On Friday, Clemson superstar and presumably selected 2021 number 1 overall Trevor Lawrence held his Pro Day. One part of the event surprised ESPN concept expert Todd McShay.
In the latest episode of the ‘First Draft’ podcast, McShay talked about what he saw on Lawrence’s Pro Day. With 16 NFL teams sending scouts or members of the front office, McShay was stunned to see so many franchises represented. After all, no one expects Lawrence to go beyond the overall number 1.
’16 NFL teams were represented (on the pro day), whether it was a GM, a coach, a scout … and that shocked me, ‘McShay said. ‘When Clemson told me 16 teams, I was expecting maybe five. Just knowing that it’s a 99.99 (percent) situation that he will eventually be the No. 1 Jacksonville. ‘
In an effort to explain why so many teams would turn up for Lawrence’s Pro Day, McShay believes part of it is that quarterbacks’ future opponents want a head start on their exploration. On top of that, the event was in very comfortable places in a convenient location.
“Probably some teams want to self-examine and see the ball come off his hand and see if there’s a weakness or something he does that they can pick up because they’ll have to play him, right?” McShay said. “And the other thing I think about is the pandemic. And so many scouts live near Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, where the major airports are.”
The other factor that may have played a role in the heavily attended Pro Day is the COVID-19 pandemic. According to McShay, many scouts just wanted an excuse to leave their homes after not getting in the way much in the past year.
“And I think there are a lot of scouts in the Atlantic region who have been sitting at home and watching their kids every day, trying to pick up their notes and do all these other things,” McShay said. ” Do you know that I get a chance to communicate with other people and to be football people and to be football? ‘And I think part of the reason there were so many teams was, well, just give me half a day off before I have to drive back home and deal with all the other stuff. ‘
Only a few days after his Pro Day, Lawrence had surgery on his shoulder that was not thrown, according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network. The roster for Lawrence’s return puts him on course to be ready for action this fall.
“The operation on the left (non-throwing) shoulder of Trevor Lawrence was just finished and ‘went well’, the source said,” Pelissero tweeted. “Doctors expect Lawrence – the supposed overall draft choice – to be 100% for the training camp.”