Sunday, February 26, 2012

2012 NFL Combine, day 2 (QB/WR/RB)


At 26.2 miles of running, a marathon is one of man's toughest physical accomplishments, to the point that people who can run half of one are so proud of it they'll stick one of those "13.1" stickers on the back of their vehicle. So where's the sticker for somebody who watches 7-plus hours of NFL Combine footage on a Sunday? Talk about your grueling marathons. Here's the highlights:

* Quarterback. The Rams aren't looking for a quarterback in this year's draft, not high, at least, but this may have been the most important position at the Combine for them anyway. Day 2 of the Combine opened with Robert Griffin III ripping off a 4.41 40. The Rams didn't interview him in Indianapolis, but they should at least buy him dinner, for putting the value of pick #2 overall through the roof. Andrew Luck was no slouch, either, putting up numbers similar to Cam Newton's last year in just about everything. They're the obvious 1-2 punch at the beginning of this year's draft now.

What do I hear for #2? Two first-rounders? Three first-rounders? Let the bidding begin!

* Wide receiver. But let's skip the QBs for the moment and go to a position the Rams probably will take in this year's first round. A lot going on at WR:

* Justin Blackmon didn't run the 40, but that didn't really seem to hurt his standing as the draft's top wide receiver. His first gauntlet run was excellent, and the ball he dropped on the second run was thrown well low. He muffed a slighly-underthrown ball on a deep sideline route, but also made a good grab of a bad throw on the first speed out drill. He's far from the biggest receiver there, but he plays bigger than he measures and was one of, if not the best route-runner, there. He makes a decent case for a top-five pick.

* Not that Michael Floyd (Notre Dame) isn't close. His second gauntlet run was one of the best of the day because he cleanly handled several tough, low throws. He also had a perfect first run. He also ran a 4.47, and given that he's a good 2-3 inches taller than Blackmon, Floyd could be an excellent consolation prize for a team that might miss out on Blackmon after trading down. Ahem.

* Stephen Hill (Georgia Tech) made the biggest move of anybody at this year's Combine, not just by burning a 4.38 (that NFL Network originally overclocked at 4.30), but by looking great at all the position drills. His gauntlet runs were probably the best of the day. He looked good on slant routes, made a nice overhead catch on a deep dig route, and the only pass I saw him drop was thrown too far behind him. Great size and speed in the Demaryius Thomas mode, and though his game tapes won't show a lot of action because Georgia Tech is an option offense, the Combine tape shows Hill can ball.

* I'm a biased Illini fan, but A.J. Jenkins had a good day. The Brandon Lloyd clone turned in a 4.39 and made a beautiful connection with a Ryan Lindley pass on a deep corner route.

Like Hill, there were some other sleeper candidates to show some life today:
* T.J. Graham (NC State) blazed a 4.41 and had an excellent 2nd gauntlet run after a couple of drops on the first run.

* Juron Criner (Arizona) seemed to get more than his fair share of bad passes but made the most of them with several tough catches.

 * Lavon Brazill (Ohio) could be worth a look as a late pick. Very nice gauntlet run, sub 4.5 speed, played the deep ball well. 5'11” height may be his issue.

Then there are the receivers the Rams and other teams may want to stay wide of:
* What the heck is Alshon Jeffery (South Carolina) thinking? He's reportedly dropped at least ten pounds this year, the thinking being that he's trying to get lighter to run a faster 40 time. And that'll be at his pro day, because he chose not to do anything at the Combine. Maybe he felt getting measured went badly enough. Though he's still just a tic under 6'3”, that's still 1-2 inches short of his billing.

* A lot of balls hit the ground during gauntlet drills, but I don't think anyone had it worse than Travis Benjamin (The U), who dropped three in a row before slowing to a crawl just so he could finally haul one in. He looked good on vertical routes but had another bad drop during the short out route drill.

* Dwight Jones (North Carolina) struggled mightily. He had a bad drop in the speed out drill and later ran one deep route so poorly, and quit on it, that he got chewed out by the coaches. You never want to have that happen at the Combine.

* James Rodgers (Oregon State) is Jacquizz's brother, inherited the family height gene, and I can't believe he's serious about being a wide receiver. A lot of good throws to him fell incomplete because he's too darn short to get to them at 5'7”. Why not try out for center in the NBA while you're at it?

* More bad drops: Marquis Maze (Alabama) had two passes soap through his hands on comeback routes. Greg Childs (Arkansas) had two bad drops of slant passes. Gerell Robinson (Arizona State) dropped a pass on a comeback route that hit him in both hands. Jermaine Kearse (Washington) had a bad drop on a deep route. Devon Wiley (Fresno State) also had trouble hanging on to the ball.

* Wish they'd been faster: Joe Adams (Arkansas) ran a disappointing 4.55 and had a drop in the gauntlet drill. Mohamed Sanu ran a 4.67 and had a terrible drop on a deep route.


* Back to the QBs real quick:

Even without Luck and Griffin throwing, there was a lot to like in the QB group. Kirk Cousins and Brandon Weeden had excellent sessions. Cousins threw perfect slant passes and short outs. I don't think Weeden threw a single bad ball. He put his short outs exactly where they were supposed to go and arced one beautiful deep corner pass after another. Nick Foles looked stronger than he did at the Senior Bowl. Nice accurate out routes and slants, and pretty deep passes on vertical routes. Did tend to underthrow the deep corners, though. Austin Davis continues to show plenty of arm. He looked strongest on the shorter stuff but also threw to the corner well. I think he's going to be a good pickup for somebody. Kellen Moore was similarly pinpoint on the short and timing stuff but was even less of a deep thrower. Patrick Witt (Yale) showed he could make about all the throws, and Ryan Lindley looked a major spell better than he did at the Senior Bowl, with a series of pretty, deep passes.

On the other hand, I have no idea how Case Keenum could rack up such crazy numbers in college when he looked so awful here. Was probably the worst player on the field. He threw slants behind receivers, couldn't throw the deep dig route, which was cake for every one else, accurately, couldn't throw decent out routes, couldn't keep deep sideline passes in bounds... simply an awful outing. Jacory Harris showed neither accuracy on short outs nor deep arm strength. Darron Thomas (Oregon) did his own share of underthrowing. Jordan Jefferson (LSU) made up for them by overthrowing almost every short pass, showing little hope of completing a short out route ever. Mike Mayock can say he just wants to see the ball leaving Jefferson's hand all he wants – a five-yard pass flying ten yards out of bounds just doesn't do anybody a whole lot of good.

* And at running back:
The Rams once again have some nice candidates for change-of-pace third-down back, and no Billy Devaney picking this year and ignoring the need. Lamar Miller (The U), LaMichael James, Ronnie Hillman (SDSU) and Chris Rainey all ran 4.45 or better 40s and showed they can do the job. James can run all the routes. He was textbook making catches in the flat and looked nice running the deep corner. Hillman had good moments there as well and made some of the best cuts as a runner in the hole. Worthy of his school's most famous alumnus, Marshall Faulk. Rainey didn't have a perfect catching day but looks like a completely natural pass catcher. David Wilson's (Virginia Tech) right there as well, having run a 4.49 and having done well at all of the passing drills.

A surprise here was Chris Polk, who I thought stunk at the Senior Bowl. But he's also a natural pass catcher and he did some of the best route-running there. He was about the only player who sold the flat route like you're supposed to when he ran the wheel route.

If you want your team to look good getting off the bus, your guy is either Davin Meggett or Robert Turbin (Utah State). Meggett is built like a truck and Turbin is rocked up like a bodybuilder. Really hurts his agility, though, especially as a receiver. Bradie Ewing is considered “just” a fullback, but he looks like a solid receiver and seems to play faster than his timed speed. No idea how he is as a blocker, though.

On the down side:
* Lennon Creer didn't look anything like the guy who shined at the Shrine Game. Really needs to clean up his footwork. One of the few guys to kick the pads during one of the change-of-direction drills, and he stumbled running through the hole in another. Also had a tough time with the catch on the flat route. Puzzling day for a player who'd had a good offseason up till now.

* Doug Martin (Boise State) got a lot of positive reviews from Mayock, but he dropped a screen pass and got eaten up at the end of the running backs' version of the gauntlet.

* Cyrus Gray (Texas A&M) also showed plenty of footwork issues, including doing a full spin running one of the flat routes. Yikes, that's a big hit or a pick-six waiting to happen. Hillman did that, too.

* I don't think Marc Tyler inherited his pop's speed. 4.76. Also had a clumsy drop of a deep pass and overran the hole in the “dummy drill,” which very few backs ever mess up.

-$-

Time becomes a serious issue for yours truly the next couple of weeks. Still have the defensive Combine sessions Monday and Tuesday, and free agent previews, and they'll be clashing with a week-long class and an upcoming trip out of town. May be difficult to get those things out in very good order, sorry in advance.

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