On Friday morning, all eyes were on the NFL’s assumed No. 1 overall draft pick, Trevor Lawrence. As Lawrence is essentially a lock to be selected first by the Jacksonville Jaguars, the amount of teams that showed out at the quarterback’s pro day was interesting.
With this year’s pro-day COVID-19 regulations, each franchise is allowed to send three team representatives. Sixteen different NFL organizations sent executives/coaches to watch Lawrence show his stuff on the campus of Clemson University.
On the most recent episode of ESPN Radio’s ‘First Draft’ podcast, draft analyst Todd McShay was blown away by the overwhelming attendance.
“Sixteen NFL teams were represented, whether it was a GM, a coach, a scout…and that shocked me,” McShay said. “When Clemson told me 16 teams, I expected maybe five. Just knowing that it’s a 99.99 (percent) situation that he’s gonna wind up being the No. 1 overall pick to Jacksonville.”
This almost unreasonable turnout is a true testament to the generational talent that Lawrence holds. Even with almost zero chance of landing the prospect in the 2021 draft, half of the league decided it was worth their resources to check the QB out first hand.
McShay chalked up the turnout to opposition scouting and convenient location.
“Probably some teams want to self scout and see the ball come off his hand and see maybe if there’s a weakness or something that he does that they can pick up on because they’re gonna have to play him, right?” McShay said. “And the other thing I think part of is the pandemic. And so many scouts live near Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, where the major airports are.”
The ESPN draft analyst brought up COVID-19 jitters as another potential contributing factor.
“And I think there are a lot of scouts in that mid-Atlantic region that have been sitting at home, watching their kids every day, trying to type up their notes and doing all this other stuff,” McShay said. “’You know I get a chance to actually go interact with other human beings, and be around football people, and be around football? And I think part of the reason there were so many teams they were like, yeah, just give me a half a day away before I have to drive back home and deal with all the other stuff.”
As a result of the recently-completed shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm, Lawrence’s pro day was the first of this offseason’s cycle. With a little extra time to recover, the future NFL quarterback should be ready to go before training camp this fall.
[ 247 Sports ]
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