Bortles Shines; Bridgewater Under the Bridge

Blake Bortles, a quarterback from UCF, was the only one of the pro-ready quarterback trio to throw in this year’s NFL Combine. While Manziel lit up the track running a 4.68 40-yard dash, reports NFL.com, Bortles showed his arm strength and touch while delivering deep passes to various receivers on Saturday, February 22. Though many decide not to participate in the throwing drills due to the lack of chemistry with the random selection of the players they’d be throwing to, the UCF quarterback reminded football fans across America that it can also do justice. In a different way, Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater opted to sit out of the passing drills as well as the 40-yard dash and 60-yard shuttle.

On a positive note, Chris Johnson’s 2006 Combine record of a 4.24 40-time gets closer to being broken every season. Last year Marquise Goodwin of Texas University ran 40 yards in 4.27 seconds, and this year Auburn back Dri Archer got a bit closer with a time of 4.26 seconds. At this rate, an NFL player should be running sub-4.0 times in the next three decades!

-Isaiah Addair