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NFL Combine Offense: WR/RB
Posted by Scipio Tex on February 22nd, 2009 under Football
Solid days for Longhorns Quan Cosby and Chris Ogbonnaya.
A fast group overall – 20 guys were sub-4.5 40 and Quan Cosby (4.48) was one of them. Are guys getting faster? No. They’re better trained and better prepared coming in. Spend six weeks training pre-combine with Michael Johnson learning technique and running theory and you’ll shave a lot of time. Many of these times won’t translate to a football field when a corner jams them off of the line or, God forbid, they’re forced to run wearing shoulder pads and run under enough control to catch a football.
That written, Quan’s run is a very good thing for him and it was in line with what he had predicted going in. That he did it at 196 was really good. Obviously, his game speed isn’t comparable to some of the guys he tested similarly to, but Quan now has a pitch that works as a 26 year old: a gutty chain mover do-everything guy wih quick schematic uptake who does all of the dirty work and can do damage in the slot. Wayne Chrebet Part II. If he can give you five good years, he’s a great investment.
You’ve been Quanned
I also suspect that Quan’s body composition, choppy steps, and toughmindedness makes him a quality bad weather player even if he never had a chance to prove it in Texas. Don’t discount that. Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago need to know that you can play in awful conditions. A lot of “better” WRs will fold in those environments. Patrick Turner probably wouldn’t leave the locker room.
Obviously, Darius Heyward-Bey awed the combine with a 4.3 40 at 6-1 210, but it’s worth noting that some of the greatest WR times in combine history were turned in by NFL non-entities. Hayward-Bey is a track guy and his mediocre production, aversion to blocking, and inconsistent route-running are testament to that fact. He seems a sure 1st rounder, but I’d be very cautious and kick those tires several times.
I won’t bore you with numbers as there were several great physical performances that you can read for yourself and draw out for discussion, but Brian Robiskie impressed me again after seeing him first hand in the Fiesta Bowl. He’s a big guy with great hands and the polish you’d expect from a NFL coach’s son. He also runs a 4.5 40 in pads as well as shorts. I think he’s a good 2nd round value and a much better football player than several guys that tested better than he did. Kenny Britt from Rutgers is a similar kind of dude.
Ole Miss WR Mike Wallace is an intriguing physical specimen, but he showed me bad hands and a pretty rudimentary knowledge of the position in drills. He’d be an interesting project, but buyer beware.
Percy Harvin didn’t blow away the 40, but I didn’t think he would. His game is about quickness, which is spoken of interchangeably with speed, but ain’t the same. His refusal to run the route tree was revealing. Combine that with his fragility and you’ll have some NFL GMs talk themselves out of a potentially special player because he doesn’t fit perfectly into the NFL cookie cutter. If he can get with a NFL coach who will think outside of the box, I like his chances. In a traditional NFL offense, he may disappoint.
Crabtree will run at his pro day.
Maclin did fine. He’s fast in pads and at 6′ 200, he’s plenty big for the league.
A freak athlete like Titan Chris Johnson was nowhere to be found in this group.
The incredible shrinking man
Chris O shrank three inches during his college career (5-11.5 220), but his ability to run a somewhat respectable 40 (4.61) was important for his chances. I was concerned he’d drop a 4.75, frankly. He’s a tweener – not a game-breaker 3rd down back, not durable or talented enough to carry an every down load, but his hands and willingness to block are attractive. This is a commodity position and he’ll need to sell some value-added if he wants his name called on draft day.
Beanie Wells didn’t run a great 40, but that’s a distraction. He’s a pure runner, looked great physically, and he runs with a lot of agility for a big man. His primary problem is legitimate injury history and false injury history. He’s a frontrunner that will fake injuries when the tide of a game is going against him. He’s often compared to Jamal Lewis and that may be an apt comparison on a number of levels, good and bad. That would concern me as a GM. Iowa’s Shonn Greene may be the safer play and he’ll be available later in the draft.
Knowshon Moreno is, by contrast, a consistent warrior. He’s also a much better runner than his numbers suggest – he’s Walter Payton-like in his ability to make aggressive slashing cuts and punish bigger men at a run’s conclusion. I also like his hands. His pedestrian 4.6 may raise eyebrows, but I like his long term future as a durable NFL runner.
I’d avoid Mike Goodson like the plague and his presence on several top 5 RB lists proves that the experts aren’t doing their homework. He’s a human cancer and the kind of player who is just good enough to get your ass fired.
Northwestern’s Tyrell Sutton floundered. 5-8, 211 4.66 40. Injury history. Buh-bye.
Wildcard: keep your eye on Andre Brown from NC State. He had an injury plagued college career, but his physical numbers are spectacular, he’s a solid kid, and he has a good skill set. He may be worth a late draft flyer.
Wildcard
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Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches ago
Nice job with this – and welcome to the network, on behalf of Better Off Red. See you at the Fantake retreat in Vegas that Sailor Ripley is sponsoring this summer!
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J Rog commented on the blog post Game Day: Spurs vs. Lakers Open Thread ago
Fell apart in the fourth quarter again. Can’t give up 28 points to close out a game. Spurs, Longhorns….heartache once again.
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Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin ago
Nice job Hiphop. Very nice to win what is probably the toughest game on the schedule handily, although the Hawks obviously caught UT at a good time.
The Morningstar FT was terrible and hilarious. He said the ball was wet, which clearly means Texas was cheating somehow. Would the second chance off balance leaner
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J Rog wrote a new blog post: Missed Opportunities: Spurs vs. Lakers Recap ago
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. This game was served up on a silver platter for the Spurs and they managed to fumble it like a Minnesota Viking in the playoffs.
I think perhaps Will Ferrell can describe my emotions on the current state of the Spurs season better than I.
The Spurs hung around for most of the
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? ago
I think KU should demand an immediate investigation. Find someone to get to the bottom of this.
I volunteer myself.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Top 8 Teams in College Hoops ago
Georgetown?
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RRR commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin ago
Good write up, hiphop. I love the versatitility of the Morris twins on defense. Xavier Henry is probably the key to a big run in the tournament. If he starts hitting open looks, the inside game will really open up. Post to post passing is fun to watch.
It’s pretty nice when
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RRR commented on the blog post Mid-Season Thoughts and OU Pre-Game ago
Thanks Trips. I’m hoping for lots of Willie Warren trying to be Sheron Collins. TMG in sync is the scariest thing to face in Norman. That or we get beat up on the boards which seems to be recurring theme of Texas Tech road games.
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches ago
TP welcome to the network.
I like how you broke this down, and identified which positions history shows a high star ranking has proven to be important. I personally feel that after what all the recruiting sites dub their top players that there is a major falloff. We all love that the recruiting sites bring
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? 1 minute ago
I’m convinced.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 6 minutes ago
“No, but I became a man in Juarez.”
I bet in your fantasy you were the donkey in the show ? No ?“Eight Dollar drink-and-drowns, and cans that merely say “beer” in Juarez will turn anyone into a man”
That is why Trips was drinking river water by the bridge for too many years. In the -
Darius Pourceau commented on the blog post John Pelphrey’s Unconventional Approach 6 minutes ago
I don’t think we have to win the SEC tourny necessarily. If we make it to the SEC Tourny championship game and have won about 20 games, I would say a tourny bid would look likely. But that is a pretty big task. I know no one cares about the NIT, but that wouldnt be
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Nordberg commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 12 minutes ago
I like Varez Ward, but he doesn’t seem like the magical missing piece to me. And we’ve got like 15 other guys on scholarship. Losing Varez Ward shouldn’t turn the season into a trainwreck.
Barnes’ “we’re going to fix it” quotes are starting to remind me of Greg Davis talking about fixing the running game. If
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin 13 minutes ago
Don’t follow basketball as much as you guys do here, but I did watch that game last night. Using my extensive experience in analyzing the sport (next to none) the game felt like it had that “Big Game” feel to it, but somehow it just didn’t turn out that way. Kind of…lackluster?
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Nordberg commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 21 minutes ago
How much is Mark Few making? Hell, make a run at Izzo. We can do that kind of shit now.
Trips that Barnes quote is infuriating, considering that our entire fanbase has been saying that exact same line for months. Has he been hoping this whole time that they’d turn into Augustin and Gibson?
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 24 minutes ago
No, but I became a man in Juarez.
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Carl Pelini Remains Red 32 minutes ago
Personally, I think it’s going to be a long time, if ever, before Carl considers leaving. Him and Bo share some kind of vulcan mind-meld when it comes to the defense. He knows exactly what Bo wants and what he expects and he gets that shit done. I’m glad NU awarded him
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 33 minutes ago
EP, Gillispie is a helluva coach but he’s a horrible representation for any marquee program.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 33 minutes ago
EP, Gillispie is a helluva coach but he’s a horrible representative of any marquee program.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 33 minutes ago
Yeah but El Paso / West Texas are known for unknown phenomena , like the lights , strange things happen out in the desert.
Gilly may be a UFO flier for all we know.
Look at Trips he is kind of strange with his fantasy on trim and stripper poles, sometimes I think that Trips -
Hiphopopotamus wrote a new blog post: Thoughts on the win in Austin 33 minutes ago
We weren’t overly impressive, and at the same time, it may have been this team’s most impressive win. The game didn’t have much rhythm. We never shot it well. In fact, our two best guys can’t be much worse from the field. But damned if we didn’t guard them – especially in that first half.
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Farmer Ted wrote a new blog post: Carl Pelini Remains Red 35 minutes ago
We all know that Carl Pelini is a popular guy, and now we’ve learned that Tennessee recently courted him to fill their DC vacancy. Carl said no:
“We’re on the verge of something great at Nebraska,” Pelini said. “I love working with Bo. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Fortunately for Husker fans, Carl isSHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 39 minutes ago
Patrick, no this is hilarious (From Chip Brown):
And Barnes finally admitted after Monday night’s 80-68 loss to No. 1 Kansas that he can no longer have guards Justin Mason and Dogus Balbay on the floor together.
“We just can’t, otherwise it’s five on three,” Barnes said.
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post ”Bo Made Me Cry.” 41 minutes ago
The problem Ted is that Bo doesn’t like to give anyone the appearance that he’s not in control of the program. For some reason, he feels that the flow of information to the recruiting sites and services is far too much, and he’s seeking to try and control that. There’s a reason why
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? 48 minutes ago
Wholesome goodness. Thanks for posting.
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HenryJames commented on the blog post Another night, another would-be hero 50 minutes ago
I think Kiper has Okung too high at number five. He’s a right tackle in the NFL, and no one will take a RT that high.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 54 minutes ago
Basketball is a simple game of passing,dribbling,catching,shooting and denying the other team from scoring. Simple yet played by chess masters that know what they have (known quantities) in players,chemistry, and heart (will to win).
Maybe they are also an unknown phenomena to the stubborn, mad,lusting minds of entrenched coaches that are playing the games -
uthookem commented on the blog post 2011 Texas Football Recruiting 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
I consider this thread incomplete until a picture of Barney Frank is added.
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HenryJames commented on the blog post Scholarship Numbers & Junior Days 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
I summer in Brookshire.
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Texastough commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
“As long as he is putting teams into the tourney every year, I think he is untouchable. ”
Thats basically the equivalent of being one of the top six or seven Big 12 teams, which doesn’t cut it. I think he has to average top 2-3 in Big12 and sweet 16 or so to be
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:41 am
- Good for Quan, he’s a guy that deserves a chance and a 4.48 should do it. A guy on TR compared him to Hines Ward, and the more I think about it, the more appropriate it is.
- I think Marko Mitchell from Nevada is a sleeper in this group, and he’ll probably be available in the 5th round.
- I thought Derrick Williams from Penn State was the fastest guy on the planet or something coming out of high school.
- Hakeem Nicks is another guy I was impressed with every time I saw him play, but he can’t be considered a sleeper at this point.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:43 am
- Also, I would draft Jarrett Dillard in the 4th round and never look back.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:10 am
- After more browsing, another big surprise to me was Ian Johnson throwing down a 4.46 at 212 lbs.
- So, you’re telling me Phil Loadholt runs a 5.54? Never would have thunk it.
Bateshorn said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:30 am
What’s the word on Ian Johnson on Boise St? I don’t know anything about his game, but those numbers are good in a weak year for RB’s.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:57 am
He looks a little stiff the times I’ve seen him play, which may give him some problems in making people miss at the NFL level. I’m not exactly sure why you’re not hearing more about him. He’s strong, productive, and obviously, has better wheels than what people thought. Or, at least, me.
Bateshorn said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:45 am
I also agree that Jarrett Dillard is going to make some GM look like an absolute genius.
Spring Branch Horn said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:25 am
Dillards vertical is the best at 42.5
he is more than fast enough
hot stove steve said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 am
Scip, 2 things:
What’s your take on Pettigrew’s 4.89? I always considered him a gamer, and think he’s too good of a combo blocker/pass catcher to let slide.
Nebraska’s Lydon Murtha is having a good combine workout, and is supposedly shooting up draft boards. How was his actual play in B12 competition?
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:51 am
I thought Murtha was a pretty solid guard, but was more impressed with his counterpart, Keith Williams, in respect to performance.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:55 am
Orakpo (4.70) and Stryker Sulak (4.77 and measured a little over 6′4.4″) a seem to be helping themselves. Brandon Williams not so much, measured 6′2.4″ and posted a 4.9.
coach Callahan said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:11 am
Murtha played tackle at NU
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 am
Maybe that’s why I don’t remember him. Your other guard was pretty solid and I thought his name was Slauson.
Scipio Tex said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:21 am
hot stove:
My take on Pettigrew is under the post labeled combine TEs.
Murtha played fine, but he was hardly dominating.
ded:
Slauson was the OG opposite Keith Williams.
I love Jarrett Dillard. I think he’s a steal in the later rounds.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:57 am
Aaron Maybin just fucked himself.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
On the other hand, Roy Miller just made a lot more money. 4.97, nice.
HenryJames said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 am
Moreso than Michael Bennett?
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:04 am
I wasn’t expecting Bennett to be fast. He didn’t sack anyone in college. The Wrecking Crew has been reduced to 11 guys wielding a ballpin hammer.
But WTF Do I Know? said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:19 am
- So, you’re telling me Phil Loadholt runs a 5.54? Never would have thunk it.
Well, to get a more accurate game simulation time, they should have Orakpo run the 40 and have Loadholt hanging from his jersey. Then he’d run a 5.1
Parlin Hall said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:42 am
“He’s a human cancer and the kind of player who is just good enough to get your ass fired.”
We need to know where you actually stand on this guy.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Dude, Aaron Curry, 4.56.
dedfischer said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:48 am
I would take Jasper Brinkley over Laurinitis or Maualuga. Or even Jason Phillips.
dick said:
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
“- I thought Derrick Williams from Penn State was the fastest guy on the planet or something coming out of high school.”
it has been scientifically proven that playing in the Big 10 actually makes you slower
Bateshorn said:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Too bad for Derrick William. Science has also proven that while you will be modestly productive at the University of Maryland and play for the most hit or miss football team in college, you will run a jaw dropping time at the combine and make an a$$load of money.
Bateshorn said:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Aaron Curry is going to greatly benefit from the fact that about a dozen teams are kicking the crap out of themselves for passing on Patrick Willis a few years ago.
Bateshorn said:
February 24th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Sorry, Half Dozen.
coach Callahan said:
February 24th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Slauson and Murtha both played on the right side of the line. I’m sorta amazed that Slauson at 316 pounds had a 34 inch vertical and a 9′2 broad jump…that’s some explosive legs.