2008 NFL Combine: QB / RB / WR

NFL Combine day 2: QBs, RBs, WRs

Let's hope the Rams' coaching staff has their stopwatch fingers limbered up. They may have to hit twice at the WR position in the upcoming draft.

Great news for him, bad news for the Rams: James Hardy (Indiana) should be a first-round pick after his performance today. He ran a 4.47 and caught the ball very well. Can't see how a receiver of his 6'6" size and sparkling speed will last till pick #33. Pounce if he does, Rams.

Same for Limas Sweed (Texas), who came in at 4.46. He didn't catch, though, still recovering from a wrist injury from earlier this season. That's better than Malcolm Kelly (Oklahoma), who didn't run or catch. Not sure why Kelly skipped out, but it can't help him.

Some of the good performers of Senior Bowl week did not hurt their cause at all. Dexter Jackson of Appalachian State led the WRs with a 4.27. He ran the 40 faster than I typed that sentence. He must have cemented a spot in the first two rounds. Donnie Avery of Houston got in at 4.4, but I doubt he is going to escape his reputation as just a guy with straight-ahead speed.

Andre (Bubba) Caldwell helped himself a ton with a 4.31 40. Add that to solid Senior Bowl week performances, and that he's the leading receiver in Florida Gator history, and you've got a guy who ought to be picked at least by the time the Rams' third pick comes along.

Others from the Senior Bowl may not have helped themselves. Looked like Jordy Nelson (K-State) caught well, but he couldn't break 4.5. That's not a great time for a small receiver / kick returner type. Lavell Hawkins was very solid Senior Bowl week but only turned in a 4.56. Adarius Bowman (Oklahoma State) barely cracked 4.7 and didn't relieve the hands-of-stone concern that crushed his prospects Senior Bowl week.

The WR hurt most this weekend has to be Mario Manningham of Michigan, who ought to just rename their team the Slow-verines. At 6'0", he's not particularly tall, and barely cracking 4.6, he's not particularly fast for an NFL WR. He was probably regarded the #1 WR before this weekend, but has to do a lot of work to recover that ranking, which I'd give to Hardy now.

Will Franklin of Mizzou was stunningly fast, 4.32, and at his height, he's earned the opportunity for a lot closer inspection than he's been getting.

Eddie Royal of Virginia Tech sounded like such a favorite of the NFL Network crew that I thought some skepticism was in order, but he won me over with his pass-catching and solid 40 times in the 4.4's.

LSU's Early Doucet got good reviews from the NFL-N crew, but I don't remember seeing him on TV. That puts the Rams in a bad spot because he's certainly under consideration for the 2nd-round pick.

No, I'm not forgetting DeSean Jackson of Cal, who smoked a 4.31. At 5'9", 169 pounds, though, a team clearly is only going to draft him if they're in search of a Devin Hester-type special teams weapon. Jackson didn't produce anything like an elite receiver in 2007 except for a couple of games. His combine time and production in 2006 probably have him ranked as a 2nd-round prospect. But the Rams cannot afford to use a 2nd or 3rd-round pick on a player who very well could turn out to be Shaun McDonald. Except smaller. Shame on the California football program, btw, for listing Jackson at 6 feet tall. No pro team should ever trust numbers the Cal staff provides on their players when they make exaggerations that ridiculous.

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QB
Andre Woodson (hamstring) didn't work out. His stock is dropping like Citibank's.

Matt Ryan ran, but didn't throw, apparently aiming to piss off Rams fans trying to figure out if Miami should take him at #1 or not, which I guess pisses off Dolphins fans, too. Thanks for nothing, Matt.

Joe Flacco ran and threw well, though the NFL-N crew refused to criticize that he overthrew short sideline routes badly. Love his deep ball and mobility, though; he's probably drawing more than a comparison or two to Ben Roethlisberger right now.

I'm not sure which numbers about Josh Johnson (San Diego) were more eye-popping: the 4.44 in the 40, or that he threw 43 TDs vs. ONE interception in college. He threw very accurately, though his receivers consistently had to slow up for his deep ball. In any event, he's made a big move upward with his combine performance.

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Man, was there some great speed at RB. Unfortunately, about all we got to see these guys do was run the 40. Darren McFadden made his case for a top 5 pick with a 4.33, originally clocked at 4.27. He rocked the combine like Adrian Peterson did last year, but will that be enough to paper over questions about his character?

Chris Johnson of East Carolina was expected to be the fastest RB there, and made good on that with a 4.29.

Some very productive college RBs put up serious 40 times. Ray Rice of Rutgers turned in a 4.44. So did Steve Slaton of West Virginia, though I'm not sure why anyone is talking about converting him to WR. Jonathan Stewart of Oregon also turned in a 4.44, while Kevin Smith of UCF put some credibility behind the record-setting numbers he ran up against soft competition with a 4.43. Felix Jones, McFadden's backup at Arkansas, also turned in a 4.44. This has got to be one of the best running back classes in years.

Anthony Alridge of Houston averaged 10 yards a rush in '07 and ran a 4.36.

I like Mike Hart of Michigan a lot, but the Slowverine RB is going to have to be drafted for reasons other than his speed. He came in at 4.67. Here's something in Hart and Manningham's favor, though: didn't Florida crush Ohio State in the '07 national championship game because of their superior speed? Who beat Florida in a bowl game this year, on their turf in Orlando? Michigan. Sometimes you need to believe what you see on the field.

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NFL Network: Coverage was once again more notable for what it left out than anything else. They focused too much on talking about players who weren't working out instead of showing the ones who were. We didn't get to see the first group of receivers run the 40, a GROSS omission. They barely showed the QBs throwing. We have to take Mike Mayock's word when he said Colt Brennan threw well - we barely got to see him! And when the RBs FINALLY started running 40s, they immediately cut to commercials and SKIPPED the first three! W? T? F?!? I'd be more grateful that NFL-N broadcasts the combine in the first place if they actually showed what was happening. How about it, guys?

Was Adam Schefter actually scolding one of the safety prospects for clowning around based on one brief shot in one of the waiting rooms? WHO WAS CLOWNING AROUND ON THE FIELD YESTERDAY, CATCHING PASSES FROM STEVE MARIUCCI, YOU SELF-IMPORTANT DINK?

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Unfortunately, NFL Network's crappy coverage was the big story of the day, making all three positions really tough to evaluate from the Couch. Hardy looked like the star of the day at WR to me, Sweed to a lesser extent. I doubt the Rams will get a shot at drafting either, though. DeSean Jackson had a great day just by putting up that super 40 time. Mid-range prospects like Dexter Jackson, Caldwell and Royal boosted their stock, and Will Franklin pretty much broke down the door with his 4.32.

McFadden probably had the biggest day of anybody. His Adrian Peterson-like workout was just what he needed to crowd his character questions aside. He'll go third or fourth overall if he can stay out of bar fights for a couple of months. Flacco had the best day at QB, and I wouldn't be surprised if he has worked his way into the first round.

There was so much talent in the stadium today, I need to know a lot more about the individual players to find out what separates one from another, and I feel we just didn't get that from NFL Network today. Hopefully they will do a much better job with tomorrow's workout, a crucial one for Rams Nation, as it involves defensive linemen (and LBs). Chris Long needs to match the performances Jake Long and McFadden have already put out there, and a lot of questions need to be answered about Glenn Dorsey, a task I hope NFL Network is up to whether or not he works out.

Since the defensive workouts come during the work week, I won't have reviews of them out right away, but I'll endeavor to have them out sometime this week.