It's a curious game that we, as critics and draftniks, play at the Combine. On one hand, we tend to castigate those players who choose not to work out in order to protect their draft status.

Then once they do go through the paces of the NFL's annual meat market, we pick apart their performance with a fine-tooth comb, making draft-day projections based on how they threw the ball or ran the 40 in an empty dome surrounded by men with notebooks and stopwatches.

"It is nerve-wracking in there," admitted Carr, after his two-hour stint before the league's assembled probing eyes. "Lots of tension, because it's so quiet. And everybody's got their head in the book, listening for a number."

Workouts confirm skills of signal-callers

In truth, most of the numbers Sunday were pretty good when it came to the high-profile quarterbacks. More than one coach in the league registered his surprise with the quality and depth of this year's crop of passers. While only Carr and Harrington are locks for the first round, Ramsey, Illinois' Kurt Kittner, Davey and even Sam Houston State's Josh McCown all have their fans.

"I thought it was a more talented group overall than I thought," said Rams head coach Mike Martz, who watched the quarterbacks closely, even though he's not believed to be in the market for one. "That's what was impressive. That second group today [which included Harrington, Ramsey and Kittner] was a heck of a group. It was pretty deep."

No one seemed to win over more new fans than Ramsey, who many observers now have in the No. 3 slot, with a possible draft-day slotting of high in the second round or maybe even low in the first.

"Ramsey has a nice delivery and the ball comes out of his hand really well," Ravens head coach Brian Billick said. "It's hard because they're all throwing to guys they're not familiar with. But he was impressive. I hesitate to say anybody helps or hurts themselves in this environment, but I'm sure he helped himself with some teams. Ramsey could indeed jump into that No. 3 position."

A natural passer with a fluid motion, expect to see the 6-foot-2, 219-pound Ramsey on everyone's post-combine climbing list. Despite playing in a Tulane offense that had him almost always throwing out of the shotgun, he has worked on his drops and has the kind of pocket presence that NFL coaches look for.

"I think there were people talking about Ramsey coming into this and then you get to see him in person and confirm what you thought," new Miami offensive coordinator Norv Turner said. "I think people are going to get excited about him. It may be too early to make that kind of projection [into the bottom of the first round], but I think he put himself in there right after the first two. Along with Kittner."

Carr still sits at the top

Despite some concerns with his throwing motion, which tends to drop down to three-quarters range, Carr's so-so performance Sunday did nothing to alter his likely draft fate. He came into the combine as Houston's almost-certain top pick, and he exited in the same position.

"Everybody talks about and worries about Carr's throwing motion, but you have to watch the games," said one NFL assistant. "He was extremely productive, but he's got an unorthodox motion. You would have expected more [from his workout], but that's happened in the past. I wouldn't say he had a bad workout. It just wasn't the best."

The easy-going and confident Carr, who surprised some by even agreeing to throw at this year's Combine, agreed.

"Everybody was a little shaky, throwing to guys you haven't thrown to before," Carr said. "But it was fun. It was good. It wasn't our best day of throwing, I don't think. All the quarterbacks would say that. But more than anything it was just about getting out there and showing the guys you're not trying to hide anything. You just want to play ball."

Harrington harshest of all critics

While Carr was buoyant all weekend, Harrington entered the Combine's pressure-cooker on a bit of a downer. On Sunday, he admitted he was nursing a head cold, and had struggled in recent days to deal with some family issues, namely the hospitalization of his grandfather.

But from all accounts, the malaise didn't show up in his Combine workout. While some draft prognosticators have had him potentially slipping out of the first round's top 10, a couple of NFL coaches confided Sunday that Harrington ranks ahead of Carr on their formative draft boards.

"I was very impressed with Harrington," one NFL head coach said. "He's very smooth. I like his mechanics. Very fluid. Very natural. Not labored at all. If I were to rank them based on what I saw today, I'd put Harrington above Carr. But you can't base it on just this."

That news would have no doubt lifted Harrington's spirits.

"I feel terrible," Harrington said before his workout. "It's been a long week. ... What people don't realize is how difficult the two days are leading up to these workouts. It's a very draining weekend.

"When people talk about how tough it is to perform at the Combine, it's not necessarily the track or necessarily the field itself. It's just a difficult weekend. Mentally, physically. It's draining. They get you up early, they keep you up late, they want to see how you can respond to an adverse situation."

Of course, Sunday was only just the beginning for Harrington, Carr and the NFL's newest crop of quarterbacks. With the draft nearly seven weeks away, adversity still could be in store.

But you only have to endure one Scouting Combine in your NFL career, and for these quarterbacks, their day under the spotlight is at least over.

Don Banks covers pro football foir CNNSI.com.

 

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