FSU's Brown impresses at pro day By BOB THOMAS | More by this reporter | Morris News Service | Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 ; Updated: 12:26 AM on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 TALLAHASSEE -- The roughly 30 NFL scouts on hand for Florida State's pro day Monday had their eyes trained on defensive end Everette Brown, who is expected to be a top-five pick in the April 25 draft. While Brown opted to stand on his 40-yard dash time from the NFL Scouting Combine, he did take part in a battery of other tests, providing the scouts with a good look at his potential for making the conversion to outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. "Going through the linebacker drills felt pretty good," Brown said. "I wasn't worried about my 40 time, and the scouts weren't either." As an added bonus, Brown cranked out 39 repetitions with 225 pounds on the bench press and a 34-inch vertical leap, both improving on his combine standards. The pro day event was more important for approximately a dozen Seminoles who, unlike Brown and punter/kicker Graham Gano, were not invited to the combine. Few had a better all-around day of testing than cornerback Tony Carter. Represented by his former Mandarin High coach, Richard Burnoski of Empire Sports, Carter excelled in the physical tests. He ran times of 4.28 and 4.35 seconds in the 40-yard dash, registered a 39-inch vertical leap and c most impressively c pumped out 17 repetitions on the bench press. "I had a pretty good day," Carter said. "Not going to the combine was a little setback for me, but I can only control what I can control. The main thing was letting the coaches see my personality and that I am a worthy person to draft." Carter certainly looked ready for his day, which came on the heels of a two-month training program in Orlando with noted conditioning coach Tom Shaw, a one-time FSU track assistant who has a long history of preparing athletes for the NFL. Carter added 11 pounds of muscle to his 5-foot-8 frame, while improving his speed and agility. Burnoski, who is also representing former FSU linebacker Toddrick Verdell, Kenny Ingram and Derek Nicholson, as well as defensive end Neefy Moffett, was not surprised by Carter's performance. "It was very fulfilling," Burnoski said. "He's always been underestimated because he was small. Nothing's going to change that. ? We think he's one of the top cover corners in the draft, but he's been overlooked." Carter had nine interceptions at FSU and yielded just five touchdown passes in his college career. He started in 49 of 51 games. Burnoski said Pittsburgh, New England and Dallas have expressed the most interest in Carter, who just wants an opportunity to prove he deserves a crack at the next level. "Coach Bruno [Burnoski] has been with me since Day 1 and hopefully we can get there [to the NFL] together," Carter said. Tailback Antone Smith and cornerback/kick returner Michael Ray Garvin, an track All-American, were both clocked at 4.25 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Brian Hodges brian.hodges@jacksonville.com (904) 359-4355 This story submitted from Brian Hodges using email address brian.hodges@jacksonville.com Brown is my favorite defensive player in the draft. I really hope he doesn't fall to the Packers.
It seems like every time I hear something about this guy, he's either top-5 projected or top-15 projected. Seems to really jump around on the charts.
Correction: I guess he only had 29 reps. That's still good but 39 would have been amazing at his size. It's hard to project Brown because he's a little light to play full-time DE in a 4-3 and it's unsure if he can play in space at OLB in a 3-4. One thing for sure is that he's got the best package of pass rush moves in the draft. Plus he has the bend to crash the edge. He's gonna be special.
