2008 NFL Combine: OL / TE

2008 NFL Scouting Combine on NFL Network

All right, let's look alive, Rams coaching staff! Here come the offensive linemen!

Jake Long: Jake set the early tone with 37 bench presses, best of the group, and his 5.17 40 is among the fastest. He hasn't hurt himself today and has likely cemented a top 5 pick. That having been said, to my recollection, this year's group on the whole isn't as good as past classes. There was no 40-rep lifter, and even the 5.1 mark in the 40 is rarely threatened. In fact, I've already seen two guys fall down running the 40. You're running in a straight line, and you don't even have to chew gum at the same time - how can you fall down? Then again, Bill Polian called this "universally" the fastest group of o-linemen at the Combine in a long time. He should know, but I thought the fastest times would be faster if that was the case.

Ryan Clady: Strained pectoral muscle during the bench press ended his Combine early, a major disappointment for us at home, as he's expected to be Jake Long's main competition at #1 OT.

Chris Williams: The Vanderbilt tackle put up one of the faster 40 times at 5.07, but I thought he was dreadful at LT in the Senior Bowl, getting eaten up repeatedly by his opponent, letting his opponent play him, and his lightweight 21 reps in the bench press is a mark that'll get beaten by some QBs. I'd have little interest in drafting him.

Gosder Cherilus: One of the group 1 OLs we didn't get to see much on TV, other than a replay of him screwing up his 10-yard shuttle run. All the same, I would much rather take him in the second round than Williams (assuming either is available, of course). At RT in the Senior Bowl, he was the strongest run-blocking tackle on the field, and I didn't see him get beat in pass protection. He won the point of attack almost all the time, and showed he can redirect a DE who's putting on a strong rush. The more I reflect on it, the less chance I believe Cherilus will be available at pick #33. He looks like a first-rounder all the way.

Jeff Otah: The NFL-N crew is right when they say the Combine won't help Jeff Otah out. His 40 time will be one of the slowest this weekend, and at times his footwork looked clumsy. I'll be swallowing hard if he's the top lineman on the board when the Rams pick, because I haven't seen anything to demonstrate why he's a well-regarded line prospect. He plays much too tall and seems to have the slowest reaction to change of direction of anyone there.

Carl Nicks: looked like a mauler at Senior Bowl workouts and played a decent LT during the game. Ran the 40 in the 5.2's and was one of the top lifters. NFL-N analysts project him to be a guard.

Heath Benedict: I wasn't impressed with his Senior Bowl workouts, but he had a nice game, and one of the fastest 40s at 5.08. Looks like a solid middle-round prospect.

Oniel Cousins: I think Cousins is a sleeper. He looks like he can play guard or tackle and is a better athlete than he looks like at first blush. Ran a 5.13.

Jeremy Zuttah: The Rutgers RT threw up 40s of 4.99 and 5.03, and was 2nd-best in the bench press. Looks like he could be this year's "workout wonder".

John Sullivan: I'd like to learn more about the Notre Dame center. It's a position the Rams need to address. He has good footwork and good technique and is a nasty player. He's also a wrestler, so you have to believe he knows how to play with leverage.

Let's go, RamView! HUP! HUP!
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Tight ends? Bah, I almost don't care about the TEs this year. Unless there's a way to figure out if one of these players projects to a stud blocking TE from today's activities, the Rams coaches should go back to the hotel early and go back over o-lineman tapes.

Dustin Keller of Purdue plays like a WR. He has WR speed (4.53) and WR hands. He doesn't block, but he should be a very nice TE for some team. Just not the Rams. He benched well (26), and most importantly, catches the ball very cleanly. Also the best vertical jumper there despite being the shortest (still 6'2", though) TE there.

John Carlson of Notre Dame is Mayock's #1 TE, but with those 4.9 40s, he'd better be a good blocker. Caught the ball well in the gauntlet drill.

Kellen Davis of Michigan State may be making a move to the top of the TE board. He's rocking 4.6's out there and showed good hands. Not only that, he also played DE for the Spartans last year, so maybe the Rams should be interested.

Fred Davis of USC, on the other hand, skipped the 40 and had some problems in the receiving drills. He probably should have skipped the workout entirely.

Craig Stevens of Cal was called the best blocker of this year's TEs by Mayock, and his 40 comes in at just over 4.6. He also led TEs in bench presses with 27. Might be worth it to keep an eye on when he's projected to be drafted.

Brad Cottam of Tennessee had a very good workout, with 24 benches and a good 40 time, but the red flag on him is he played only two games last year.

Sleeper of the group: Gary Barnidge. As fast as Stevens with a respectable 22 bench presses. Far enough under the radar that NFL-N didn't bother to show either of his gauntlet runs.

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NFL Network: Don't get me wrong; I appreciate that the network broadcasts the Combine every year, but why do we NEVER get to see all of the offensive linemen? Just like always, we only get to see half of them because the other half work out before the broadcast starts! Come on, I KNOW Mike Mayock is up early enough - why can't we get the full morning workout, live or otherwise? Coverage of the change of direction drill was awful! Instead of putting the players' names on the screen, they ran a completely unrelated graphic, easily misleading viewers on who was actually running the drill! They got over to the best drill, the "mirror drill", late, and just about completely skipped the blocking drills for the TEs. Then they came back late from commercials and we missed the beginning of the TE gauntlet drill, which was also interrupted for a Jamie Dukes interview of Chris Williams. There's so much more going on that we didn't get to see or to learn, it's a little disappointing.

Did I actually hear Mayock call a 6-foot, 7-inch man "Tattoo" because he has shorter-than-desired arms? There's what I dislike about draft coverage in general. Ooo, don't draft that guy! His fingers are an eighth-inch shorter than they're supposed to be!

Wait a minute, the New York Giants' #1 need in this year's draft is... long snapper? San Diego's, too? I can hardly wait to go over to their boards and check out the "Guys, we need a long snapper!" threads.

Gimme one more, RamView. Come on, RamView, HUP!
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After the first day, I'm leaning toward the Rams' best move being to draft Jake Long if Miami drafts Chris Long. Jake's not Joe Thomas, but his discipline is mentioned so much in evaluations, then you look at Mr. False Start, Alex Barron, on the Rams' line, and you have to ask: won't Jake surpass Alex at RT pretty quickly? Add a good solid center like Sullivan in perhaps the third round, and maybe the Rams can turn it around quickly in 2008 like the Browns did in 2007.

Keller made the biggest upward move of anybody, but if the Rams do anything draftwise at TE, I'd rather go after Stevens or Barnidge if either is available in the middle rounds.

Awwright, shoot this thing. Glamor positions tomorrow, with the Rams focusing on WR if they're doing their jobs.