Combine Thread

[Icness]

Kicked off today, the linemen and specialists got measured. I'll post stuff that caught my eye later.

FYI I am not in Indy this year.

Two things that stood out right away:
Tyron Smith--307 pounds, 36 3/4 arm length, 11.5" hands. Wow! Very hard to see him not being the 1st tackle off the board, worthy or not.

Stefen Wisniewski--313 pounds, longer arms than expected, reportedly looks bigger thru the thighs. All that really helps his stock.

[Bucksfans1and2]

Does Smith look the part? and is the added weight, good weight or bad weight?

You're not in Indy but watching on TV hopefully

[The Duke]

I heard that its a chizzled good weight for Smith.

[Icness]

Skyped with both an NFL Dir. of Collegiate Scouting and a former GM this morning about yesterday's events. I'm apparently not missing much; everyone is talking about the labor stuff and the press conferences were jammed with people and relatively boring.

Some of their thoughts:
--Rob Housler looked great, ripped at 249 with no visible flab and the FAU TE is no worse than a 3rd rounder. Happy that I'm ahead of the curve on him

--Tyron Smith "looks like an MMA fighter" even after gaining about 25 pounds from his playing weight at USC.

--Rodney Hudson also gained some needed weight, but he is not wearing it well. "He grew tits" to get up to 299 was how the DCS put it.

--MIssouri State G David Arkin had a double whammy of being light (299) and has short arms (anything under 34" is an issue). I liked him as a sleeper but the DCS told me at those dimensions he's undraftable.

--Weslye Saunders looked great, but both guys expressed major character concerns. He will not be on the DCS' team's draft board at all.

--Anthony Castonzo "comes across like a guy who will kill his mother to protect his quarterback". That's a good thing.

--the trade talks are all but absent, a major change from prior years. The former GM lent the opinion that this is driving a lot of his peers crazy, and that could pressure owners to get deals done. He told me he had a lenghty conversation with a GM that has a new coaching staff and that GM told his owner, "If I can't get (new coach) some of these (veteran) players or make some deals, we're not going to win more than 2 games." He said that grabbed the owner's attention.

[Bucksfans1and2]

I heard Solder weighed in and looked good pretty well.

[Roger Murdock]

From what I am reading it seems like the people are weighing in and measuring out very well. No shocking measurements in a bad way. I think its funny everyone is so happy that Cannon is 'only' 358 lbs. What a HUGE dude.

[WAYSA]

Damn, there goes Tyron Smith falling to the Bears.

[NO-KG-AI]

Cannon is expected to run really well at that 358 as well.

Both of the C's (Wisniewski and O'Dowd) both lifted and weighed in VERY well, good sign for both of them.

Noel Devine weighs in at 179, and Quizz Rodgers at 196 at just under 5'6, that's a little wrecking ball!

Julio shorter than expected, and Robert Quinn weighing in very light, like I thought he would, and I still hold that he won't be the freak everyone is expecting in the athleticism drills.

[DirtyDez]

Wisniewski, Carimi and Smith owned the bench press.

[Zabriskie]

Robert Quinn weighing in very light

Only the offensive players were measured so far. I think those numbers on nfl.com are estimates...

[Icness]

Some Sat. thoughts:
--Rob Housler was the fastest TE at 4.55 and he did very well in other drills. Arrow pointing way up. He was the best overall plauyer at the NFLPA game practices too.

--Nobody is surprised Tyron Smith shut it down. He did everything he needed to put himself in the top 15, why risk more. He could go as high as #3, so tells me a Bills coach I texted with today.

--Kyle Rudolph is still not well enough to run. The injury flag goes from bright yellow to damn near flame red. I know others have missed an entire year and still gone high and done well (Heath Miller and Rob Gronkowski) but tearing your hamstring muscle completely away from the bone is not your garden-variety injury. He also lost 6 months of upper-body lifting with his shoulder injury.

--I thought Jordan Cameron showed well for a guy who never caught a pass before September.

--I brought him up yesterday but Rodney Hudson really looks like he cannot handle his recent weight gain. He didn't do as many reps on the bench as I expected (he did 27, not bad but he's broken 30 before), and it's pretty clear his new pounds aren't muscle.

--Marcus Cannon's 10-yard split was better than Castonzo or Orlando Fraklin, both of whom finished the 40 faster. His 10-yard split was a half-second quicker than Gabe Carimi's. That's darn impressive for a 358 pound guy. He still held an awful lot for my liking at TCU, and his hands are real small for his size.

--got a text from a Chiefs scout about Michael Person from Montana State asking me what I knew about him and if he could play guard. I responded that with his short arms, that's his only option. He's a 7th rounder if he's lucky.

[Roger Murdock]

I hope the team that drafts Cameron Jordan in the first round takes Jordan Cameron later in the draft.

[mnWI]

--Kyle Rudolph is still not well enough to run. The injury flag goes from bright yellow to damn near flame red. I know others have missed an entire year and still gone high and done well (Heath Miller and Rob Gronkowski) but tearing your hamstring muscle completely away from the bone is not your garden-variety injury. He also lost 6 months of upper-body lifting with his shoulder injury.

FWIW, I coached a player in the D-League who suffered this exact same hamstring injury. We first sent him to the Lakers' team doctor, and then the Mavericks' and both told him he would never play again. Nasty, nasty injury.

[wetsthebed]

Wow, Newton barely beat Gabbert in the 40. Locker was faster.

[Icness]

Quick thoughts:
--Julio Jones just guaranteed himself top 15 with his 4.39
--Jonathan Baldwin wins the "workout warrior" competition so far. I'm still not crazy about him, reminds me too much of Roy Williams
--Mallett has such a beautiful release and mechanics. It's a damn shame he can't handle pressure. I've heard from numerous people he's bombing in interviews. Jeff George II.
--Locker threw pretty well but he doesn't get depth on his drops. Kaepernick has the same issue.
--After watching Christian Ponder throw completely flat-footed there's no way I would draft him. His arm won't last 3 years. Chad Pennington threw flat-footed like that, so did Kyle Boller. It's a perfect recipe for chronic arm issues.
--Hearing lots of positive buzz about Nate Enderle and Tyrod Taylor, both from workouts and interviews. Taylor intrigues me because I never thought VT knew what to do with him. They saw him as Mike Vick II but he's much more of a Tony Romo-type QB, only faster. His accuracy needs work but I like him as a late-round developmental guy. He might be better-served going to the CFL.

I'm just now getting to the second QB group workouts on the DVR. Check the main page tonight for mroe in-depth thoughts on some guys.

[ZaQ-]

Wow, if Julio Jones ran a 4.39, he may have guaranteed himself top ten. I don't think Green is clearly better, never did.

Also I always liked Tyrod Taylor, obviously he's unlikely to have any early success but if he gets a shot down the road he could be a good starter.

[wetsthebed]

Stephen Paea - 49 reps.

Holy ****.

Also, Jake Locker looked good and Cam Newton looked bad.

[wetsthebed]

Wow, if Julio Jones ran a 4.39, he may have guaranteed himself top ten. I don't think Green is clearly better, never did.

Green is clearly better. And his in-game speed is faster than Jones's.

[DirtyDez]

Wow, if Julio Jones ran a 4.39, he may have guaranteed himself top ten. I don't think Green is clearly better, never did.

Green is clearly better. And his in-game speed is faster than Jones's.

Better, yes no doubt. In game speed? Not so sure. Julio is explosive and should be a YAC guy in the NFL. Still wouldn't take him top 10. Not a natural enough catcher.

[94feet]

Stephen Paea - 49 reps.

Holy ****.

Also, Jake Locker looked good and Cam Newton looked bad.

WOW. Set the new combine record for reps, he got close to 50. Here's a link of his feat:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdo ... nfl-327050