Winners and Losers of This Weekend’s NFL Combine

Published on 24-Feb-2014 by Stacey Mickles

Football - NFL    NFL Daily Update

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Winners and Losers of This Weekend’s NFL Combine

It's been an interesting week at the NFL combine.

There were both good and bad surprises, and in at least on instance, a shocking result. There were definitely some scouts' perspectives being altered. Here are just a few examples of winners and losers over the weekend.

Winner: Johnny Manziel quarterback, Texas A&M

Although he didn’t throw, he did prove that his running ablitlity was no fluke, clocking a 4.58 in the 40, which was among the quickest of all the quarterbacks out there. Manziel’s stock basically remained the same; he's a Top 10 pick.

 

Loser: Teddy Bridgewater quarterback, Louisville

Or maybe just a gambler. Coming into last season, Bridgewater was supposed to be one of the top quarterbacks in the country. He didn't help himself at all this weekend. He decided not to throw or run, opting to workout for individual teams only. Whoever told him not to do that, gave him bad advice.

Winner: AJ McCarron quarterback, Alabama

A number of experts -- including me -- thought that McCarron was making a mistake by not participating in the Senior Bowl. Well, we were all wrong. McCarron, for the most part, shined. Reports are NFL scouts were impressed by his throwing ability. In fact, one said that McCarron made it look effortless. Not bad for a kid who felt like he was being dissed all during his career. On the other hand …

Loser: Cyrus Kouandjio offesive lineman, Alabama

Kouandjio was supposed to be one of the best offensive linemen in the draft. But his 40 time was atrocious, and according to some experts, he's suffering from a botched-up knee surgery, which could explain why he struggled at the end of his career at Alabama. Time will tell if a team decides to take a chance on him.

Winner: Jadeveon Clowney linebacker, South Carolina

For all the talk from his former head coach about his work ethic, Clowney blew people away with his time in the 40 and his overall performance.

Jadeveon Clowney 40-yard dash

He may have just staked his claim to the overall No 1 pick.

Winner: Blake Bortles, quarterback Central Florida

The biggest winner this weekend had to be Bortles. The Central Florida quarterback drew raves across the board. "Bortles was by far the best quarterback,'' former NFL quarterback Jim Miller, now a Chicago Bears and Sirius NFL Radio analyst, told USA TODAY Sports. "Bortles is the real deal ... He probably runs better than Ben Roethlisberger. I'm not going to say he's an Andrew Luck, but when tacklers are draped on him, Bortles can still deliver the football." High praise coming from team that really isn’t looking for a quarterback right now.

There is even some talk that Bortles will be the first quarterback taken in the draft. High praise indeed.

Oh, and about that shock. It apparently came from God:

Over to you, St Peter.

Carroll, that is.

Click on a photo to enlarge.