It occurred to me that BB has one other pretty solid draft tendency. Almost every year he grabs some little-known prospect with great workout numbers -- usually a corner who blazes the 40. The guys who most immediately come to mind are Slater, Ellis Hobbs, Antwan Harris, Terrence Wheatley and Bethel Johnson, all of whom ran sub 4.4 times. Willie Andrews just missed the list. He clearly cares about other measurables -- Deion Branch ran the second-fastest 20-yard shuttle time ever back in 2002, and he drafted other workout warriors like Watson and Chad Jackson -- but you could probably narrow the field a lot in the process of trying to guess this weekend's picks if you just look at the list of fastest 40 times this pre-draft season, and highlighted the lesser-known names.
Who are those guys this year? The list I came up with includes the following:
Michael Ray Garvin, Florida State -- The fastest guy in the draft probably. Runs in the mid-4.2s allegedly. He's also a tiny corner. Returns kicks. A candidate for the Willie Andrews role?
Robert Haynes, Michigan Tech -- That's right, Michigan Tech, not Michigan or Michigan State. This guy supposedly ran under 4.3 at the Grand Valley State pro day. He later went to Michigan State's pro day and ran a 4.36. Another 100-meter champion type, plays corner, and is even over 5'10". Did 26 reps at the MSU pro day, too.
Tiquan Underwood (WR) and Jason McCourty(CB), Rutgers -- Two guys who run under 4.4 and played for BB's buddy Greg Schiano. Can't stand Underwood, though, he falls down when guys breathe on him.
Chris Clemons, Clemson -- Apparently ran a 4.33 at his pro day. Since he's a safety, and we need one, who knows?
Brice McCain, Utah, Vincent Butler, New Mexico St, and Terail Lambert, Notre Dame -- all three are tiny, feisty corners in the Ellis Hobbs mode. Two played for BB buddies: Lambert for Weis, while McCain was recruited by Urban Meyer. All ran sub 4.4s at their pro days.
Eron Riley, Duke, Kevin Ogletree, Virginia, and Lucas Taylor, Tennessee -- All these guys run under 4.4 and are candidates for that "Y" receiver role. Ogletree played for Groh. Another BB tendency is to look at players who might have shown up on tape while the team was scouting someone else on the team. Bethel Johnson was a classic example; you wonder in they would have drafted him if BB wasn't spending so much time watching Ty Warren's A & M games. So in this sense you have to look hard at Ogletree (played with Sintim and Appleby) and Taylor (who played with Ayers).
The rest of the speed guys are better known -- Andre Brown, Cedric Peerman, Mike Wallace, Mike Thomas, Johnny Knox, etc. The one guy I really like is Kenny McKinley. He ran a 4.37 at his pro day. He's South Carolina's all-time receiver. I think he'd do great with the Pats, but then again he's skinnyish and may have trouble getting off the line. Another one is Antone Smith; not only would it add to our collection of weirdly-spelled Antoines (we've already had an Antowain, an Antwan, and an Atwoine), but I really like the guy and think he's underrated.
Anyone else with some speed-demon unknowns?
Who are those guys this year? The list I came up with includes the following:
Michael Ray Garvin, Florida State -- The fastest guy in the draft probably. Runs in the mid-4.2s allegedly. He's also a tiny corner. Returns kicks. A candidate for the Willie Andrews role?
Robert Haynes, Michigan Tech -- That's right, Michigan Tech, not Michigan or Michigan State. This guy supposedly ran under 4.3 at the Grand Valley State pro day. He later went to Michigan State's pro day and ran a 4.36. Another 100-meter champion type, plays corner, and is even over 5'10". Did 26 reps at the MSU pro day, too.
Tiquan Underwood (WR) and Jason McCourty(CB), Rutgers -- Two guys who run under 4.4 and played for BB's buddy Greg Schiano. Can't stand Underwood, though, he falls down when guys breathe on him.
Chris Clemons, Clemson -- Apparently ran a 4.33 at his pro day. Since he's a safety, and we need one, who knows?
Brice McCain, Utah, Vincent Butler, New Mexico St, and Terail Lambert, Notre Dame -- all three are tiny, feisty corners in the Ellis Hobbs mode. Two played for BB buddies: Lambert for Weis, while McCain was recruited by Urban Meyer. All ran sub 4.4s at their pro days.
Eron Riley, Duke, Kevin Ogletree, Virginia, and Lucas Taylor, Tennessee -- All these guys run under 4.4 and are candidates for that "Y" receiver role. Ogletree played for Groh. Another BB tendency is to look at players who might have shown up on tape while the team was scouting someone else on the team. Bethel Johnson was a classic example; you wonder in they would have drafted him if BB wasn't spending so much time watching Ty Warren's A & M games. So in this sense you have to look hard at Ogletree (played with Sintim and Appleby) and Taylor (who played with Ayers).
The rest of the speed guys are better known -- Andre Brown, Cedric Peerman, Mike Wallace, Mike Thomas, Johnny Knox, etc. The one guy I really like is Kenny McKinley. He ran a 4.37 at his pro day. He's South Carolina's all-time receiver. I think he'd do great with the Pats, but then again he's skinnyish and may have trouble getting off the line. Another one is Antone Smith; not only would it add to our collection of weirdly-spelled Antoines (we've already had an Antowain, an Antwan, and an Atwoine), but I really like the guy and think he's underrated.
Anyone else with some speed-demon unknowns?
