An estimated 500 people were on hand for Missouri’s pro day on Thursday afternoon. Among that large crowd were representatives from each of the 32 NFL teams, including Hall-of-Fame quarterback John Elway and New York Jets coach Rex Ryan.
The main attraction for a few of those NFL officials and a large portion of that record-sized crowd was quarterback Blaine Gabbert. The former Missouri star is projected as the number one overall pick by many analysts, including ESPN draft expert Todd McShay, who said, “barring catastrophe,” Gabbert was the top quarterback in the draft.
Gabbert, who chose to forgo his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, has spent the last 10-weeks in Arizona preparing for his chance to impress scouts at MU’s pro-day. Scouts focused primarily on Gabbert’s transition from the shotgun-heavy spread offense to the under-center style of a pro-offense. As a result, this made up the bulk of Gabbert’s work with quarterback coach Terry Shea.
“I’ve tried to build him from the ground up,” Shea said. “He’s natural with it. His feet work very efficiently…He has large hands, so taking a center snap is not going to be a problem.”
Shea, whose coaching resume includes Sam Bradford and Matthew Stafford — two No. 1 overall picks, said that Gabbert separates from center as well as anyone he has ever seen.
The drop-back mechanics described by Shea were apparent during Gabbert’s passing session. He handled each snap from under-center cleanly and set his feet before throwing each pass that required him to drop back.
Notably, the NFL Players’ Association lockout restricted Gabbert to current draft-eligible receivers only, effectively narrowing his selection to just D-II and NAIA receivers.
Despite only having a few days to work with his new receivers, Gabbert dazzled scouts, throwing just a few poor passes. While he did have some problems on the deeper passes, his overall accuracy was exceptional.
“I missed a deep ball down the sideline, that’s going to happen,” Gabbert said following his workout. “It’s pretty hard to be accurate at 65 yards. You’re going to hit about one out of every eight of those. I missed it by a few yards, but, hey, that’s fine, I over threw him a little bit.”
McShay noted Gabbert’s inaccuracy down field but said he believes the former Missouri quarterback has the tools to be a successful NFL quarterback.
“I thought he did really well,” McShay said. “There were a few throws that he missed on and he doesn’t have the elite arm strength, but I think he has enough arm strength to make all the throws. I think the most important thing was getting in his drops, showing he can do that, and having good mechanics and throwing the ball accurately and I think he did that today.”
The hype surrounding Gabbert as the potential first number one overall pick in the entire history of Missouri athletics drew one of the largest crowds ever seen at a MU pro day. Fans, family, and media members filled the bleachers at Dan Devine Pavilion, giving it the feel of a professional team’s training camp.
“It was awesome to have everybody here,” Gabbert said. “It was a great atmosphere not only for myself and every other player that was participating here today, but our coaching staff, our current players, this university, this state, it was cool to have all these NFL coaches and general managers here. It put Mizzou on the map having all this media attention here.”
The NFL Draft is set to begin on April 28 in New York City.
