dryheat44
Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2004
- Messages
- 6,351
- Reaction score
- 78
RBs....With all respect to McFadden and Mendenhall, who did nothing to jeopardize their status, I think Jonathan Stewart did even better than expected in showing his agility. He's proven that he's a back that doesn't have to come off the field on third downs. Matt Forte may have moved himself into the first day, running about .15 lower than expected while putting up one of the better vertical leaps among his group. Kevin Smith also ran much better than anticipated, which was one of the main knocks against him.
WRs....I think Andre Caldwell was the big winner. His 40 was only a couple of hundreths behind the leader, and he put up the best short shuttle and 3-cone numbers of those who ran them. Eddie Royal also impressed me. I had him as a 5-6 guy, but he put up great numbers in all drills and showed some nice adjustment in the receiving drills. He could be a third-round guy now. Devin Thomas moved himself into the top cluster of WRs with a good showing.
TEs...Brad Cottam's been one of my guys, with his size and athleticism. But he was able to break 4.7 and showed nice explosion, putting up a 33 inch vertical at 270. Dustin Keller helped himself in the Scouts' eyes by doing every single one of the drills. He helped himself more by outperforming most WRs and RBs in doing so. He looks to be as athletic as Ben Watson, with perhaps a little less straight-line speed. I think both of these guys (and a few others) should go ahead of Fred Davis.
OL....Carl Nicks was the big winner. Typically the Patriots aren't interested in linemen that big, but teams are drooling over a 341-lb man with the speed and agility of Nicks. Jeremy Zuttah looked to be bigger and more muscular, and he ran about a quarter-second faster than expected. 35 reps on the bench didn't hurt him. Mike Pollack cemented his reputation as the most athletic center in the draft, continuing his ascension that started at the all-star games.
DL....Trevor Laws has also been on the upswing since the season ended. He opened some eyes with impressive performances in the 40, bench, and vertical, and just gave the impression of all-out hustle. He looked like he understood how important this was to him. Vernon Gholston looked like a man among boys at times. I won't re-hash the numbers, but he definitely should be in the top 8 picks taken. Quentin Groves looks to have leapt past Derrick Harvey to be the consensus third outside rusher taken after Long and Gholston. He's probably in the top half of the round.
WRs....I think Andre Caldwell was the big winner. His 40 was only a couple of hundreths behind the leader, and he put up the best short shuttle and 3-cone numbers of those who ran them. Eddie Royal also impressed me. I had him as a 5-6 guy, but he put up great numbers in all drills and showed some nice adjustment in the receiving drills. He could be a third-round guy now. Devin Thomas moved himself into the top cluster of WRs with a good showing.
TEs...Brad Cottam's been one of my guys, with his size and athleticism. But he was able to break 4.7 and showed nice explosion, putting up a 33 inch vertical at 270. Dustin Keller helped himself in the Scouts' eyes by doing every single one of the drills. He helped himself more by outperforming most WRs and RBs in doing so. He looks to be as athletic as Ben Watson, with perhaps a little less straight-line speed. I think both of these guys (and a few others) should go ahead of Fred Davis.
OL....Carl Nicks was the big winner. Typically the Patriots aren't interested in linemen that big, but teams are drooling over a 341-lb man with the speed and agility of Nicks. Jeremy Zuttah looked to be bigger and more muscular, and he ran about a quarter-second faster than expected. 35 reps on the bench didn't hurt him. Mike Pollack cemented his reputation as the most athletic center in the draft, continuing his ascension that started at the all-star games.
DL....Trevor Laws has also been on the upswing since the season ended. He opened some eyes with impressive performances in the 40, bench, and vertical, and just gave the impression of all-out hustle. He looked like he understood how important this was to him. Vernon Gholston looked like a man among boys at times. I won't re-hash the numbers, but he definitely should be in the top 8 picks taken. Quentin Groves looks to have leapt past Derrick Harvey to be the consensus third outside rusher taken after Long and Gholston. He's probably in the top half of the round.
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