Final Combine Roundup and Top Performers

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Final Combine Roundup and Top Performers

Filed on February 24th, 2009 in Featured, NCAA Football, NFL ⋅ ⋅

The rest of the players have taken the field in some form now, and we are starting to form a picture of who the top performers are at the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine.

On the offensive side of the ball, we told you that the biggest stories were injuries and disappearances. Michael Crabtree showed up with a broken foot and missing two inches of height, Andre Smith showed up and left, and Brian Mandeville showed up and had all of his hopes and dreams crushed when they told him he couldn’t play football ever again. Sadly, those were the top stories on the offensive side of the field.

On the field, Mark Sanchez surprised a lot of folks by working out and throwing, Pat White surprised a lot of folks by throwing so damn well (he’s quite fast, too), and the wide receivers may have stolen the show (ESPN Insider required for link). Jeremy Maclin and Percy Harvin were good (not great), but the not-so-big names flashed some wicked speed. Johnny Knox, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Mike Wallace were all impressive on their feet and have put the pressure on the DBs to show similar speed.

sanchezstafford One of the biggest stories coming out of this combine is that the entire top-end of the draft, the marquee players, are all showing some kind of disappointment. Between Smith’s disappearing act and Crabtree’s shrinking act, there were already enough “uh-oh’s” from the projected top-ten picks. Then Sanchez and Matthew Stafford, the projected top two quarterbacks in the draft, both measured in at under 6′3″. That’s not good.

I’ve long been a believer in the theory that the worst thing you can do on draft day is take a quarterback high in the first round, and I think this year’s crew is going to reaffirm that theory. Next year will too, when Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow all turn out to be busts. The risk just isn’t worth the investment.

Well, after the weekend of not-so-stellar offensive combining, the defense took the field. One thing that immediately stood out — Aaron Curry is the real deal. Freak on the field, Workout Warrior. combinevert That is what makes someone a high draft pick. The linebacker out of Wake Forest was the fastest linebacker at the combine, and was outstanding in all of his other drills. He came in as the guy to beat, and probably solidified his high draft pick status. He may be the best football player in the draft, but is the NFL ready for a linebacker to be the first guy taken?

The defensive backs were the last ones to hit the field, wrapping things up at the combine on Tuesday. All eyes were on Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins, the perceived top pick at corner in the draft. But, like most of the other players not named Aaron Curry, he probably hurt himself more than he helped himself. His 40 times were in the 4.5-range (very average) and he was anything but spectacular in his on-field drills.

The most impressive defensive back at the combine may have been Jenkins’ former teammate at Ohio State, Donald Washington, who gave the best overall performances in both the vertical jump and the standing broad jump. But he too struggled with the 40. While some thought that his amazing leaping ability would translate to a sub-4.4 40, he landed in the 4.5-range as well.

There will likely be a lot of spin and debate about all of the performances, but the bottom line is that each team is looking for something different. Some teams want pure speed at corner or receiver, and others value hands. Since there is no “hands drill” that objectively measures the skill, us non-scouts can only take so much out of the combine.

combine40 Really, the combine has just become like any other job interview, where the most important thing is to show up, be prepared and make a good impression. If you do that, your proven football skill will determine where you get drafted. The majority of players don’t really hurt or help their status a whole lot at the combine, but some do (see: Smith, Andre).

As it was last year, top-notch performance by the NFL Network. Rich Eisen and friends cover the combine as well as one could want the combine covered. In fact, their coverage is so good that several NFL coaches have hinted at not showing up in person next year, since the television coverage is so good that you can get most of your information from home. Eisen also just missed out on making the top performers list with his 6.35 40-yard dash. But he did score a 35 on the Wonderlic, which was better than everyone at the combine in 2008.

Here’s your top performers from the 2009 Combine: