Participating in draft combines and separate workouts in front of scouts is a great way to boost or denote a college athlete?s status for the NFL Draft. Often when a great athlete has a serious injury towards the end of the season, NFL teams are scared to take any sort of chance. A high round draft pick is very valuable to the future of any NFL franchise, and team personnel want gems that are ready.

For Andrew Walter he is in a tough predicament. He had a remarkable four-year career as ASU?s quarterback, and set countless Pac-10 records. In fact, he threw 85 touchdowns, which is huge considering the quarterbacks that have come and gone in the Pac-10. The bad for Walters came in the Vitalis Sun Bowl in which he severely separated his shoulder, and was forced to rush through a rigorous rehabilitation program.

A serious shoulder injury like Walters is definitely something to take notice of. Since he?ll always be throwing with that arm, the chances of it reoccurring are highly. It?s like a baseball pitcher, any nagging arm injuries usually harm them later in their careers. The key for Walter?s though is not to rush his recovery or it will subject him to a short NFL career.

On Wednesday though, Walter did the unthinkable in doing a full thirty-minute workout in front of scouts. He knew he needed to give them a little taste that he still can play, and that?s exactly what he did. He admitted at only being around eighty five percent, but factor his forty times in and everything went great. His forties speed was clocked in around 4.8 and shocked a lot of scouts. For his size at 6?6 and 230 pounds, he?ll be in the upper echelon with the likes of Daunte Culpepper for sizeable quarterbacks.

During his career at ASU, Walter?s biggest asset was throwing the deep ball. There are probably more than a few teams out there that think they?ll be able to get away with letting Walter slide on their draft board. Flashback to a few years ago when Willis McGahee was hurt in the Fiesta Bowl, but still went in the first round by the Buffalo Bills. Some teams like to draft for risk, and Walter?s is just that.

With the type of performances in stats he put up in his career, he is worthy of being a first day choice. That likely won?t happen, but expect him to be a high day two draft pick. The extra experience Walters has under his belt is going to help him a lot down the road in the NFL. Not many quarterbacks get four full years to develop and reign like he did. He is a gutsy player that should be able to stick around the NFL for a while.