As the weekend comes to a close, so does the offensive portion of the NFL Scouting Combine’s skill testing. Summary: Pat White is fast, Michael Crabtree is short, Andre Smith is missing, and Brian Mandeville suffered a career-ending diagnosis of his heart. Want the longer version?

Unfortunately, the biggest stories of the weekend at the combine came from off the field. The news that Michael Crabtree is actually only 6′1″, rather than the 6′3″ he was listed at did not go over well. Coupled with the discovery of a stress fracture in his left foot, this combine could not have gone much worse for him. He will instead run the 40-yard dash in March, then have surgery to put a screw in his injured foot.

Also off the field, Alabama tackle Andre Smith went AWOL. At one point, Smith was considered the top player in the entire draft, but his suspension from the team’s bowl game, as well as his decision to not work out at the combine because he was “not in shape,” and then his subsequent decision to hop a plane to Atlanta in the middle of the combine has left him looking at being a mid-first round pick instead of first overall. He’ll still be employed in the NFL next year, but his wallet just got a whole lot thinner.

As for Brian Mandeville, a tight end out of Northeastern, he was informed by doctors at the combine that he has a heart condition, and he was advised to retire from the game before he even worked out. He’ll get some further tests done, but I can’t imagine anyone drafting him at this point.

On the field, there have been some good performances, but no Mamulas yet. Pat White busted off a 4.55 40, the fastest of all the quarterbacks, and more importantly, he backed it up with a solid day throwing the ball in drills.

Percy Harvin out of Florida was impressive as well, running a solid 4.41 40, and throwing up 19 reps on the bench press, good enough for seventh and fifth best of the receivers, respectively.

The anticipated quarterback showdown between Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford did not materialize as Stafford chose not to throw at the combine. Sanchez said he had to throw, on a count of his competitive nature and what not. Sanchez’s workout was considered solid, but not spectacular by those grading him.

Generally speaking, there isn’t too much the layman can read into combine numbers. We can all compare raw data, but it’s the overall picture that only those on the inside have access to that allows teams and scouts to make their final decisions.

More on the combine as the defensive players hit the field.

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