and offensive line protections. Inside the football complex Bridgewater is everything the collective hive mind wants, he’s cerebral, tough and a film junkie.

However these practical football traits are ignored because Bridgewater isn’t able to play the process game as well as others. Bridgewater isn’t the best on camera he’s shy, soft spoken and lacks the wittiness required to impress a middle aged white men.

Before the combine the central critique of Bridgewater was his size.  Observers wondered if his slight frame would be able to endure the onslaught of punishment that NFL Sundays bring. Bridgewater responded by adding 15 pounds to his frame but raised his first set of eyebrows by refusing to participate in combine.  Teams want a strong alpha male who leads his team into battle; Bridgewater’s refusal gave the appearance that he wasn’t up to the challenge. In a league filled with rage and violence, apprehension is the greatest sin. 

Then there’s the infamous Pro day. Bridgewater looked ineffectual, inaccurate and intimidated. Part of his discomfort may have come from removing the throwing gloves he’d  grown comfortable with during his career. Next came reports of Bridgewater not “commanding the room” during team interviews.

Bridgewater is bad at the process, he’s an introvert in a process designed for extroverts. The process has made him look weak and timid. The antithesis of the field general we saw under center at Louisville.  On the field Bridgewater is confident, assertive and intelligent. Perhaps the football field does for Bridgewater what a phone booth did for Clark Kent.

From his first snap as a true freshman, Bridgewater displayed a poised and acumen that belied his years. During his career Bridgewater missed one start; he entered the same game, nearly leading his team to victory, despite a fractured wrist and sprained ankle.

 Does an interview or throwing in shorts change the kind of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will be? The NFL powers that be have replaced the combine with the process. It’s become a beauty pageant, just as Mike Mamula was coached up on how to run the 40, the quarterbacks in this class have been taught the right things to say to make draft evaluators swoon. Like any job, a good interview doesn’t necessarily a good employee make. Any employer with his salt would look at the applicant’s resume.  When Teddy Bridgewater’s potential employers check his resume, they will find the most pro ready quarterback in the draft, one who played in a pro style system, responsible for calling his line protections and audibles.

Off the field Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t look or sound like an NFL quarterback. However every player drafted Thursday night will have their success defined by what they do on the field not off and that’s where Teddy Bridgewater excels.