The Official 2009 NFL Scouting Combine Thread

[GS Warriors 1]

Workout schedule:

Saturday, Feb. 21 Group 1 (OL, SPECIALISTS), Group 2 (OL), Group 3 (TE)
Sunday, Feb. 22 Group 4 (QB, WR), Group 5 (QB, WR), Group 6 (RB)
Monday, Feb. 23 Group 7 (DL), Group 8 (DL), Group 9 (LB)
Tuesday, Feb. 24 Group 10 (DB), Group 11 (DB)

These workouts can be seen live on NFL Network and online at NFL.com/combine.

[GS Warriors 1]

Measurements and weigh-ins for notable OT:

William Beatty, Connecticut 6'6" 307
Eben Britton, Arizona 6'6" 309
Eugene Monroe, Virginia 6'5" 309
Michael Oher, Mississippi 6'5" 309
Andre Smith, Alabama 6'4" 332
Jason Smith, Baylor 6'5" 309
Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma 6'8" 332
Troy Kropog, Tulane 6'5" 309
Alex Boone, Ohio State 6'7" 328
Jamon Meredith, South Carolina 6'5" 304

Other Linemen:
Antoine Caldwell, Alabama 6'3' 309
Herman Johnson, LSU 6'7 364
Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas 6'4" 301
Alex Mack, Cal 6'4" 311
Duke Robinson, Oklahoma 6'5" 329
A.Q. Shipley, Penn State 6'1" 304
Max Unger, Oregon 6'5" 309
Kraig Urbik, Wisconsin 6'5 328
Eric Wood, Louisville 6'4" 310

[GS Warriors 1]

Measurements and weigh-in for notable TE:

Travis Beckum, Wisconsin 6'3" 243
James Casey, Rice 6'3" 246
Chase Coffman, Missouri 6'6" 244
Jared Cook, South Carolina 6'5" 246
Cornelius Ingram, Florida 6'4" 245
Shawn Nelson, Southern Mississppi 6'5" 240
Brandon Pettigrew, Oklahoma State 6'5" 263

[Icness]

Lineman and TE buzz:

William Beatty has added close to 20 pounds from their bowl game and wears it well. He needed it badly and he went out and did it. He still strikes me as more of a project than most people think, and he's got to show he hasn't lost quickness with the weight gain. But at that weight he's got a real shot at 1st round now.

Phil Loadholt is dropping like a rock. To quote one GM who interviewed him today:
"That guy is the most inarticulate, spoiled, clueless buffoon I've ever talked to. He thinks he's a first round left tackle. He's a 5th round right tackle if he's lucky." Having said that, I thought he looked more rocked up and tight than he did in Mobile.

Oher has a strange build. He's got very little muscle tone but he's clearly strong, if that makes any sense. His arms are so long and thick. Everything I've heard is that he is no better than the 4th best T, and I can give you 5 teams that like Eben Britton better too.

Jason Smith is a decent sleeper for #2 overall to the Rams.

Herman Johnson weighed in at 364 and his stock is rising just as fast as he's shedding the pounds. Nice kid, giant freaking hands. He claims he can palm a 25-pound watermelon in each hand and I don't think he's bluffing.

Andre Smith met with the Lions, Rams, and Bengals each for double the normal interview times. Don't read too much into that with any of those teams, but more as a draft floor for Smith.

Just in general:
The first 10 picks of the upcoming draft will be:
Matt Stafford
Andre Smith
Aaron Curry
Eugene Monroe
Michael Crabtree
Jason Smith
Jeremy Maclin
Malcolm Jenkins
Everette Brown
and either BJ Raji or Brian Orakpo.
I can't tell you the order yet, but that is the group. The only guys with any chance of cracking that list are Sanchez if someone trades up or Maualuga if the three OL are off the board when the Jags pick.

[travis minor]

Hey icness, where do you see Herman Johnson going in the draft? I know Parcells likes big offensive lineman...


::crosses fingers::

[ReasonablySober]

I'm surprised you think Maclin is such a lock to go in the top ten. Not that I don't think he could, but WR is such an overrated position unless the guy you're getting is a Calvin Johnson/Randy Moss type of freak. Ted Ginn or Eddie Royal? Santonio Holmes or Greg Jennings? Braylon Edwards or Vincent Jackson?

Unless the WR in question is a once in a generation kind of talent, were I an NFL GM I'd gladly let any first round WR just slip right by.

[GS Warriors 1]

Notable WR weigh-ins and measurements:

Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech 6'1" 215
Jeremy Maclin, Missouri 6'0" 198
Percy Harvin, Florida 5'11 192
Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland 6'2" 210
Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina 6'1" 210
Juaquin Iglesias, Oklahoma 6'1" 210
Patrick Turner, USC 6'5 221
Derrick Williams, Penn State 5'11" 197
Brian Robiskie, Ohio State 6'3" 207
Ramses Barden, Cal Poly 6'6" 229
Kenny Britt, Rutgers 6'3" 218

[WAYSA]

Percy is taller than I thought.

Derrick Williams measured out well as well.

Interesting.

Any Bears news? Do you think Oher will be there at #18? With the rumors of Tait retiring do you see the Bears going OL? Oher would be awesome.

[GS Warriors 1]

Notable RB measurements and weigh-ins:

Chris Wells, Ohio State 6'1" 235
Knowshon Moreno, Georgia 5'10" 217
Donald Brown, Connecticut 5'10" 210
Shonn Greene, Iowa 5'11" 227
LeShaun McCoy, Pittsburgh 5'10" 197
Mike Goodson, Texas A&M 6'0" 208
Andre Brown, North Carolina State 6'0" 224
Jeremiah Johnson, Oregon 5'9" 209
Javon Ringer, Michigan State 5'9" 205
Rashad Jennings, Liberty 6'1' 231
Arian Foster, Tennessee 6'1" 215
P.J. Hill, Wisconsin 5'10" 222
Glen Coffee, Alabama 6'0" 209

[GS Warriors 1]

Notable QB measurements and weigh-ins:

Matthew Stafford, Georgia 6'2" 225
Mark Sanchez, USC 6'2" 227
Pat White, West Virginia 6'0" 197
Josh Freeman, Kansas State 6'6" 248
Nate Davis, Ball State 6'1" 226
Rhett Bomar, Sam Houston State 6'2" 225
Chase Daniel, Missouri 6'0" 218
Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State 6'2" 218
Hunter Cantwell, Louisville 6'4" 235
Stephen McGee, Texas A&M 6'3" 225
Graham Harrell, Texas Tech 6'2" 223
John Parker Wilson, Alabama 6'2" 215

[Celtics_Champs]

Crabtree with slight stress fracture, and will require surgery. Out 10 Weeks!!

This was just reported at the Combine. Wow. He can't work out, 10 weeks take it right up to the draft. Unless he rushes it.

Does he drop? Whoever drafts him is going to be taking a risk. Ah, I love draft controversy.

[Manhattan Project]

Crabtree with slight stress fracture, and will require surgery. Out 10 Weeks!!

This was just reported at the Combine. Wow. He can't work out, 10 weeks take it right up to the draft. Unless he rushes it.

Does he drop? Whoever drafts him is going to be taking a risk. Ah, I love draft controversy.

If McGahee can go first round after the injury he had, Crabtree is still a EASY top ten pick, probably still dont drop out of the top five in my eyes.

[Rafael122]

So...is Andre Smith falling? Any possibility he could be there at 13?

Look, I realize, based on what I've been reading, he made a big mistake, and from all accounts, he's pretty arrogant, but the guy is a BEAST. It's not like he's going into clubs and making it rain or shooting people. If the man can play, take him.

[QBkilla]

So, Ic . I've been telling people all year that Brandon Tate is/was every it as good as Hakeem Nicks , I know his injury was pretty serious , but am I as crazy as everyone tells me I am?

Also , I'm canadian and I seen that one of the CIS ( Canadian College football) players declared early, and chance he( or and CIS player) will get a decent look?

Thanks Jeff , I appreciate any replies...

[GS Warriors 1]

Top TE 40's(Official):

Jared Cook, South Carolina 4.5 - Cook also led TE's in Vertical and Broad Jump
Shawn Nelson, Southern Miss 4.56
Cameron Morrah, Cal 4.66
Cornelius Ingram, Florida 4.68
Marquez Branson, Central Arkansas 4.71
D.J. Johnson, Arkansas State 4.73
Jared Bronson, Central Washington 4.76
Kory Sperry, Colorado State 4.77

OL 3-cone leaders:
Lydon Murtha: 7.06
Xavier Fulton: 7.35
Max Unger: 7.39
Jon Cooper: 7.46
AQ Shipley: 7.46
Jason Smith: 7.53
Joel Bell: 7.55
Eric Woods: 7.56
Seth Olsen: 7.59
Will Beatty: 7.62

OL short shuttle leaders:
Lydon Murtha: 4.34
AQ Shipley: 4.40
Max Unger: 4.50
Eric Woods: 4.51
Andy Levitre: 4.52
Xavier Fulton: 4.56
Joel Bell: 4.57
Michael Oher: 4.60
Jon Cooper: 4.60
Alex Fletcher: 4.65

Misc: Kenny Britt was 2nd in WR with 24 on the 225 bench press and Knowshon Moreno was 5th in RB with 25. QB's, RB's, and WR's workout on Sunday.

[Icness]

So, Ic . I've been telling people all year that Brandon Tate is/was every it as good as Hakeem Nicks , I know his injury was pretty serious , but am I as crazy as everyone tells me I am?

Also , I'm canadian and I seen that one of the CIS ( Canadian College football) players declared early, and chance he( or and CIS player) will get a decent look?

Thanks Jeff , I appreciate any replies...

Tate isn't the dynamic presence that Nicks is at WR but he's definitely got legit NFL skills. It's kind of like the difference between Ocho Cinco and TJ Housh--both are real good but do different things. Tate's knee injury was particularly nasty, he tore the ACL and PCL and they had to fix his patellar tendon too. That severe of an injury usually limits what a guy can do for the next year or so. So no, you are not crazy, but you probably won't get any shot at validation until 2010. Unless Nicks flops, which I just don't see.

And honestly, I couldn't tell you who the CIS player is or anything about him. It's roughly the level of D-III NCAA football and about one player per year makes that jump to the NFL, so it's not impossible but rather extremely difficult. If he's got a US HS background and wound up in Canada for extenuating circumstances that probably helps his cause. My blind guess is that the guy wants to play in the CFL and declared for that.

[Icness]

Sat. Article:
http://football.realgm.com/src_wiretap_ ... ine_day_2/

The bulk of that is on Andre and Jason Smith.

Because I love y'all and thank you for your support, some random tidbits:

--Lions coach Jim Schwartz seems genuinely intrigued by Aaron Curry as the #1 overall pick. And the more I get to know these new Lions people, the more convinced I am they are not taking a QB #1. This is just my guess, but the #1 pick will be Monroe, Jason Smith, or Aaron Curry. I believe at this point they will take Josh Freeman with the Roy Williams pick.

--if that indeed comes true, Matt Stafford is this year's Brady Quinn. KC clearly prefers Sanchez (though not a given they take a QB), all the buzz on SF is they would rather wait until the 2nd or 3rd to take Bomar or Davis, and that leaves the Jets at #17 unless someone (the Bears?) pulls a real shocker.

On the Bears:
Spent a couple of hours with a gaggle of Bears insiders and culled this:
--their draft priorities, in order, are playmaking WR, safety, DT, speed at RB, OLB, and a G/C. They are much more likely to bring in a veteran QB to compete with Orton than to draft one, and the early clubhouse leader is Jeff Garcia. They will make overtures to Kerry Collins but nobody expects him to leave TEN. They are not in the Derek Anderson or Matt Cassel business. The general consensus is that Orton is just as good as either of those two if given the same supporting casts, and I would agree with that. The Bears WRs are as bad as any first-year expansion team; Devin Hester is the only real NFL WR on the team and he's a #3 (I like Rashied Davis as a #4 but he's expendable). Earl Bennett might not even make the team despite being a great practice player--he's seen as real soft and not able to handle the pressure of game day.

I was surprised at how all these guys agreed that the Bears are really looking to upgrade the #2 RB position and speed is job skills #1 and #2 they are looking for. They were one of the teams checking out Devin Moore, and they like Mike Goodson of TAMU. Expect them to pursue T Khalif Barnes but not get in a bidding war for a guy the Jaguars couldn't wait to get rid of.

--Tampa Bay sure looked like a team looking to draft a tackle high.

Stock Up:
Jared Cook, though some folks here believe he is a big WR and not a TE. He's sort of the anti-Vernon Davis--great athlete who is a great receiver but can't block a lick, whereas Davis is a great blocker but lousy receiver. It will be interesting to see how he's used in the NFL

Shawn Nelson, validating what everyone saw at the Senior Bowl. Both he and Cook are 2nd rounders with Cook an outside shot at going in the bottom of the 1st

Xavier Fulton
Williams Beatty, looking more and more like a late 1st rounder all the time
Travis Beckum for getting the most bench reps of any TE, somewhat dispelling the notion he's a pussy
Dan Gronkowski
Lydon Murtha, probably a 7th rounder now after being a "no chance" guy coming here. Props to his agent for getting Murtha here, as he was probably the last guy in.

Stock Down:
Brandon Pettigrew, though not much. He's clearly not fast and that limits his ceiling. Bump him from potential top 15 to the 16-30 range.
Herman Johnson. When you're that freaking huge, you'd better be strong. 22 reps (worst of any OL here) tells everyone that his weight loss is too much, too soon and that he's fat, not muscular. Aaron Gibson part II?

AQ Shipley with his T-Rex arms. He's nearly 6'2" and his arms are barely 29" long; normal humans of that height are in the 33-34" range.

[hermes]

so if Stafford could be this years Quinn, how far could he fall?

[deeney0]

Coming from Ic, I don't know if there's a higher compliment for a TE than calling him the Anti-Vernon David.

People though Travis Beckum was a pussy? I never got that impression. Space cadet is his major malfunction. On plays he didn't block, I think it's a safer assumption that he didn't know wtf the play was rather than he didn't want to block.

[GS Warriors 1]

Official Vertical Jump leaders for WR:
Dillard 42.5
Underwood 41.5
Thomas 40.5
Wallace 40
Heyward-Bey 38.5
Kelly 38
Norwood 38
Orton 38
Robiskie 37.5
Butler 37
McKinley 37
Edison 37

Official 40's for WR's(leaders):
Heyward-Bey 4.30
Wallace 4.33
Knox 4.34
Butler 4.35
Thomas 4.40
Underwood 4.41
Harvin 4.41
Byrd 4.42
Murphy 4.43
McKinley 4.44

Official Broad Jump for RB's(leaders):
Chris Wells 10' 8"
Javarris Williams 10 8
Donald Brown 10 5
Bernard Scott 10 5
Anthony Kimble 10 2
Kory Sheets 10 1
Glenn Coffee 10 1
Shonn Greene 10 1
Rashad Jennings 10 0
Brannan Southerland 10 0
Mike Goodson 9 10