Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There’s no better analogy for Baylor quarterback Bryce Petty and how he may be perceived by the NFL. His Baylor career concluded at the 2015 Goodyear Cotton Bowl, where Petty threw for a career-high 550 passing yards, setting a Cotton Bowl record in the process, to be named the game’s offensive MVP.

MVP awards and fancy numbers only get you so far when the NFL begins to breakdown a player and decide if he can play in the league. Petty’s Cotton Bowl performance was his third 500-yard passing game in the school’s history. He also extended his own school record with his 16th career 300-yard passing game, and tied Robert Griffin III for the school record with his fourth 400-yard passing game. Griffin ended up being selected second in the 2012 NFL Draft, behind only Andrew Luck. Now, Petty looks to follow in his teammate’s footsteps and be a NFL quarterback.

“That is why I said yes [to play in the Senior Bowl],” Petty said, adding that his goal is prove to NFL scouts and coaches he has what it takes to make a living in the NFL. “I want to show I’m a NFL quarterback, NFL starter and NFL Pro-Bowler.”

The fact that he did say yes to exposing himself to NFL scouts shows plenty of guts, considering how many other presumed top quarterbacks elect to hide themselves from judge and jury until their college’s Pro Day. Petty has decided to hit the challenge head on, but did acknowledge he’ll let his agent decide if he’ll throw at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February.

“I want to throw any chance I can get, but I don’t know if my agent will let me do that,” Petty said. “He’s smarter in that aspect. [But] either way I want to throw as much as I can.”

Throwing at the North practices over the last couple days in Mobile, scouts have seen some good and bad from Petty. He made some nice throws, but looked a little bit rushed in his judgment as he makes the transition from a spread, shotgun offense at Baylor to a traditional pocket passing scheme in the NFL.

Petty closed his career at Baylor No. 1 in their record books in TD-INT ratio (6.20), yards per attempt (9.71) and interception percentage (.0118). He ranked second in passing yards (8,195), second in completion percentage (.627), second in total offense (8,528), second in passing touchdowns (62) and ninth in rushing touchdowns (21). Petty has the intangibles to play quarterback in the NFL, but will need time to get comfortable in the pocket and allow his feet to catch up to his strong arm and mental toughness.

He has to redefine himself to show he is capable of being successful in the pocket. During the Senior Bowl practices, he demonstrated good movement skills with his drops and delivered a catchable football to his targets.

“For me it’s all footwork,” Petty revealed about his preparing for the next level (as he’s training in San Diego with George Whitfield at Whitfield Athletix). “It’s all pocket presence. Things I really didn’t have to do at Baylor. Right now it’s all about working in the pocket and extending plays in the pocket and going progression to progression and reading defenses.”

Petty is realizing there is a lot to digest in a very limited amount of time this week in Mobile, but isn’t overwhelmed by the task at hand.

“It’s not like it’s a different language it’s still English, it just might be cursive and not print,” Petty said. “That is why I said yes (to playing), to help establish who I am and show I can play at this level.”

The positive aspects to take away from the experience is Petty will know what he needs to work on moving forward. These are the most valuable reps under center he will have until the NFL Draft. No where else will he have the opportunity to throw under duress with players as hungry as him trying to pressure him into mistakes. Wrapped around every corner of the sidelines of the North practices is an NFL scout or coach. It is not a question of if Petty will get drafted, but in what round?

The talented quarterback has been down this road before when he wasn’t wanted as a high school player, but ended up succeeding. He was committed to Tennessee out of high school, but when then Vols’ head coach Philip Fulmer parted ways with the program, it left Petty in a strange situation with the hiring of Lane Kiffin.

“Kiffin never called so for me that was enough to say he was not interested,” said Petty. “The rest is history.”

Baylor head coach Art Briles welcomed Petty with open arms to his football team, proving once again that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The next beauty contest (the NFL Draft) will soon be underway in Chicago on April 30^th, and once again Petty will be looking for someone to find him beautiful.

Who will be holding the rights to Bryce Petty?