In a year when many NFL teams are facing questions at quarterback, Brigham Young's Steve Sarkisian believes he has an answer.
"The NFL is going one of two ways on offense. Some are going the West Coast, short-passing style and the others are going for the play-action, down the field style," said Sarkisian, one of 15 quarterbacks invited to demonstrate their skills during the annual NFL scouting combine."I might suit a West Coast offense better, but I really don't know what the people are thinking," he said during a break in the three-day routine that about 325 NFL hopefuls began going through on Thursday.
The combine ends Monday with coaches, scouts and other representatives of the league's 30 teams heading back to digest the information they've obtained here in preparation for the April 19-20 draft.
"I think I prepared well, working pretty hard," said the 6-foot, 206-pound Sarkisian.
He completed 19 passes in 34 attempts for 217 yards and one touchdown in the Hula Bowl last month after directing a pro-style offense as the Cougars compiled a 14-1 record last season.
Sarkisian hopes to become the latest BYU alumni to move to the NFL, joining a list that includes Super Bowl winners Steve Young and Jim McMahon, along with Marc Wilson and Philadelphia's Ty Detmer, who won the Heisman Trophy as a junior in 1990.
"Playing at BYU, the style of offense we ran suits my abilities and I think could help some NFL team," Sarkisian said.
Tennessee's Peyton Manning is the only quarterback projected as a first-round draft selection, but he hasn't announced if he'll give up his final year of college eligibility and doesn't have to make a decision until April.
Among the other quarterbacks at the combine who hope to hear their name selected early when the draft begins are USC's Brad Otton, Virginia Tech's Jim Druckenmiller, Arizona State's Jake Plummer, Louisiana Tech's Jason Martin, California's Pat Barnes and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel of Florida.
"There are quarterbacks here who are going to make an impact in the NFL," said Kansas City coach Marty Schottenheimer. "I don't think there are any ready to step in and start, turn a franchise around. But there are few who come into the league who can do that."
Sarkisian declines to compare himself to Detmer, who started the last 11 games of the season for Philadelphia after Rodney Peete was lost for the season.
"Ty's a great player, and I've learned a lot from watching film of him playing at BYU. He goes to his reads very, very quickly, checks down real quickly. I think that's a key. You need to make good decisions in the NFL," Sarkisian said. "I think I demonstrated that in college."
He's hoping NFL personnel won't downgrade him because of his lack of height.
"As a kid I've always looked up to Joe Montana. What's kind of ironic, is he's not the biggest guy. He didn't have the strongest arm, but he was a great leader who made great decisions," Sarkisian said. "Sometimes physical attributes aren't as important as some other things. . . . He won football games, that's all that matters."