INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Quarterback Diego Pavia, runner-up in the , said Friday he will throw passes at the .
The quarterbacks are scheduled to go through drills on Saturday. Heisman winner and expected No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza of Indiana said he would wait until his pro day on April 1 to throw passes.
Pavia said he will not go through additional on-field drills and will instead wait for Vanderbilt’s pro day on March 18.
He is viewed as a later-round pick largely because of his size. Pavia measured at just less than 5-foot-10. Mendoza, by comparison, is 6-5.
But Pavia’s confidence is not in short supply, something that has gotten him in trouble. He lashed out at Heisman voters in a social media post last year before later apologizing.
While saying Friday he didn’t 鈥渃are what people think about me,鈥� Pavia emphasized he takes a cerebral approach to the game.
鈥淚 think my mind is just underrated, just the way I process,” Pavia said. “I feel like I鈥檓 a fast processor.
鈥淚鈥檓 humble, and I get my confidence from my process. And if you saw what, how much I put into this, you would see where I get my confidence from.鈥�
Whether it’s confidence or brashness, Pavia helped drive a Vanderbilt team 鈥� often a bottom-dweller in the Southeastern Conference 鈥� to a No. 9 ranking in at one point last season.
Now he hopes to transfer that play over to the NFL, and Pavia perhaps poked fun at himself regarding his on- and off-field reputation.
鈥�(Vanderbilt) Coach (Clark) Lea always stressed that your frontal lobe isn鈥檛 fully developed until you鈥檙e 25, and I just turned 24,鈥� Pavia said. 鈥淪o I鈥檝e got like 360 days to go.鈥�
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