Combine Talk: Defensive Backs

[Richter]

Damnit, awful camera work during this drill. Missed most of what Will Moore did.

 

[Richter]

Argh, this is ridiculous. Sean Smith just looked a little awkward flipping his hips out of the backpedal, but it was pretty hard to tell, because the damn camera is focused so that by the point they reach the flip point, all you can see is their upper body. Ridiculous.

 

[Richter]

Very nice turn to the left by Will Moore there.

 

[Nestapats]

I'm starting to dislike every corner available. Maybe we should take a safety first, Delmas really impressed me, and take a corner later on. Is it a slow track or something coz 4.5s for practically every corner doesn't seem very fast.

 

[mayoclinic]

Sean Smith looked pretty good on the backpedal and flipping his hips - DJ Moore and Alphonso Smith both looked awkward.

Have to go pick up the kid - done watching for the day. Can't wait to hear from y'all how the rest of the drills turn out.

 

[bakes781]

I'm starting to dislike every corner available. Maybe we should take a safety first, Delmas really impressed me, and take a corner later on. Is it a slow track or something coz 4.5s for practically every corner doesn't seem very fast.

Yeah seriously! Based on what's been posted the fastest guy was S, Chip Vaughn.

 

[PatsCanDoIt]

I'm starting to dislike every corner available. Maybe we should take a safety first, Delmas really impressed me, and take a corner later on. Is it a slow track or something coz 4.5s for practically every corner doesn't seem very fast.

I'm thinking the surface has become slower as more players have run. The receivers were a little slow given the surface to begin with. Then the backs were about five or six hundreths slower. Yesterday, Guys were a full tenth off from what was expected. Such as Maualuga running 4.83. Then today everyone runs way slower than expected. The guys today who ran around a 4.50 I consider to be at or under 4.40 for practical purposes.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Did anyone see how Sean Smith and Vaughn performed in drills?

 

[Richter]

Did anyone see how Sean Smith and Vaughn performed in drills?

Smith looks relatively smooth, stumbled once, tends to stay pretty high, higher than you'd like in his backpedal especially. Looked good going up and getting balls at their highest point. A little hit or miss, more hits though than misses. I still think he's a safety that can play some corner for a team, kind of like how Meriweather has been used at times.

 

[upstater1]

I'll say this again: the 40 event is a joke. First off, no football player since Renaldo Nehemiah has ever run ANYTHING in the 4.3 range. The Combine has always been hand-timed until this year. Except, even this year it's hand-timed at the start. only the finish is electronic.

So, yeah, there may be a slower surface because it's the Lucas Oil Dome. But, that doesn't explain the flying times from several wide receivers. The fact that several wide receivers had those times tells me that they had a hand-timing human who was .01 too late on the trigger.

I looked at last year's combine numbers for running backs and compared them to the numbers of every combine (including this year's) since 2004. Apparently, the fastest guys from the last 7 combines all happened to come out in the same year (2008) because that cluster of numbers was higher than anything run before or after.

Coincidence?

 

[WhiZa]

I'm a Vontae Davis fan now. I don't think he makes it to 23 though.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Smith looks relatively smooth, stumbled once, tends to stay pretty high, higher than you'd like in his backpedal especially. Looked good going up and getting balls at their highest point. A little hit or miss, more hits though than misses. I still think he's a safety that can play some corner for a team, kind of like how Meriweather has been used at times.

A 6'4 version of Meriweather is not that bad. I remember a lot of fans here coveted Meriweather. I had questions about his character but he turned out ok for us.

 

[Richter]

I'll say this again: the 40 event is a joke. First off, no football player since Renaldo Nehemiah has ever run ANYTHING in the 4.3 range. The Combine has always been hand-timed until this year. Except, even this year it's hand-timed at the start. only the finish is electronic.

So, yeah, there may be a slower surface because it's the Lucas Oil Dome. But, that doesn't explain the flying times from several wide receivers. The fact that several wide receivers had those times tells me that they had a hand-timing human who was .01 too late on the trigger.

I looked at last year's combine numbers for running backs and compared them to the numbers of every combine (including this year's) since 2004. Apparently, the fastest guys from the last 7 combines all happened to come out in the same year (2008) because that cluster of numbers was higher than anything run before or after.

Coincidence?

I really wish they'd switch to something like a high speed camera where they could count frames to figure out how fast a guy ran. The timing seemed all over the place this year.

 

[DaBruinz]

I really wish they'd switch to something like a high speed camera where they could count frames to figure out how fast a guy ran. The timing seemed all over the place this year.

There is no reason they couldn't use the same timing that the Olympics use for the 100 m dash.

Hell. They could even go strictly electronic, placing sensors on either hip pf the player. When the sensors cross the start line to when the sensor cross the finish line. And that's the 40.

 

[patchick]

6.67 3-cone for Delmas...:yeeha:

 

[sg14]

Stephen Hodge = Rodney Jr. u4.49 wow!

Double Wow, on Speed and the Rodney Jr comparison,,

Even someone like me noticed all the plays he made against Boise St

Did he just make a modicum amount of money today, moving up a round or two??

 

[Seneschal2]

I'll say this again: the 40 event is a joke.

Yes it is. I've seen dozens of these prospects from game tapes, and this event doesn't accurately depict how football fast some truly are.

And just a few more observations from reading this thread:

No real surprises from the CB or Safety groups. Some were known to be athletic going in, some were known to be slow, some are fast enough. I will say the verticals for both groups are impressive.

For me at least, what's most fulfilling is to see some Pats prospects, all highly productive in their careers, exhibit enough athleticism which proves they can now play their respective positions on the next level.

My current rankings still subject to change:

CB
Alphonso Smith - R1
Darius Butler - R2
Joe Burnett - Day Two

SAFETY
Patrick Chung - R2
Louis Delmas - Late First
Rashad Johnson - Day Two

Thanks for everyone's participation in this thread.

 

[captain stone]

Anyway...hard to know what to think about DB bench reps, given that Meriweather put up a whopping 11.

What I think is that Stomper's a weakling, exc. when kicking someone who's already on the ground.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Double Wow, on Speed and the Rodney Jr comparison,,

Even someone like me noticed all the plays he made against Boise St

Did he just make a modicum amount of money today, moving up a round or two??

He's been inching into the late rounds since the All-Star games as various rankings have been readjusted by film study. I'd expect teams looking at him as a Safety won't adjust their board by much, but teams considering him as an OLB will probably bump him up another round.

 

[DW Toys]

I have to say, DHB's 4.30 looks pretty amazing after watching the CBs. I think this is a fairly slow track, too.

Mayo, They mentioned that today. Coaches stop watches definitely faster. Why? Look at the RBs. Terrible! Something seems wrong.
DW Toys