The Recruiting Bridge

Tonight, the 1st round of the 2014 NFL Draft will take place. It’s very unlikely that a Texas Longhorn will be drafted in the 1st round, so why should Longhorn fans watch the NFL draft (except to see how bad Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys fumble their pick)?

Teddy Bridgewater.

Teddy Bridgewater is the hope for Texas fans on Thursday night. Longhorns all across the country should be rooting for Teddy Bridgewater to go in the first round. Why? Recruiting. That’s why.

Thursday night will be a big night for the Aggies. Johnny Manziel, Ryan Matthews and Mike Evans are likely top 10 picks in the draft. Compare that with the best Texas prospect – Jackson Jeffcoat, who is projected as a 3rd to 4th round pick.

Charlie Strong is the new head coach for the Longhorns but his claim to fame is building up the Louisville Cardinals into a powerhouse program. He did that with Teddy Bridgewater as his quarterback for the last three years. Getting his ex-quarterback drafted in the first round would be a big boost for Strong in terms of slowing down the Aggie’s recruiting machine, .

In the USA Today Mock Draft, Teddy Bridgewater was the first overall selection……in the 2nd round. That isn’t high enough to impress the top tier Texas recruits that Strong needs to build a championship program in Austin. If Texas A&M has all three prospects (Manziel, Matthews, and Evans) drafted in the top 10, then the Aggies would have 4 players drafted in the top 10 in the last 2 NFL drafts. Texas recruits know that Texas hasn’t been playing at a level to produce NFL prospects and they need to see the new regime putting players in the position to get drafted in the first round. Tonight, Teddy Bridgewater is Strong’s evidence.

As a head coach, Charlie Strong has only had one player drafted and that was in the 7th round. Strong needs a big weekend to show recruits he will get them to the next level. His Louisville team has two potential 1st round picks and potentially five players total.

Regardless of overall draftees, the big name for Strong is Teddy Bridgewater. Running backs love to play behind a great quarterback; offensive lineman want to block for a great quarterback and wide receivers want to catch passes from a great quarterback…great quarterbacks want to go to a school that can get them to the NFL.

So Texas fans, watch the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night and hope that Teddy Bridgewater is one of those 32 names mentioned on Thursday night.