FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett wrapped up his visit to the NFL Scouting Combine on Sunday with a solid showing in passing drills inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
Mallett’s three-night trip to Indianapolis featured interviews with about a dozen NFL teams, including two with the Miami Dolphins, some oncamera clowning during a mock interview with Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, an eight-minute group interviewwith the media that was at times testy, and enough passing to impress the NFL Network crew analyzing the combine.
Mallettdrew praise from NFL Network analysts Mike Mayock and Sterling Sharpe.
“All three were perfect throws,” Mayock said of Mallett’s down-the-field passes.
Sharpe, a former All-Pro receiver, said, “I can watch this guy throw the ball every day and maybe twice on Sundays. His ball comes out over the top, a lot of spin, easy to catch.”
Mallett’s first two throws of the day, on short routes, went to Auburn’s Darvin Adams and Georgia’s A.J. Green.
One of Mallett’s agents, J.R. Carroll of Fayetteville, said the quarterback would not conduct individual media interviews until after his showing at Arkansas’ pro day on March 8. Mallett, who did not run the 40-yard dash inIndianapolis, is expected to go through all drills for the scouts next Tuesday on campus.
Mallett faced - but did not address - questions concerning drug-use rumors and his character during his group media session on Saturday, but he reiterated several times he would talk to the teams about them.
The NFL Network analysts had a short discussion about those topics during the Sunday broadcast.
Said Mayock: “It’s a couple of things. The on-field issue is his footwork, especially under pressure when the pocket disintegrates. How effective can he be when he slides and makes plays with a lot of pressure? There is some questionthere.
“The second piece ... what kind of kid is he? The kid better be the hardest working, first guy in the building, and I know you get tired of me saying it. But there are questions about Ryan Mallett that have followed him for several years now, forgetting the drug use - which I don’t have any knowledge of - the question is, is he the first one in the building? What’s his football I.Q.? Is he driven to be the best quarterback in the league, or does he just want to be there and wear bling?”
As Mayock was winding down, Sharpe chipped in, in more of a general comment: “Can I trust you? If I can’t trust you broke, I really can’t trust you with a million dollars.
“My dad used to say, ‘If you’re a troublemaker broke, what are you going to be with money?’ ”
Analyst Charles Davis said he spoke with a scout who compared video of Mallett’s 2009 season with last year and “was struck by how he improved his accuracy. Things were locked in a little better for him on the football field throwing it.”
Mallett completed 64.7 percent of his passes last year, throwing for 3,869 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. As a sophomore, the Texarkana native completed 55.8 percent of his passes for 3,624 yards, 30 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
Mayock rates Mallettfourth among the NFL quarterback prospects, behind Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, who did not throw at the combine, Washington’s Jake Locker and Auburn’s Cam Newton, the Heisman Trophy winner.
Not all of the media’s questions to Mallett on Saturday were about off-the-field issues. Asked about his favorite moment at Arkansas, he replied, “My favorite moment was the game against LSU to put us in the Sugar Bowl.”
Mallett was also asked whether he approached the game with swagger.
“I don’t know about swagger,” he said. “I feel like I have confidence in myself. If people see that - some people don’t like my confidence - but Ican’t do nothing about it.”
The National Football Post’s Wes Bunting, who has cited anonymous scouts who say they would not have Mallett on their draft board, took a more critical view of Mallett’s workout.
Bunting rated Locker’s performance as the best among the quarterbacks in that group, and on Mallett he wrote, “really looks effortless when asked to spin the football. He definitely had the strongest arm on display, but lacked great touch/accuracy underneath. Plus, with his longer release his overall timing and ball placement was overall pretty poor at times as well. Not a great workout for the Arkansas signal caller.”
Sports, Pages 15 on 02/28/2011