Chicago Bears: 5 scouting combine studs who flopped

The NFL scouting combine is not the end-all-be-all for the Chicago Bears in their draft evaluation process, but it’s a pretty big part.

They, like every other team have been caught up in the euphoria of discovery with several players at the event who blew the drills away. Everybody knows how valuable great athletes are in professional sports. Football is no different. Yet sometimes it takes more to play this game than simply being able to run fast and jump high.

Here are five names that will conjure was headshaking from fans. Names who thrilled in spring but ended up disappointing in fall and winter down by Lake Michigan.

Kevin White (2015)

The first and easily freshest on the minds of Bears fans. White was a revelation at the combine in 2015. People knew about him to an extent after his great final season at West Virginia. They just weren’t certain how good of an athlete he was. Then he calmly took up his position and ran a blistering 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds. Keeping in mind he was 6’3.

That’s the sort of size-speed mixture that makes NFL teams drool. He didn’t stop there. He also turned in a solid 36.5-inch vertical jump and 23 reps on the bench press. There was nothing to indicate that he didn’t have a bright future ahead of him. Sadly the combine doesn’t measure the durability of the body.

Mark Bradley (2005)

The Bears were in the hunt for more firepower in 2005 and they thought they found some in the form of Bradley. He was a bit of a surprise, having not been overly productive during his time at Oklahoma. Teams saw a big upside in him though, and the combine showed why.. Among his long list of highlights include a 4.37 in the 40, a 39.5-inch vertical, and a 128-inch broad jump. Explosive was certainly the word that came to mind with him.

There were definitely glimpses of that ability early in his career. Like White though, his body betrayed him several times with injury. He missed 15 games over his first two years. After a lackluster third, the team ran out of patience.

Stephen Paea (2011)

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The Oregon State defensive tackle had some decent steam going into the draft after a strong senior year where he had six sacks with 10 tackles for a loss. Even so, there were some who didn’t think he was worth top two round consideration. That is until they saw him shatter the combine bench press record with a ridiculous 49 reps at 225 lbs. For a comparison? Tommie Harris had 29 and Eddie Goldman had 19. That is grown man strength.

It was enough to get the Bears’ attention as they made him their 2nd round pick in 2011. Many hoped he’d be the successor to Harris as their dominant interior pass rush presence. What they got was an average rotational player for three years who had a good contract season in 2014 (six sacks) before leaving as a free agent.

Jarron Gilbert (2009)

It was hard not to be enamored with how Jarron Gilbert looked coming up in the draft process in 2009. He’d dominated his final year at San Jose State with 9.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss. Then he followed that up with a strong combine. This included a 4.81 in the 40 at 285 lbs, 28 reps on the bench press, and a 35.5-inch vertical.

All of this was hammered home by a viral video where he literally jumped out of a swimming pool and landed on his feet. His athleticism was well-established. What he’d failed to prove is whether he could actually play again top competition. One season without a sack was all the Bears needed to realize they’d made a grave error.

Major Wright (2010)

The other missed top pick of the draft era aftermath of the Jay Cutler trade. After Gilbert flamed out so badly the year before, the Bears were hoping a second chance might yield different results. This time they went for a more proven program at Florida where they secured safety Major Wright, who’d just turned in an impressive combine that many hadn’t seen coming.

Not only did he run a 4.44 as a safety, which is outstanding. He also had 37.5-inch vertical leap at 5’11. The upside was obvious with him. Thus the Bears pulled the trigger. In the end, they got a modest three years and nine interceptions out of him. Not nearly as terrible of Gilbert, but still less than what he seemed capable of.

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