Combine news thread.

TE's...

LJ Smith - Rutgers: Ran a pair of 4.6 range 40s

Aaron Walker - Florida: Also ran in the 4.6 range 40

Robert Johnson - Auburn: Good practice, barely broke 5.0 in the 40

George Wrighster - Oregon: Stood out in workouts, but did not run the 40's

Jason Witten - Tennessee: Did not run the 40, but looked very good in workouts.

 

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 22, 2003) -- Defensive linemen and running backs were the main focus as the workouts continued. Here are some of the latest notes from the event, which has been great thus far:

The players are really cooperative, which is good. The Combine is spread out more this year, so they're not so rushed to do things, which is a big help to them.


Thirty-six defensive linemen ran, and there were some really, really good times. There were several guys that ran under 4.7 seconds. Two University of Miami guys -- Andrew Williams and Jerome McDougle -- both ran well. Both guys are represented by Drew Rosenhaus, who told them it would be in their best interest to run. I think he proved to be a prophet.

In this first group of defensive lineman, one kid, Nick Eason of Clemson, initially said he was going to work out, but not run. And when it came his turn to run, he decided to run. It looks like he could have caved in to peer pressure and decided to run at the last minute.

A pretty good looking guy is Florida defensive lineman Clint Mitchell. He ran good and he's a pretty good-looking athlete. Another defensive lineman, Temple's Dan Klecko, is short but looks like he's going to be a good player. He ran fast.

And scouts interested in seeing Arizona State DE Terrell Suggs for his pro day on March 26 better make their car reservations early, cause there will be a flood at that airport.

Speaking of personal workouts, Citadel defensive lineman Clifton Washburn, who's a good-looking athlete and was a basketball player until this year, told scouts "Just give me two days notice and I'll work out for any day you want me to work out."

Another ex-basketball player is Oklahoma State DL Kevin Williams. He's just starting to develop, and he looks like he's one of the fastest-climbing guys in the draft.

Walking backs?
There wasn't great participation among the group of running backs that started in the running drills. That's because three of the top guys -- Larry Johnson (Penn State), Onterrio Smith (Oregon) and Lee Suggs (Virginia Tech) -- didn't run.

The biggest hand of the day came at the end of that session when everybody in the stands -- all of these coaches and scouts -- gave a humongous cheer to RB Derek Watson of South Carolina State. They had gone through six draftees without somebody running, and then Watson ran. He ran very good, by the way.

All in a day's work
The hardest job today didn't belong to the players on the field, but to three media people who work for the NFL. Chris Jenkins, Steve Alic and Keenan Davis were responsible for getting players from where the physicals take place to Room 10, where 200-plus members of the media await. It's about 100 yards away.

Sounds like an easy stroll, right? Well, there's about 5,000 cheerleaders here for a cheerleader convention. I think they're like seventh, eighth and ninth graders. And not only are there 5,000 of them, but their parents are here wearing shirts that say things like "Cindy's mother" and "Cindy's father." The drills on the field are easy compared to the drill of getting players to the media room.

Fame at the 40
In the first row at the starting line for the 40-yard dash was occupied by Jerry Jones, Al Davis, Bill Parcells and myself. Jets owner Woody Johnson wanted to know how much tickets were to sit down there where we were.

By the way, coach Parcells is doing good. He's enjoying himself.

Long talk
The longevity award goes to Texas quarterback Chris Simms, who was on the podium for 45 minutes. He surpassed the record set the day before by Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo, who was on for 371/2 minutes. Simms was very good -- the reporters enjoy those kinds of people.

Extra points
We talked in a previous notebook about the "NFL Combine 2K3" hats given out by Reebok's Mike Ornstein. Well, he gave out 12-dozen and they're the hottest item here. All the coaches and everybody else wants one. ... Incidentally, of all the draftees here, only one of them doesn't have an agent: Miami, Fla. receiver Andre Johnson.

 

aplogies if this has already been posted:

>> Kyle Boller came in at 234, 9 percent body fat, and ran 4.59 and 4.61, with a 35 inch vertical. HE MAY leapfrog Leftwich.

 

Friday's CBS update

Gene "Duke" Babb, a former NFL player (six years -- including the 1960-61 Dallas Cowboys) who heads National Football Scouting, continues to do an unbelievable job of organizing the week-long NFL Scouting Combine. Here's the latest from the workouts:

Forty nine offensive linemen ran, including Hurricanes center Brett Romberg (Miami players historically do not run). Eight of the top offensive linemen -- Romberg, guard Eric Steinbach (Iowa), tackle Kwame Harris (Stanford), tackle Jon Stinchcomb (Georgia), tackle Jordan Gross (Utah), guard Torrin Tucker (Southern Mississippi), tackle Brett Williams (Florida State), guard Vincent Manuwai (Hawaii) -- ran and also looked good in the workouts.
Tackle Derrick Dockery (Texas) and tackle George Foster (Georgia) did not run, but worked out.

Kickers
No one really outstanding because they have to wait between kicks. Damon Duval (Auburn) kicked off, Todd Sievers of Miami (Fla.) was probably best at field goals. Mike Scifres (Western Illinois) had some good punts but also had some that were not great.

Trying to find a niche
Twenty players will be tried at multiple positions, including at least four defensive linemen who will work out as linebackers -- Chris Kelsay (Nebraska), Terrell Suggs (Arizona State), Jerome McDougle (Miami, Fla.) and Dewayne White (Louisville). Defensive linemen Anthony Adams (Penn State) and Colin Cole (Iowa) will try out as offensive linemen, while Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace will run routes at WR.

Extra Points
Running back Justin Fargas of USC turned a lot of heads when he ran his 40. .. The biggest talk today was Florida quarterback Rex Grossman, who surprised everyone by measuring 6-foot-1.


2003 PRO DAYS

Texas Tech: Feb. 28
Fresno State: March 4
Oklahoma: March 5
Temple: March 5
Wisconsin: March 5
Miami, Fla.: March 6
Miss. State: March 6
N.C. State: March 6
Southern Miss: March 6
Iowa: March 10
Kansas State: March 10
Utah: March 10
Georgia: March 11
Hawaii: March 11
Nebraska: March 12
Stanford: March 12
Tennessee: March 12
USC: March 12
West Virginia: March 12
Alabama: March 13
Arizona: March 13
Colorado: March 13
Clemson: March 13
Oregon: March 13
Virginia Tech: March 13
Michigan: March 14
LSU: March 16
Wake Forest: March 17
Michigan State: March 18
Mississippi: March 18
Florida: March 19
Florida State: March 19
Notre Dame: March 19
Penn State: March 20
Arkansas State: March 21
South Carolina: March 25
Arizona State: March 26
Cincinnati: March 26
W. Kentucky: March 26

 

Pro Dates......another good and comprehensive list for Pro Dates is at Boomersdraft.com, Some 60+ locations and dates. FYI, the dates for Marshall are March 14th and March 27th.

 

From TFY

Quarterback

Rob Adamson / Mount Union College / Division III
- Was not invited to the combine.
- Buccaneer head coach Jon Gruden recognized him and talked to him for a few minutes.
- Has talked to several teams while he's been here.
- Measured at 6'5/218 recently. Played in a pro style offense. Only was offered walk on status from several major colleges. Felt playing for a small school gave him a great chance to play immediately.
- Will work out at Kent St. at the pro day on 3/21. 15-20 teams are expected to watch him.
- Talked to Ken Anderson quarterback coach of the Jaguars and Bronco assistant coach Pat McPherson for several minutes.
- Felt he played quarterback the way it was supposed to be played and his favorite play is the deep pass and seven step drop.

Linebacker
Angelo Crowell / Virginia
- Measured in at 6'0/236. Benched 25 reps at 225 lbs. He thinks he'll run around a 4.5 40.
- Confirmed he has interviewed with the Bengals, Eagles, Saints, Lions, and Packers so far. Crowell said playing for former NFL coach Al Groh at Virginia helped him with the tempo of practices at Senior Bowl.
- Would love to play with his Germane with the Lions. Germane helped him prepare for the combine experience. When asked if he would like to get a hit on his brother, he said Germane told him that he would run all over him and he replied he'd hit him before he could get past him.

Gerald Hayes / Pittsburgh
- Hayes said he's comfortable playing inside or outside.
- Played running back in high school but only one school (Clemson) recruited him to do so.
- Confirmed he has interviewed with the Packers, Patriots, Chiefs, Cardinals, and Bills.

Defensive Back

Terrence Holt / North Carolina St./Safety
- Said the Senior Bowl experience helped him because of the speed and tempo of the practices.
- Notre Dame WR Arnaz Battle was his toughest competitor during Senior Bowl week.
- Talk to his brother Torry about the combine experience and what to expect.
- Confirmed he has interview with the Steelers, Bengals, Chiefs, Falcons, and Panthers.

Terence Newman/Kansas St./Cornerback
- Confirmed for us that he had an MRI yesterday on his shoulder. Claims it's an old injury but it's from college. He said his shoulder is fine. Thought about not participating in drills tomorrow but has changed his mind and plans on doing everything.
- Now 24 years old.
- Confirmed he's talked to several teams. One team is thinking of playing him at receiver as well as cornerback. He played a little receiver during his last two seasons at Kansas St.

- Said Oklahoma St. WR Rashaun Woods was his toughest opponent and he gave up his only TD this year to him on a fade route. Said it was a questionable call.
- According to him, he played 85-90 percent of press coverage

 

More TFY

One quarterback who looked good, though he did not throw the ball, was California's Kyle Boller. Weighing in at 234 pounds, Boller's body fat was less than 10% and he quickly moved his lean frame across the RCA Dome, timing a pair of forties in the 4.6-range, faster then most of the receivers!

Except for the injured Byron Leftwich, all the top passers took part in Sunday's workout and none were as effective as Dave Ragone. Coming off a terrible senior campaign at Louisville, this was the big lefty's last opportunity to make a statement and he did just that. Except for one poor throw, all his passes were right on the mark as Ragone displayed excellent timing and accuracy throughout the entire session. His placement of the all-important deep out was dead on target and Ragone leaves Indianapolis knowing he greatly improved his draft stock.

Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer showed well and did nothing to hurt his status as potentially the draft's initial choice. Chris Simms threw accurate passes in the short field but sprayed his throws outside of the 15-yard mark. Likewise Ken Dorsey's lack of arm strength was apparent and he had great difficulty getting the ball deep.

Lastly, Rex Grossman was inconsistent throughout practice and though he displayed skills in the deep passing game, this was not the workout the Florida junior needed to vault him into the middle of the initial frame.

No single receiver stood out at any time today nor were scouts ogling over the numbers they saw on their stopwatches. The fastest receiver was Middle Tennessee's Tyrone Calico, who ran a pair of forties in the high 4.3-range. While this came as no surprise to scouts, neither did Calico's inconsistency catching the ball or his struggles afterwards in drills. Calico easily passes the eyeball test but his game needs a lot of work.

The best performances of the day came from small-school prospects. Capitalizing on a solid week at the Senior Bowl, Kevin Curtis again showed well for scouts. After running better than expected (4.48 forties), the Utah State product caught everything thrown in his direction, prompting one prominent general manager to state he feels Curtis is "All Pro material."

Little known Ryan Hoag of Gustavus Adolphus ran fast then showed he has the hands to play at the next level while East Tennessee State's Cecil Moore also impressed with his pass catching skills. Harvard's Carl Morris ran better then expected and made the catch of the day, grabbing an errant pass out of bounds with one hand.

Stanford junior Teyo Johnson had a terrific pass catching session after not running the forty. Weighing in at 247 pounds, Johnson's big body sticks out on the field, as does his lack of speed and quickness.

Several tight ends stood out during the afternoon. Rutgers product L.J. Smith displayed top athleticism, moving his 258-pound frame across turf faster then anyone else at his position. After turning in a pair of times under 4.7, Smith then went on to have one of the best pass catching workouts of the day.

Auburn junior Robert Johnson ran poorly (5.00 forty) but caught the ball well and displayed a lot of potential for the next level. Another pair of underclassmen who impressed with their pass catching skills were Jason Witten of Tennessee and Oregon's George Wrighster.

Several players did not fare as well on Sunday. Florida State's Anquan Boldin ran poorly (4.7 forty) then had trouble catching the ball. San Diego State's pass catching duo of JR Tolver and Kaseem Osgood, two players who combined for more than 220 receptions last season, also had a rough go of it. Each was slow on the turf (Tolver clocked a 4.8 and Osgood had trouble breaking 4.7) then had inconsistent sessions catching the ball.

There is only one day left in the 2003 version of the NFL combine and tomorrow the linebackers, along with the defensive backs, will try to enhance individual draft grades as they take to the turf in Indianapolis.

 

Re: More TFY

That really surpises me I thought he would run in the 4.4 - 4.5 range. I'm sad for him but glad for us because now we maybe able to get him the 4th round?

 

kevin Curtis

NFL | Curtis Aces the Wonderlic - posted at KFFL (http://nfl.kffl.com)
20:40 PT: Len Pasquarelli reports for ESPN.com Utah State WR Kevin Curtis scored a 48 on the 50-question Wonderlic test, the psychological profile battery administered to players. That could be the second-best score ever.


NFL | Curtis Runs Well - posted at KFFL (http://nfl.kffl.com)
20:26 PT: Gil Brandt reports for NFL.com Utah State WR Kevin Curtis (5-foot-11 1/8, 189 pounds) ran in the 4.4s at the NFL Combine on Sunday.

 

Quick hits

Sam Aiken, Nate Burleson and Shaun McDonald had good sessions at receiver while Tony Romo and Brian St. Pierre were better than average at quarterback. Walter Young also had a very good all day.