Ochmed Jones

I think almost all the CB's, not named V. Davis, are fallers. This has to be the slowest group of CB's ever. I remain shocked over how slow they ran (as a group I mean.)

Last year I took Lowery off my board after he ran a 4.6 even though he had the best ball skills I had seen in college in quite some time, and he went on to start for the Jets for a good part of the 2008 season, so maybe there is some measure of hope for slow CB's with superior ball skills.

mayoclinic

Agree with the Akins and Mandeville sliders. Here's a few more to add to my earlier "short" list:

Risers

- Mike Wallace, WR: Another speed demon WR with a 4.33 40, 40" vertical and 10'9" long jump. Very deep WR class.

- Jarrett Dillard, WR: Posted a 42.5" vertical and a 10'9" verticle as well as a respectable 4.53, to go with his outstanding Shrine Game performance. Looks like a 3rd round pick now.

- Jared Cook, TE: One of the athletic freaks of the combine. 4.50 40, 41" vertical. May have passed Brandon Pettigrew as the #1 TE on some boards.

- Jamon Meredith, OT/G: Had a solid combine, and may have moved into 2nd round territory. Very versatile.

- Lydon Murtha, OT: One of the workout warriors of the combine, putting up a 4.89 40, a 7.06 3-cone, and a 35" vertical. Moved up several rounds.

- Alex Boone, OT: Had a solid combine, and may have stopped his free-fall.

- Eric Wood, OG/C: Interviewed well, and had a solid performance. Solidified himself as a solid 2nd round pick.

- AQ Shipley, OG/C: Solid performance during a week in which no OG/C separated himself from the pack.

- Brian Orapko, DE: At 263#, ran the 40 in 4.70 (faster than Everett Brown, and just behind Connor Barwin) and put up a 39.5 vertical. Looks like a solid top-10 pick.

- Lawrence Sidbury, DE: Had the fastest 40 of all DEs.

- Terrance Taylor, DT: Showed more athleticism than expected and put up 37 reps on the bench press.

- Myron Prior, DT: Ran a 5.05 40 at 319#, and showed good athleticism.

- Sammie Lee Hill, DT: Ran a 5.11 40 at 329# and showed good athleticism. With the lack of potential NTs and the teams moving to the 3-4, he may be a 3rd-4th round pick.

- Ziggy Hood, DT/DE: Ran a 4.89 40 at 300#, put up 34 reps on the bench press, and looked good in drills. Top 50 guy.

Fallers

- Brandon Ore, RB: Worked himself into UDFA territory.

- Maurice Evans, DE: The Maurice Clarrett award winner in my book. Showed up totally out of shape, ran a 4.97 and 5.03 40. May go undrafted. Was once considered a first round prospect.

- Paul Kruger, DE. Failed to show the speed or explosiveness expected, and lost ground to other DE prospects. Didn't show the agility needed to play 3-4 OLB. A late 2nd/early 3rd guy.

- Tim Jamison, DE: Ran a 5.03 40.

- Matt Shaughnessy, DE: Ran a 4.88 40. No more talk of conversion to 3-4 OLB. 3rd-4th round prospect.

- Ron Brace, DT: Ran a 5.5 40 and didn't show much explosiveness. Probably won't fall much though because of the lack of potential NTs.

- Vance Walker, DT: Ran a 5.35 40 at 305#. Out of shape.

Question Marks

- Matt Stafford, QB: Interviewed well, but didn't work out. Will have to wait till his pro day.

- Mark Sanchez, QB: Not particularly impressive throwing, but didn't do anything awful. Reportedly with a good interview.

- Chris Wells, RB: Slower than expected 40, but all RBs ran slow.

- Knowshon Moreno, RB: See Chris Wells. Wells and Moreno won't be drafted based on their combine results, but probably didn't slide a lot.

- Eugene Monroe, OT: 23 reps somewhat disappointed. Overshadowed by Jason Smith. But still one of the top 2 OTs.

- Michael Oher, OT: Didn't display particular athleticism, 21 reps disappointing. But probably holding steady, particularly in comparison to Andre Smith's meltdown.

- Eben Britton, OT: Overshadowed by William Beatty, but did ok as far as I can tell.

- Alex Mack, OG/C: Didn't work out as far as I can tell, and lost a chance to separate himself from the pack.

- Jarron Gilbert, DE: I have seen him listed as both a riser and a faller on different reviews. Ran a 4.87, quite good for 288#. He obviously has tremendous physical ability, but he apparently didn't show the incredible explosiveness that some thought he would after watching his youtube pool video. Speaking of clogging the passing lanes, I see he has 37" arms to go with his 6'5" frame. Impressive. I hope he lasts to 58.

- Robert Ayers, DE: Didn't hear much about him, after his Senior Bowl hype. He ran a 4.80 40, which seems a bit on the slow side. Probably slipped a little.

- Larry English, DE/LB: Apparently was mis-listed as 272# instead of 254#, but ran a 4.80 40. Will likely have slipped a bit, but not a fast faller like some.

- BJ Raji, DT: Raji seemed a bit heavy at 337#, but still put up a 5.13 40 and showed pretty good agility for a big man. I don't think he's "rising" any more than he did at the Senior Bowl, but I don't think his stock slipped much, if at all.


All right, I think I'm out of gas.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." Albert Einstein

dryheat44

I wonder if Team Belichick didn't foresee this last year, leading to our drafting two in the first four rounds.

__________________
There isn’t too much I need. It doesn’t take much to please me. As long as my wife and kids are healthy with a shelter over their heads and food on the table, I’m happy.
-- Ty Warren, on his plans for celebrating his contract extension.

When it's fourth and 10, you can have the milk drinkers. I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time. -- R.I.P. Max McGee


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Box_O_Rocks

__________________
"Vampire penguins? Zombie guinea pigs? We're done for.... done for."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


J-E-T-S Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Box_O_Rocks

__________________
"Vampire penguins? Zombie guinea pigs? We're done for.... done for."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


J-E-T-S Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Box_O_Rocks

__________________
"Vampire penguins? Zombie guinea pigs? We're done for.... done for."
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


J-E-T-S Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

bucky

Just goes to show you that 40 times are overrated unless they're really really fast (like Deion Sanders), or really really slow.

On that note, I'm shocked with the rise of Heyward-Bay. Yeah, so he ran a 4.3. How many times does a team have to draft Troy Williamson, Bethel Johnson, Brad Jones, or Tyrone Calico before they figure out that fast 40 does not equal good WR.

My2Cents

Great thread. Thank you.

My top uppers, off the top of my head, have to include:

1. QB Pat White, WVU
Certainly one of the draft's most exciting players. Written off as too small to play QB, but all he does is prove doubters wrong and impress at every turn.
White shoots from a mid-to-late round project to a legitimate 2nd round
QB prospect, with the Lions, Rams, Jets, Vikings, 49ers, all possibilities.
Hell, he's getting serious play as a 1st round possibility to the Broncos!

2a. WR Kenny McKinley, SC
With all due respects to Kevin Ogletree (Virginia), if there is a Eddie Royal in this class, this is probably it! McKinley played in the shadows of Sydney Rice and battled injuries throughout his career. Then he exploded to break all kinds of records. Very much under the radar, even still. I'm moving him from the mid-round grade that others gave him to a very realistic 2nd round.

2b. CB Joe Burnett, UCF
My favorite player in this draft. He got snubbed by the Senior Bowl for having only mid-round speed. Then he shows up at the Combine and more than holds his own with the best DB's in the nation. Better than Asante Samuel.
Mike Mayock now calls him a day 2 steal. But I still call him a day 1 steal.

3. FS David Bruton, Notre Dame
Was given a mid round grade by most. But then he blew up the Combine by finishing in the top five in almost every statistical category. Bruton is clearly this year's "Tyrell" Johnson (Ark St). He's also a leader and a fan favorite.

4. DE/LB David Veikune, Hawaii
Another player that graded out as a day 2 player, until people got a better look. He's a beast, with a non-stop motor. You would be hard pressed to find anybody that doesn't like him, or who fails to see him as a 2nd round pick.

5. Center A.Q. Shipley, PSU
I spent a lot of time watching linemen drills. Murtha is fast but sucked in other drills. Vasquez is strong but lacks athleticism. Meredith is a mover but how high is uncertain. The one guy that most impressed was Shipley. I think he moved from a day 2 afterthought to a potential Pro Bowl day 2 selection.

Top downers, off of the top of my head, include:

1. A 4-way tie: OSU's CB Malcolm Jenkins, MLB James Laurinaitis, RB Chris “Beanie” Wells and OT Alex Boone.
All 3 were in prime position to be the 5th pick overall. All 3 failed miserably to deliver. Bill Belichick hit the nail on the head early on about how teams will be unable to determine if Jenkins is a Safety or a CB. Laurinaitis skips the Senior Bowl, then fails to impress at the Combine. Wells couldn't live up to all the crazy hype about his superior speed. He rebounded slightlly at his team's Pro Day, but not enough. Their best days may be behind them, I'm afraid to say.
As for Boone, he doesn't pass the stupid test. He'll now likely go undrafted.

2. RB Shonn Greene, Iowa
I hated to see this because I so love his physicality and vision. But the reality is that he did nothing to dispell the rumors about his laziness and lack of work ethic, even knowing it was in question. I still see a Corey Dillon type career for him, and there are few nicer persons in this draft. But now, a 3rd.

3. Too many to mention.

My2Cents

Great point! That's what I keep saying! But up against the media machine(s) and their followers, who will listen?

My2Cents

Great point! That's what I keep saying! But up against the media machine(s) and their followers, who will listen?