The following is a shameless plug of my sports blog... I just finished a write up with a more in-depth look at the happenings of the first day of the NFL combine. I'll copy and past the whole blog in this post, but I would love for you guys to click the link my signature to give me a few hits on my blog. I was getting at least 500 or so reads per blog for a while, but had to abandon it due to other things taking priority. Now I'm trying to get more consistent with it again since I am considering sports writing as a possible career. Anything I can get out there will help toward that. Anyway, any comments or criticism is welcome... Day 1: OL, TE, Special Teams *Here are some bench press numbers for all of Day 1's participants. Each player attempts to bench press 225 lbs. as many times as they can. OL Andy Alleman, Akron, 27 reps. Allen Barbre, Missouri Southern, 28 reps. Joshua Beekman, Boston College, 24 reps. Nathan Bennett, Clemson, 34 reps. Stephen Berg, Arizona St., 19 reps. Justin Blalock, Texas, 40 reps. Levi Brown, Penn St., 31 reps. Andrew Carnahan, Arizona St., 22 reps. Doug Datish, Ohio St., 31 reps. Chris Denman, Fresno St., 21 reps. Tim Duckworth, Auburn, 20 reps. Mark Fenton, Colorado, 22 reps. Doug Free, Northern Illinois, 22 reps. Dustin Fry, Clemson, 34 reps. Brandon Frye, Virginia Tech, 34 reps. Ben Grubbs, Auburn, 29 reps. Gabe Hall, Texas Tech, 22 reps. Leroy Harris, North Carolina St., 29 reps. Ryan Harris, Notre Dame, 22 reps. Mario Henderson, Florida St., 20 reps. Stephon Heyer, Maryland, 30 reps. Corey Hilliard, Oklahoma St., 28 reps. Mike Jones, Iowa, 28 reps. Ryan Kalil, Southern Cal, 34 reps. Adam Koets, Oregon St., 20 reps. Enoka Lucas, Oregon, 34 reps. Palauni Ma Sun, Oregon, 22 reps. Drew Mormino, Central Michigan, 27 reps. Dan Mozes, West Virginia, 28 reps. Uche Nwaneri, Purdue, 24 reps. Mike Otto, Purdue, 20 reps. Manuel Ramirez, Texas Tech, 40 reps. Dan Santucci, Notre Dame, 23 reps. Samson Satele, Hawaii, 25 reps. Arron Sears, Tennessee, 21 reps. Kendrick Shackleford, Georgia, 28 reps. Joe Staley, Central Michigan, 27 reps. Cameron Stephenson, Rutgers, 34 reps. Scott Stephenson, Iowa St., 21 reps. Kasey Studdard, Texas, 32 reps. Herbert Taylor, Texas Christian, 26 reps. Joe Thomas, Wisconsin, 28 reps. Tony Ugoh, Arkansas, 32 reps. Elliot Vallejo, Cal-Davis, 24 reps. Mansfield Wrotto, Georgia Tech, 27 reps. TE Michael Allan, Whitworth, 19 reps. Scott Chandler, Iowa, 16 reps. Daniel Coats, Brigham Young, 34 reps. Jonny Harline, Brigham Young, 15 reps. Clark Harris, Rutgers, 21 reps. Martez Milner, Georgia, 19 reps. Joe Newton, Oregon St., 20 reps. Greg Olsen, Miami (Fla.), 23 reps. Anthony Pudewell, Nevada, 15 reps. Gijon Robinson, Missouri Western St., 21 reps. Dante Rosario, Oregon, 20 reps. Derek Schouman, Boise St., 27 reps. Chad Upshaw, Buffalo, 16 reps. *The bench press isn't important for every position, but I find it very pertinant, for obvious reasons, for these two positions. *Justin Blalock (Texas) and Manuel Ramirez (Texas Tech) put up the best bench press marks of the combine thus far with 40 reps a piece. I knew that Ramirez, who didn't participate in any other drills because of a leg injury, was incredibly strong and powerful coming into the day, but didn't realize that Blalock was just as powerful. Blalock had a great day. He ran a 5.1 40 yard dash, which tells us nothing more than that he is a good athlete for his size. He also was very impressive in pulling and blocking drills. He had very fluid hips and good balance. *Joe Thomas, very unsurprisingly, was the most impressive of the OL. Thomas was quick during pulling drills and changed directions beautifully. His technique was also fantastic. He really solidified his position as a top 5 overal pick. * Levi Brown was also impressive. Some of the NFL Network minions criticized him for running a 5.29 40 yard dash, but he's an OT. When will he ever run 40 yards down a football field unless he is celebrating a long touchdown run with a teammate?! Brown moved very well is all pulling drills. He should still be considered as a possible top 10 pick. I can't see him slipping out of the top 15 in the draft. *Tony Ugoh showed great athleticism, but he left me lacking in his technique. He didn't do a full workout though because of an upper leg injury suffered at some point in the combine. What was fishy to me about that was that he conveniently missed a lot of the technique drills thanks to that injury, but was able to turn in the best broad jump of the combine after those drills were done. Seemed to me that he was looking for an excuse out of the workout. He could've simply chosen not to do that part of it. *Speaking of the broad jump, I find it to be one of the better tests of an offensive lineman's hip explosion. An O-lineman's first hit should always be placed with solid hip explosion. The best the hip explosion the more effective the hit. This is important in both run and pass protection. It's particularly important in pass protection as a good explosion with the hips and arms will completely knock a defender off balance if placed and done correctly. Here are some Broad jump numbers to note... OL Doug Free, Northern Illinois, 9'3" Andy Alleman, Akron, 8'10" Allen Barbre, Missouri Southern, 8'9" Brandon Frye, Virginia Tech, 8'7" Doug Datish, Ohio St., 8'6" Tony Ugoh, Arkansas, 9'9" Joe Thomas, Wisconsin, 9'2" Mario Henderson, Florida St., 9'1" Corey Hilliard, Oklahoma St., 8'10" Adam Koets, Oregon St., 8'10" Drew Mormino, Central Michigan, 8'9" Mike Otto, Purdue, 8'9" Gabe Hall, Texas Tech, 8'8" Ryan Kalil, Southern Cal, 8'8" Enoka Lucas, Oregon, 8'8" TE Michael Allan, Whitworth, 10'3" Derek Shouman, Boise St., 10'2" Martez Milner, Georgia, 9'9" Gijon Robinson, Missouri Western St., 9'8" Kevin Boss, Western Oregon, 9'8" Dante Rosario, Oregon, 9'7" Zach Miller, Arizona St., 9'7" Greg Olsen, Miami (Fla.), 9'6" Clark Harris, Rutgers, 9'4" Ben Patrick, Delaware, 9'3" *As you can see, Tony Ugoh put forth the best mark for the OL. Doug Free (No. Illinois) quietly had a really nice day working out at the combine. He definitely has some things to work on tecnhique wise, but he appears to be very coachable and athletic. He solidified his position as a 1st day pick. *Ryan Kalil cemented himself as the top OC prospect in this draft. He's got the best technique of any of the OL in the draft. He's also added 15 lbs. since the end of the season and didn't show to be slowed down by the weight at all. He probably won't be taken high in the 1st round although he does have 1st round talent. OC just isn't thought of as position of great need in the NFL although it is a very underrated position. I could see a team like Pitt or Denver trading down or even up from the 2nd round to take Kalil though. He's very comparable to Nick Mangold (now with the Jets) from last year's draft class. *Gabe Hall (Texas Tech) was a complete unknown to most coming into the combine. However, he finished with in the tops of every single drill he participated in with the OL. I think he went from undrafted to becoming a possible mid-2nd day selection. He's undersized, but very athletic. He doesn't have much experience run blocking since he played at Texas Tech, but I think he could find himself as a good zone blocking prospect if he can show that he's coachable. *Kasey Studdard (Texas) was my 2nd day sleeper pick coming into the combine. Unfortunately for me, he's ruined my chances of looking brilliant by picking him as my sleeper and opened up a lot of eyes at the combine. I really didn't think he would put up the numbers that he did, but he was very impressive in almost every drill. I think he's still a 2nd day pick, but he's a player that I see as a quality starter in the NFL for many years. *There were four TE prospects who seemed to stand out from everyone else throughout the day. Greg Olsen (Miami, FL.) is the 1st one. He ran a 4.51 40, which is a great time for a TE and was the best mark for the position by a full two tenths of a second. He's easily the top TE prospect in this class and is the only one that should be considered a first round pick. I think some teams will consider taking him in the top 20 like Cincinnati or even Green Bay. *Derek Schouman (Boise St.) placed in the top 3 in his position in every drill that took place. I actually wasn't too sure about him as a prospect coming into the Combine, but I now consider him a borderline 1st day pick. *Michael Allan (Whitworth) was the only D-III player invited to the combine and he impressed. He's got a very interesting story behind him. He was a thin and small WR coming out of high school and only ran a 5.1 40 at the time. So no big school would take him so he went to Whitworth. Then he hit a growth spurt in college and matured into a 6'6 250 lbs. man with 4.71 40 speed. He's a late bloomer that just kept catching the eye of everyone who saw him work during the day. *Ben Patrick (Delaware) is a D-IAA prospect, but was easily one of the more impressive prospects of the day. He has good speed for the position (4.74) and also showed good strength and explosiveness. *The TE position is going to be the most heavily influenced by lower division prospects. I already mentioned Patrick and Allan, who should both be drafted in April, but there were others who also stood out. Kevin Boss (Western Oregon) saw his name continually pop up with the leaders in every drill in which he participated. Gijon Robinson (Western Missouri St.) is also a name to remember as it could be called towards the end of the 2nd day. *Two TEs disappointed me greatly with their days. Johnny Harline (BYU) didn't run very well (4.84) for an undersized TE. He's got great hands though and was very productive during his senior season. It's just hard to picture him as an NFL H-back when he doesn't show the speed, quickness and agility needed for the position. His teammate Daniel Coats was much more impressive. Coats was used as a blocker more at BYU and showed off his strength with 34 bench reps. *Zach Miller was once thought of as possibly the best TE in the class, but failed to live up to expectations. He ran a 4.81 40 and dropped several balls headed his way. He's still a 2nd round pick as of right now, but he needs to rebound with a good pro day. There's no way he'll overtake Greg Olsen now though. *Here's my list of most impressive Combine performances by position... OL 1. Joe Thomas, Wisconsin 2. Justin Blalock, Texas 3. Levi Brown, Penn St. 4. Ryan Kalil, USC 5. Doug Free, No. Illinois 6. Kasey Studdard, Texas 7. Gabe Hall, Texas Tech 8. Tony Ugoh, Arkansas 9. Samson Satele, Hawaii 10. Allen Barbre, Missouri Southern TE 1. Greg Olsen, Miami, Fl. 2. Derek Schouman, Boise St. 3. Michael Allan, Whitworth 4. Ben Patrick, Delaware 5. Kevin Boss, Western Oregon I'll be covering today's (Sunday) action from the combine, which covered RBs, WRs, and QBs, in this blog tomorrow. I like to allow an overnight period to allow some more official numbers to come in from the combine.
Great work! I'm hoping to see some good news about Kenny Irons, Marshawn Lynch, and Michael Bush. Though I doubt Bush would participate in some drills until pro day.
