Bridgewater making case to be top pick

INDIANAPOLIS — Teddy Bridgewater will spend the next 2½ months trying to convince NFL scouts he’s the No. 1 quarterback — No. 1 player — in this year’s draft.

Bridgewater’s confidence is booming as he appears to be locking himself into the top 10.

“I feel that I’m the best quarterback in this draft,” he said at his weekend’s NFL Scouting Combine. “I’m not just going to sit up here and say it, there’s obviously actions that have to back up these words. I’m just going to go out there and prove that I’m the best guy.”

Scouts will have to wait to see if Bridgewater can live up to the boasts.

He never planned to throw during Sunday’s workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium and also pulled out of the 40yard dash one day after telling reporters he would run.

But that hasn’t hurt Bridgewater yet.

He measured in at 6foot2, 214 pounds, good size for an NFL quarterback with room to even add a few more pounds. And despite questions about hand size, Bridgewater’s completion percentage and touchdown passes continued to steadily increase each of the past three seasons at the same time his interception totals declined.

Teams searching for a new franchise quarterback, such as the Texans, who have the top pick in May, will spend these next 10 weeks trying to determine who to take in this threeman race — Bridgewater, Blake Bortles or 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.

Manziel’s official 40yard dash time at the combine Sunday was 4.68 seconds. That’s fourth at his position among those who participated in the drill. The best was Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas, who registered 4.61 seconds. Bortles ran a 4.93.

For Bridgewater, there’s plenty at stake — a big contract, a chance to live out his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL and, of course, the opportunity to prove he’s the top quarterback in the draft.

“They’ve watched the film. They’ve studied who I am as a player,” Bridgewater said. “But it’s all about getting in those [team interview] rooms and establishing a relationship as a person, and I feel that I’ve been doing well doing that.”