SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert made quite an impression on NFL Media senior analyst Gil Brandt, who said Gilbert's pro day performance Friday was better than half the QB workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Mustangs head coach June Jones had perhaps even higher praise for Gilbert's day, telling The Dallas Morning News that it was one of the top workouts he's ever seen.
"Of all my years in the National Football League and working out quarterbacks, I think this was the second-best workout that I've been a part of as far as catching the ball and throwing it accurately, deep balls, all of the type of throws that the NFL needs to see," said Jones, whose coaching career in the NFL spanned just over 10 years as a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and head coach.
Jones said the only workout he would rank ahead of Gilbert's was Jeff George's at Illinois' pro day in 1990. That performance helped propel George to become the No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts.
While Gilbert is unlikely to rise that high on draft boards, Brandt said he thinks Gilbert's workout will get him a lot of attention leading up to the draft and that he end up being a mid-round draft pick, perhaps even as high as the third round. Jones had a similarly promising projection.
"Somebody is going to take [Gilbert] in the third round, second round, maybe fourth round and get a guy who is going to play 15 years in the league," he said.
Gilbert was a five-star recruit at Texas before transferring to SMU in 2012. He passed for 3,528 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions last year, and ranked fourth in the nation in passing yards per game, behind only Derek Carr, Sean Mannion and Connor Halliday.
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