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Bill O’Brien has been hot on the pro day trail following the grind that is the NFL combine last week. Yesterday saw O’Brien putting Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage through his paces after the Pitt pro day, while today introduced a bit higher profile of a name to the fray.
Hmmmm: Houston Texans HC Bill O'Brien at Northwestern for Eastern Illinois QB Jimmy Garoppolo's Pro Day.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 4, 2014
@AdamSchefter he worked Garopolo this morning privately & was told met with him last night too
— Megan Mawicke (@MeganMawicke) March 4, 2014
While this can almost certainly be chalked up to O’Brien just "doing his homework", it is still intriguing nonetheless. Garoppolo is generally seen to be among the so-called second tier of signal-callers alongside Derek Carr, Tajh Boyd, Zach Mettenberger, Aaron Murray, and Johnny Manziel. How late in the draft he would be available is still up for debate, but you could do worse than Garoppolo as a developmental later round quarterback if Jadeveon Clowney tickles Rick Smith’s fancy with the first overall pick.