You gotta give it to Blaine Gabbert. He knows the right things to say.
The former Mizzou QB spoke to the media at the 2011 NFL Combine on Friday and, as expected, addressed his decision not to throw at the Combine. He said he took the advice of his agent, Tom Condon, and added that he's not going to shy away from any pass at Mizzou's pro day on March 17.
He also said he's going in with the mindset that he's going to be a starting quarterback from day one.
"I'm going to outwork everybody," he said. "That's how I was raised, that nothing's ever going to be given to you in life, you've got to earn everything you get. That's kind of the mindset I've taken with football. I'm never going to be outworked by anybody else."
As to the scenario of him going No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers, Gabbert said, "Anything's possible."
This is all hypothetical, but I could see him starting day one for a few teams picking early in the draft: Panthers, Bills, Cardinals, Bengals (without Carson Palmer), Titans...there are a lot of choices.