At The Combine
 

I figured why not start a thread about what's going on in Indy.

Today's top stories...

1. Michael Crabtree - My highest rated player has a foot problem that needs surgery (like Jonathan Stewart) and will not be able to run before the draft. Could he really slip to #15?

2. Andre Smith - Told everyone that he would not bench yesterday because he is not in shape and has not prepared. Today, he was not in the building and nobody knew where he was. His agent took the bullet saying that it was his fault that he didn't tell everyone that his client was leaving for Atlanta to work out today in preparation of his Pro Day. He's not on my draft board and this only reinforces my doubts about his maturity.

3. Jason Smith - Probably the #1 pick in the draft, we have no shot at him.

4. TE Jared Cook is going to be going up on my draft board. He ran a 4.42 today and looks like a weapon. TE Shawn Nelson will also be climbing.

5. C Eric wood improved his stock.


edit - This just in...Crabtree will now run at his Pro Day

What about this tackle from Nebraska: Murtha... he ran in the 4.8s and looked pretty darn good from what I saw. Do you think he'd make some sense for us as a backup/project at guard perhaps in the 3rd round, and, would he be there?

Murtha is a 6-7th round prospect. He played in the Texas vs. The Nation game. Don't get too carried away with measurables. He will be lucky to make a roster in the NFL. Today's measurables probably means that he will be given a shot.

Cook is now a 2nd round pick and Nelson is now a 3rd round pick in my book. I realize that O.D. is on our roster and we don't need another pass-catching TE, but I just can't help myself. Also, these guys are 6' 5" and would be big targets in the Red Zone.

The official 40s for these guys were 4.50 and 4.56 accoding the NFL Network. Their other measurables were also pretty impressive.

Cook - 23 Reps, 41" Vert, 10' 3" Jump
Nelson - 33" Vert, 9' 7" Jump, 6.96 Cone

I know you guys probably get bored with me posting about BSU guys, but I was shocked when Ian Johnson weighed in at 212 and threw up 26 reps on the bench. I think he was about 195 his senior year. I thought he would run in the mid 4.4's and he did 4.46. The surprise to me was that was good enough for second best among running backs. I don't see why that wouldn't get him drafted, now. His positives have always been his patience as a runner, vision and deceptive change of speeds. The knocks have been his size and not blazing speed. So now he's added muscle and strength and ran one one-hundredth slower than the best time for running backs.

Peerman and Sheets helped themselves, also. I don't know how far they move up. Johnson and Sheets aren't even supposed to be drafted on some mocks. I don't think any of the top rated backs hurt themselves today, there just weren't any burners this year like Chris Johnson.

Gartrell Johnson's thighs are freaking huge. (thank you mr. obvious) He ran a 4.71, which I think is fine for the load he brings. I thought Jeremiah Johnson would run faster than his 4.57. Well, I guess that covers the Johnsons.

Anyone see anything they weren't expecting with the running backs?

Best 20-yard shuttle time (4.34) & 3-cone drill (7.06) along with top 40 time for OLineman. Athletically he's obviously highly qualified for ZB system.

And his second attempt was even slower at 4.77, with the official time maybe not breaking 4.8 ? I say good deal, maybe he slips even lower than the third round but I dunno if I'd want to risk it ?

I think 4.71 is official. I'm getting times at Football's Future. Ian Johnson's unofficial times were 4.38 and 4.45 and they have his time at 4.46. It is sad you can't go to the official NFL site and easily find all the official results.

You mean like here?

http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers

Or do you mean official results for EVERY player?

Yeah, sort of like Adam Koets or Brandon Frye.

We're going to regret letting Brandon Frye get away. I thought he looked very good in the preseason last year. I thought it was a big mistake to keep Studdard on the roster and let him go to the practice squad. On the other hand, there is the slight possibility that Alex Gibbs is better at evaluating NFL Oline talent than I am. I guess time will tell.

You're forgetting that Studdard badysat Kubiaks kids and his father was Kubiaks buddy. That was his key to making the roster because he certainly wasn't a player qualified to play in the Texans' system they were running under Gibbs.
And was there really that much difference between Frye and Duane Brown ? Well actually I guess there was. It was the investment involved - one was a first-rounder and the other a fifth-rounder.

You saw it the way I saw it. I was on the front row for many of the one on one drills during the summer and Studdard showed no feet. While Frye showed some ability.

Wow, I did not see that one coming. Johnson does not play up to his times.

It was a lot of fun to watch the tackle play in the second half of our preseason games: Butler and Frye both looked really good, I thought. I was very disappointed when I saw Frye didn't make the roster. I would have had him on the roster ahead of Studdard and Salaam. People over at texanstalk.com raked me over the coals for those comments in August and September.

What always really struck me about Johnson was his patience in waiting for the play to develop, but for me the knock is that he is not agile, by that I mean he is slow footed, despite his 40 time.

I like him but I don't see alot of pro potential there.

Well, I am going to put Johnson and Glen Coffee on my draft board. I was sitting on the fence, but after today, they look like good 4th round RBs.

I will have to say that Knowshon Moreno sort of dissapointed me a bit. While it was nice to see him bulk up to 217lbs, I thought for sure that he was a sub 4.6 player. The Cone and Shuttle was where I wanted, but not the long speed. In fact, I'm moving Donald Brown up over Knowshon as my top RB.

Shonn Greene and Rashad Jennings were a lot slower than I was expecting. Jennings 1st unofficial time of 4.42 was so much faster than his 2nd 4.6 that they asked him to run a 3rd time (4.62) so they could determine which was the anomoly.

I'm still scratching my head on RB James Davis and WR Jeremy Maclin. Their unofficial times were quicker than the official times, because they aren't on the leader boards. The slowest official RB time was 4.59 (Beannie Wells) while the slowest official WR time was 4.44 (Kenny McKinley). Since neither are on the list, I suppose that means that their times were even slower, officially. Unofficially, Davis - 4.49 & Maclin - 4.40.

Value at the RB position may come from a guy like Andre Brown, Cedric Peerman, Kory Sheets, or Javaris Williams. While Brown and Moreno are more complete, we may only be looking for a compliment to Slaton that can take some carries and convert short yardage.

The WRs were fast, but the only late round slot/KR/PR that I'm interested in is Mike Thomas. Heyward-Bey, Britt, Mike Wallace, Underwood, and Robiskie are tempting, but I've got bigger fish to fry. I simply don't have a good feel for Johnny Knox, but I'm sure somebody will give him a shot.

At QB, JP Wilson was solid. Stephen McGee flashed. Currently, I'm not optimistic that anyone will be itching to trade up to #15 for Mark Sanchez. I can't imagine any scenario in which Stafford falls out of the top 5.

I was impressed by the Bench numbers of some DL/LB players. T. Taylor at 37, Veikune - 35 (they test for steroids at the Combine), Ziggy Hood - 34, Raji - 33, Orakpo - 31, Cushing - 30 (see Veikune), Freeman - 30, McKillop & McKenzie - 27, Curry - 25, and my sleeper Lee Robinson - 24.

Roy, yes I meant for every player. They have the information. Why not make it available to the geeks like us that pay their salaries. Seriously, if there weren't such a large fan base for pro football, a guy being miffed at only being guaranteed 10 million for one year would be unthinkable. I know there are fans everywhere that have some regional guy at the combine that they would like to know how he did, even if he weren't in the top performers.

PK, about Ian Johnson. I've watched about 90 percent of Ian Johnson's games, and he played a lot as a freshman. You say he doesn't play up to his speed, but how do you think he racked up all those yards and touchdowns. I know when you watch him, he doesn't look all that fast. He has always been a very patient runner, waiting for the blocks to develop. He has had many long runs in his career. I have seen a lot of these runs where I thought someone had the angle on him and Johnson just has a little left and runs past the guy. It's just surprising, because you don't see that top speed unless he is into the secondary. He's not really a juker and he doesn't run over guys, although he does break tackles because defenders don't end up with the angle on him they think they had. I am much more surprised by the muscle he has put on. He is a great guy, too. After the Fiesta Bowl, he had just about rock star status around Boise. This last year, he asked to play special teams and was an impact player, blocking a couple of punts. His carries were down significantly his junior and senior year, because of some really fast underclassmen. He never complained, just tried to do everything he possibly could to help the team.

Even Charles Davis commented he did not see that coming. At the Shrine Game he could not get to the edge, you may call that patience, but that is not what it looked like to me.

I will admit i have not watched most of his games, that turf hurts my eyes, and he is a feel good story. Also he seems like a 1st class young man, but I will pass on him.

I do like his knitted caps.

I thought you lived by those 3-cone & shuttle times in rating the potential of OLineman for the ZBS ?

Maybe you can get one now. The NCAA made him quit selling them. :D

Early 40 times coming back for DEs aren't impressive: 4.78 for Maybin & 4.84 for Kruger. On the other hand, as I recall everybody was disappointed with Suggs when he couldn't break 4.7 when he ran for us back in 2003 but he turned out OK.
BTW, why do many insist on calling Orakpo a tweener since he's a carved-up 263 ? 263 is not big enough to playe weakside DE ?

Conner Barwin 6'4" 256 lbs 4.56 forty, 40.5 vertical. Wow

Lawrence Sidbury 6'2" 266 lbs 4.53 forty. Not bad

Everett Brown 6'2" 256 lbs 4.63 forty. Not as tall as advertised. Not bad time.

Aaron Maybin 6'4" 249 lbs 4.78 forty. Not a wow.

Brian Orakpo 6'3" 263 lbs 4.63 forty. Nice

Stryker Sulak 6'4" 251 lbs 4.66 forty. Surprising

Maybin's time wasn't great but he sure looked explosive. And, he's added 15 lbs since December. And, from looking at him, most of that is muscle!

Do you know if Raji ran today? No time listed for him.

Nevermind. I see he ran a 5.13 at 337 lbs.

There is no time for Peria Jerry, though.

Ziggy Hood ran a 4.89 at 300 lbs and Dorrell Scott ran a 4.90 at 312 lbs. I would hate to try to stop that.

so Orakpo is bigger and faster than all of the guys that have been thrown around as possible picks the last month? Not to mention he out-played and out produced all of them.

It's amazing how the all-star/combine season can over analyze things until up is down and down is up.

In the same post you say he is faster than he looks and had plenty of speed to rack up yards. Then you mention later he lost carries to "really fast underclassmen." So which is it? If he is not fast when compared to other BSU RBs then he is not fast. If the BSU coaching staff who had him for 11 years (seemingly) does not think he is the best runner on their team then he is not that good.

He is fast. A kid named Avery is blazing fast. Chris Johnson fast. I'm sure he's too small to play in the NFL, but he is a great college back. He is under 180 pounds, but runs surprising well between the tackles. There is no contradiction. BSU's philosophy for many years has been to rotate in as many players as possible. Johnson's sophomore year where he carried the ball so much was not typical.

Funny you mention Thomas... he is big-time on my radar. Seems like an awesome slot candidate with return ability. Big hands. Terrific quickness. Short, but thick enough. He could put David Anderson out of a job here, and I'm really starting to like Anderson's future.

I have to agree. There seems to be some Orakpo bashing, but I like him. John McClain (parroting Kubiak I presume) keeps saying that the team won't go after a smallish RDE since that's Mario's position, but I like Mario at LDE better. I would be interested in knowing the splits from last year on RDE vs. LDE for Mario if anyone knows where to find them...

That's faster than Terrell Suggs' forty time. Didn't seem to hurt him in the pros. :p

Just to clarify on Johnson's college career, then I promise I'll stop.


Carries Yards Long TD's

06-07

277 1755 59 25

07-08

207 1087 72 16
Jeremy Avery
103 698 50 8

08-09

150 810 69 13
Jeremy Avery
111 639 57 4

Johnson also caught 22 passes for 229 yds and a long of 51 in 08-09.

BSU passed a lot more in 08-09 than before. They switched up their offensive starting line just about every game, trying to find the best combination. Freshman quarterback Kellen Moore had an incredible year.

Then I don't like the guy. A curse on anyone who would hinder my ability to watch the string dance in an NFL endzone.

I dunno, but Matthews was maybe the most impressive LB out of USC, and not just as a value. Mayoc & crew seemed to think he was the best pass-rushing prospect of that LB group and even mentioned he was voted top USC STs player last 2 years. Lot of versatility. Also ran in the 4.6s (official), which
was a better time than Cushing recorded.

I think McClain's FOS on this one.

1. Mario doesn't line up exclusively at RDE. They moved him all around the line last year. So, it's not like he will lose himself if he starts at LDE instead of RDE.

2. Mario is tailor-made for the LDE position. His pass rushing skills become that much more valuable from the LDE spot than the RDE spot. It's analogous to getting a catcher who can hit 30HR and .300. Sure, you could move him to first base, but it kind of takes away from his value being able to play behind the plate. If you keep Mario at RDE you are not taking full advantage of both his run stopping and pass rushing abilities.

3. Most importantly, we need a pass rush. Adding a(nother) LDE is simply not addressing our needs and really does not make a lick of sense.

Looks like Conner Barwin had the best shuttle and cone times, as well.

EXACTLY!- I just don't like to hear that stuff from McClain because he hints that he has a source inside the team. So, I remain slightly concerned that the Texans' actually are thinking that way as well. Though I think a lot of the organization now, I've still seen enough bone-headedness to stay worried: Studdard making the squad over Brandon Frye; employing Richard Smtih for a 3rd year and every defensive decision that went along with that.

Clay Matthews is going on my draft board. I'm just trying to figure out if I put him in the 1st round or 2nd round. I'll have to go back and watch some tape on him, since I kind of dismissed him. I was paying too much attention to Cushing and Rey Rey.

Matthews looks to be the guy that I was thinking Maybin or Brown could be based upon his and their measurables.


edit- I even typed "Cushing" when I meant Matthews the first time I posted this. Sorry for the confusion.

Wow, did that guy have a big day. And he earned himself some big bucks.
I remember him from the Senior Bowl (primarily the one-on-one drills during the week), but he's got a real burst and did well against some of the big OLineman in those drills.

Lawrence Sidbury Jr. of Richmond is my biggest climber at the Combine. I'd be willing to use a 2nd rounder on this kid. He has the arms of a Condor and his speed is now unquestioned.

PK and I were discussing a combo of Maybin, Kruger, and Cody Brown. Now, I'm considering Matthews, Sidbury, and Gerald McGrath.

I just saw highlights of Conner Barwin's day. He runs really quiet for a big man. Mariucci said he played basketball at Cin. early on and caught 53 passes at tight end. He looks very athletic and has already shown quite a bit of versitility. I'm thinking he goes before our 2nd pick, so I don't think we'll have a shot at him.

Sidbuby would have to really jump to move past our 2nd, so if you wanted to spend a 2 on him, I think he will be there.