NFL Combine

[cubuffsman78]

Workouts began today so as always, let's chart this stuff. I'm having to work some so anyone else able to watch it and get results please do so. I will comment when I can and will also have daily columns citing what caught my eye.

Here are some OL bench press numbers.
Vasquez, Louis 39
Bright, Travis 34
Garcia, Juan 34
Boone, Alex 33
Shipley, A.Q. 33
Smith, Jason 33
Felix, Robby 33
Cooper, Jon 31
Meredith, Jamon 31
Feinga, Ray 30
Bruggeman, Rob 30
Wood, Eric 30
Fletcher, Alex 30

Tight ends bench press
Beckum, Travis 28
Casey, James 28
Gronkowski, Dan 26
Quinn, Richard 24
Morrah, Cameron 24
Cook, Jared 23
Williams, Eddie 23
Pettigrew, Brandon 22
Branson, Marquez 22

OL 40s (Not that they matter too much. But wow from Lydon Murtha.)
Murtha, Lydon 4.89
Meredith, Jamon 5.03
Fulton, Xavier 5.04
Beatty, William 5.12
Cadogan, Gerald 5.12
Luigs, Jonathan 5.14
Bell, Joel 5.15
Britton, Eben 5.16
Walker, Brandon 5.17
Cooper, Jon 5.18

[cubuffsman78]

I project Jared Cook as a potential late first round pick and he's definitely showing some explosion and athleticism early on. I'm anxious for his 40 time. It's rumored can run in the 4.3s.

TE Verticals
Cook, Jared 41.0
Casey, James 36.0
Branson, Marquez 35.0
Phillips, John 33.5
Sperry, Kory 33.5
Ingram, Cornelius 33.0
Nelson, Shawn 33.0
Pettigrew, Brandon 33.0

TE Broad Jump
Cook, Jared 10'3"
Sperry, Kory 10'2"
Gronkowski, Dan 10'2"
Quinn, Richard 9'11"
Pettigrew, Brandon 9'10"
Bronson, Jared 9'8"
Nelson, Shawn 9'7"

[cubuffsman78]

Cook didn't run a 4.3, but he put up the fastest TE time with a more than respectable 4.5. I think he's the second TE in this class. I had him rated there before the combine and this just furthers my stance.

Cook, Jared 4.50
Nelson, Shawn 4.56
Morrah, Cameron 4.66
Ingram, Cornelius 4.68
Branson, Marquez 4.71
Johnson, David 4.73
Bronson, Jared 4.76
Sperry, Kory 4.77
Pettigrew, Brandon 4.87

[mrdv1]

4.87 is not impressive at all for pettigrew... and I wasn't high on him before that. He's not a receiving TE in the NFL to me at all. Sure he can block better than most but he's slow and not in the caliber of Jermaine Gresham or other top NFL TE's. No way he goes 11 to buffalo IMO. Actually, I don;t see him off the board before phillys Second pick, at 28 I beleive.

[cubuffsman78]

Here is a rough draft of my daily column for the NFLs first day of action. I'll be posting it on the main site later on. Reviewing my combine tape again to make sure there's nothing I missed.

Many consider the first day of the NFL Scouting Combine a drag.
After all, it’s the big boys’ day to shine, which means maybe seeing a couple of 40s in the 4.5 range with the tight ends.
However, many NFL squads find the backbone to success out of the players tested on the first day of the Combine.
Now what an OL or TE does at the Combine can be a bit overrated. For example, who cares what a guard’s 40 time is. Does it really matter in the grand scheme?
However, an OL’s vertical, and particularly broad jumps, are a good measurement of hip explosion, which is vital in blocking technique.
The 40 matters a bit more with TEs.
That said, no one made more money on the first day of the combine than South Carolina tight end Jared Cook.
Cook was the combines’ first day stand out, awing scouts with is 6-4, 240-pound frame, while posting the best marks of the day in the 40 (4.5), broad jump (10-3) and vertical jump (41).
I rated Cook as the second-best tight end in this class before the combine and my stance was just strengthened. In fact, he’s at least the second best. Truth is he now might be the elite TE prospect due to a lackluster showing by Oklahoma State’s Brandon Pettigrew.
Pettigrew ran a pedestrian 4.87 in the 40 and his VJ was a 33. Don’t be surprised if Pettigrew plummets come draft day, similar to way Leonard Pope did three years ago.
However, Pettigrew wasn’t the biggest loser on the first day.
Here’s a quick look at the first day’s risers and fallers.

Risers
Lydon Murtha, OT, Nebraska
No OL showed more athleticism than Murtha. He ran a 4.89 40 and also had the top 3-cone (7.06) and 20-yard shuttle times (4.34). It’s not going to make him a first day pick, but some scouts considered Murtha an undrafted free agent. Now a team will take a shot at him in the mid to late rounds.

Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss
The best technique I saw in blocking drills was shown by Oher. He looked smooth falling back into pass protection and with his footwork. Any further doubts about Oher not being able to play LT in the NFL should be checked at the door.

Jason Smith, OT, Baylor
Oher didn’t separate himself from Smith, though. Or Eugene Monroe for that matter, although Monroe was the worst of the three. Smith showed plenty of strength to go along with the agility and athleticism everyone suspected he had.

William Beatty, OT, UConn
Beatty was a fast riser after he declared for the draft, mostly due to his performance in the Huskies’ bowl game. Now he looks like an elite tackle in the right scheme (zone-blocking).

Jamon Meredith, OT, South Carolina
Meredith is the best OT under 300-pounds available. However, don’t think his size means he doesn’t have strength. Any cautions about his size were laid to rest when he pumped 225-pounds 31 times on the bench press.

Herman Johnson, OG, LSU
There were concerns about Johnson’s weight coming into the draft. Concerns strong enough to drop him into the third or fourth round, or even lower. He came in a 364-pounds. A much more respectable weight for a player of his size, when compared to the 385 he weighed at the Senior Bowl or the 411 he reportedly weighed at times during his college tenure at LSU.

Jon Cooper, OC, Oklahoma
A viral infection caused Cooper’s weight to fall as low at 250 pounds in the season. He’s gotten himself back into shape and now weighs 291 pounds. Cooper showed a nice combination of skill, athleticism and strength Saturday and could have made himself a mid-round pick.

Kory Sperry, TE, Colorado State
The biggest worry about Sperry was how he had recovered from an ACL injury that took away his junior season. He left little doubt that it was all behind him with a 4.77 40 and posting some of the top marks in every drill.

Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Miss
Nelson just became the sleeper of this TE class. He showed great speed (4.56) for a TE. His frame is a bit wiry, but he was a great receiver in college. Expect him to be capable of the same thing in the NFL.

Fallers
Andre Smith, OT, Alabama
Now the suspension from the Crimson Tide’s Sugar Bowl game against Utah looks bad. Another pitiful decision was made by Smith to not participate in the Combine. He is not the clear cut elite OT in this draft and he just lost a lot of ground on the other three guys he’s competing with for that title. The worst part is the way he left. When his time to test came up, the PA announcer in Indianapolis said he was missing and no one knew where he was. Smith was on a plane, apparently wanting to wait for his pro day March 11 to show off his skills for scouts. This is a second poor decision by Smith in a short period of time. For now, it’s really going to push his stock down and means he’s going to have to be that much more impressive at his pro day.

Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
OK. So wide receivers and other skill position players don’t test until tomorrow, but Crabtree had a chaotic day for two reasons. 1) A slight stress fracture in his left foot was found. He’s actually holding off on having surgery to place a screw in it until after his pro day March 26th. He’s confident he can still run a solid 40 with the break and doesn’t feel any pain from the injury. Still, it’s discouraging to scouts. It will take 10 months for the injury to heal following surgery. RB Jonathan Stewart had a similar injury last year and was still drafted 13th overall. So maybe this injury won’t affect his draft status too much. However, another factor could play a role in Crabtree falling a bit. 2) He measured in at 6-1 3/8. His playing height was 6-3. It was the biggest differential discovered so far at the Combine. That could definitely frighten some teams into dropping him on their boards. Still, Crabtree has eye-popping skills. He can start and stop on a dime. He has great body control and hand-eye coordination. He understands positioning for a catch and is dangerous running after the catch. He’s so fluid that everything looks easy. Plus, he’s got a great attitude. He might slip, but whatever team grabs him might still sew up one of the best WRs ever.

[porky88]

I didn't see much as I was busy, but I do have it on my DVR so I'll try to check later.

Based on the little I saw I have a hard time thinking Jason Smith isn't the No. 1 tackle in the draft. I think he's in line as a top two pick now. He just gets more impressive every time you see him.

Pettigrew ran what he was about expected. He's more of a Bubba Franks like prospect than a Greg Olsen or Vernon Davis.

[mrdv1]

Originally Posted by porky88 I Based on the little I saw I have a hard time thinking Jason Smith isn't the No. 1 tackle in the draft. I think he's in line as a top two pick now. He just gets more impressive every time you see him.

Couldn't agree more. I truly beleive him and aaron curry have put themselves ahead as the two best players in this draft, with the only competition coming from crabtree. Curry supposedly ha done of the best interviews of all time today, and i beleive he will truly be a special player. If detroit passes on him, I see no way he falls by spagnuolo and st louis now.

That being said...

I read on one of the team sites (it was the browns, bengals, or bills, i forget) that Aarron Maybin weighed in at over 250 pounds. That's HUGE for him. If he's over 250 and runs the 4.5 40 say he can, can you say hello cleveland and the number 5 pick.

Other notes:
Andre Smith is killing himself. I know I had him number one overall but that will change, my opinion now is that J Smith is number one, Monroe and Oher are 2A 2B, and A Smith is 4. He could end up falling all the way down to chicago at 18 now, which is where i have him in my working mock.

Everette Brown is under 6'2". That's a little bit of a concern. I think he is only good for the 3-4 at this point. His position drills are going to be huge. If he looks smooth in coverage then he wont get by greenbay, but if not he could fall down to sd, nyj, or ne.

[cubuffsman78]

Maybin was 6-3 1/2 and 250 lbs.

Brown was 6-1 1/2 and 256. He could compare to LaMarr Woodley.

[cubuffsman78]

I'm just now getting around to watching today's action. Here are some of the top 40 times of the day.

RB
Peerman, Cedric 4.45
Johnson, Ian 4.46
Sheets, Kory 4.47
Brown, Andre 4.49
Brown, Donald 4.51
Williams, Javarris 4.52
Goodson, Mike 4.54
Scott, Bernard 4.56
Coffee, Glen 4.58
Lucky, Marlon 4.59
Wells, Beanie 4.59
Moreno, Knowshon 4.62 (He never got a clean start on his 40. I personally feel he can run faster than that. This time is actually unofficial.)

WR
Heyward-Bey, Darrius 4.30
Wallace, Mike 4.33
Knox, Johnny 4.34
Butler, Deon 4.38
Thomas, Mike 4.40
Underwood, Tiquan 4.41
Harvin, Percy 4.41
Byrd, Demetrius 4.42
Murphy, Louis 4.43
McKinley, Kenny 4.44

QB
McGee, Stephen 4.66
Bomar, Rhett 4.82
Boltus, Jason 4.83
Wilson, John Parker 4.87
Daniel, Chase 4.92
Reilly, Mike 4.92
Brandstater, Tom 4.95
Freeman, Josh 4.97

[mrdv1]

don't know how credible it is but this source has moreno at 4.55...

2009 NFL Combine: RB

EDIT:
looking at the site further, thats an unofficial time, but I think we get the point that hes between a 4.5 and 4.6 somewhere, average speed, no worse than beanie wells. Knowshon was in the top tier in the 3 cone and shuttle drills though, he's very agile.