ESPN's Todd McShay on CJ Stroud's Pro Day: 'The performance was nothing shy of brilliant

CJ Stroud had yet another opportunity to impress NFL personnel during his Pro Day at Ohio State on Wednesday. With several important sets of eyes on him, ESPN’s Todd McShay said he did that and more yesterday in Columbus.

McShay reported back on Stroud’s Pro Day during an appearance on Get Up this morning. The long story short is that the Buckeye QB laid everything in his game out there in a show that McShay eventually went on to describe as ‘brilliant’.

“It wasn’t a perfect performance. I mean he missed two throws rolling out to his left. But the performance was nothing shy of brilliant, really,” McShay admitted. “I loved the aggressiveness. Most quarterbacks in these Pro Days? They come out, they get warmed up. Short throws, quick outs, quick slants. (But) he said I’m attacking. About his first 20 throws were rail shots down the sidelines. The right sideline, the left sideline. 35 to 45 yards. High trajectory, letting the receivers run under it. Some rope throws showing his velocity, the ability to drive the ball down the field.”

Of all the things he showed, McShay then highlighted Stroud’s ball placement once again as the best skill at his disposal. However, it’s not just him knowing where the football needs to be. It’s Stroud being able to consistently put the ball on the money time and again to make his receivers more dangerous and to make life hard on defenders.

“The thing that stands out with him when you watch his tape? And was confirmed at the combine workout and confirmed again at his Pro Day workout? His ball placement is as close to perfect as a quarterback can be,” said McShay. “I mean knowing exactly where the ball should be. It’s not just a completion. It’s a completion that lets the receiver create yards after the catch or makes sure the defender has no chance to make a play on the ball. We saw that over and over again.”

Finally, McShay shared some information as to who exactly was in attendance during the Pro Day, the most important being Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper. He said that’s fairly unusual considering all things but that, without predicting anything, it is something that is working in Stroud’s favor.

“The other thing is David Tepper, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, was there. The last time I remember an owner being at a Pro Day was Daniel Snyder in Washington when they drafted RGIII. That’s important,” McShay said. “He’s going to be here in Tuscaloosa. I’m told he’ll be there in Lexington for Will Levis. And he’ll be down in Gainesville for Anthony Richardson.”

“CJ apparently had a wonderful meeting with them…(And) it seems like a relationship is developing there,” added McShay.

It sounds like Tepper and Carolina will be doing their due diligence during this process when it comes to the No. 1 pick. Even so, McShay makes it sound like Stroud gave as good of a case as he could have yesterday to be their top selection in the NFL Draft in Kansas City.