NFL Draft News and Notes: Combine Winners and Losers
Everyday I did a recap of my combine winners and losers, but a lot of people waited until the combine was over to get their list out. I’ll bring you the reactions from around the web, plus any other news tidbits I find particularly interesting.
Winners:
Stephen Hill: A bunch of folks were kind enough to have me on the radio while I was in Indy and Hill was the name I kept giving them: he played in Paul Johnson’s offense at Georgia Tech, so there’s limited exposure for him as a pass-catcher. But he’s 6’4″ and runs a 4.36 40, looked athletic in the catching drills at the combine and is already an unselfish player who’s a proficient blocker. He’s not in the first-round group with some other wideouts like Michael Floyd, Reuben Randle and Justin Blackmon, but he’s got a shot at making that happen. At the very worst, he’s probably pushed himself up into becoming a second-round pick if he performs well at GT’s pro day.
Dontarie Poe: Poe was the big winner during Monday’s defensive linemen and linebacker workouts, and he’s one of the top gainers in terms of draft stock from the combine. There are definitely questions about his production at Memphis (30 starts, 21.5 tackles for a loss, five sacks and 98 total tackles in three seasons) and whether or not he can produce against elite competition. But he dominated the combine, running the 40 in a blazing (for a 346-pound guy) 4.98 seconds, benching 225 pounds 44 times and looking surprisingly athletic for a man of his size. It’s entirely possible he could end up being taken in the top half of the first round now.
Bleacher Report and New Era Scouting’s Matt Miller
St. Louis Rams: Winners
The St. Louis Rams have to be incredibly happy with the combine performance put on by Robert Griffin III. The faster RG3 ran and the more laughs he elicited in interviews, the more the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft was worth. Judging by recent reports, that pick will be worth a bounty.
The Rams have needs, but they would also love to rebuild their team by trading back four spots in the first round and picking up two more first-round picks over the next two drafts. If the Rams play this right, they could pull off a Herschel Walker-style trade that will put the franchise back on the map.
Speaking of Cordy Glenn, the big man from Georgia impressed in his three-day workout session. Glenn was polite and articulate behind the microphone, but did the most work on the field.
His 31 reps were a very respectable number for a man his size, but Glenn made the biggest waves by running a sub-five-second 40-yard dash at 345 lbs.
Teams needing a guard in a power-run scheme should pencil Glenn in at the top of their late first-round wish lists.
Winner:
Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College
A tackling machine with 532 career stops, Kuechly proved he has qualities beyond being tough, instinctive and smart. He’s also a good athlete, running the 40-yard dash in 4.50 seconds and recording a 38-inch vertical leap. He looks like an immediate starter and impact player who shapes up as a future team captain.
Losers:
From Matt Miller
Mike Adams had a chance to cement himself as the fourth offensive tackle—if not higher—with a good showing at the combine. Instead, Adams leaves as one of the bigger disappointments.
Adams’ positional workouts were average at best, but most concerning were his 19 reps bench-pressing 225 lbs. Even with a reach of 34″, far from the longest among attendees, Adams should have done more. By comparison, Cordy Glenn did 31 reps with a 35 1/4″ reach.
Vontaze Burfict: Loser
This one hurts.
Vontaze Burfict opened the season as my No. 2 overall prospect, just behind Andrew Luck. Since then, he has taken himself out of games, beaten up a teammate, been ejected from games, racked up personal fouls like they are trophies and refused to do media interviews.
A solid, all-around guy he is not.
Burfict’s stock currently resides in the fourth-round range.
From CBSsports
Michael Brockers: The hype surrounding Brockers hit a fever pitch after the LSU defensive lineman weighed in at 322 pounds, 16 LBs higher than when he left college. That’s also 80 pounds higher than when he enrolled at FSU. But then on Monday, Brockers looked shockingly unathletic during the various workouts, and certainly has “plenty of red flags” for teams to examine between now and the draft. If he can push his stock back up, he’s still a candidate to land as high as the Panthers at No. 9 overall, but it’s possible that without a strong pro day, his JPP-like boom-or-bust status could end up scaring away a lot of teams.
Jonathan Martin: As previously mentioned, Martin declared himself the best tackle in the draft … and then promptly came out flat in his workouts. In fact, it’s unlikely that anyone actually considers him the second-best tackle in the draft, with both Matt Kalil and Riley Reiff. 40 times aren’t really important for tackles (relative to other positions), but Martin didn’t look strong and he didn’t look like the upside-riddled offensive lineman who spent his career protecting Andrew Luck.
From Fox Sports
Alshon Jeffery, WR, South Carolina
Yes, the rumors about his ballooning weight were untrue. He was actually down to 216 pounds from 229 pounds, not up to 240 pounds. That’s a positive, but NFL teams were disappointed that he didn’t run the 40-yard dash and wondered if he lost weight the right way. Now, his pro-day workout becomes a pivotal moment for his draft status.
Rueben Randle, WR, LSU
Randle ran far slower than expected with a 4.55-second showing in the 40 and only registered a 31-inch vertical leap. It’s questionable whether he’s worthy of late first-round consideration. His saving grace at the combine: sound hands and smooth routes. He aced the gauntlet drill.
Sean Spence, LB, Miami Hurricnaes
Spence is a smaller defender who has strong-safety size at 5 feet 11 and 231 pounds. However, he definitely needs to hit the weight room. He bench-pressed 225 pounds only 12 times and ran slower than expected at 4.71 seconds in the 40-yard dash. The second round seems like a stretch for him now.
Be sure to check all of those out for their opinions on winners and loses especially the fox sports article which I think did a good job.
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