NFL Combine Completed

by Rexx on Feb 28, 2008 11:23 AM EST in News Comment 3 comments

Not only is the Combine over, but I also heard it will be the final event in the hostory of the Hoosier Dome, as it is slated to be demolished to pave way for the new Colts' stadium. To bad the elder Irsay has passed away, as they should probably exhume his remains and rebury it under the demoltion site! Ouch, bitter, eh?

The combine both helped and hurt some players. The 40 yard dash separates the men from the boys, although all the drills are taken into consideration with the scouts as they prepare the draft boards. Seeing the RB from East Carolina blaze through the 40 in sub 4.3 speed increased his value, while Arkansas' McFadden did nothingto diminish his, with a blistering 40 as well. Interesting to see that the largest group of sub 4.4 40's came from the DB's. Even though the Ravens specifically need not only a future starter this season, they'll need depth as well as this position, as 2007 showed what an embarassing weakness their lack of depth was. Hopefully, they'll make a run at the Pat's Asante Samuel, but will still take one of the upper tier DB's early in the draft as well. In some of my earlier postings, I had them taking Ohio State's Malcolm Jenkins, but he has decided to return for his senior year at OSU.

Most of the top QB's didn't provide much additional insight at the Combine. At the same time, the D-linemen (Sedric Ellis) showed that he's not too much behind LSU's Glenn Dorsey, especially now with the past leg injury history coming to the forefront. If by chance, BC's Matt Ryan falls to the 8th spot, I'd be very disappointed if the Ravens let him slip by, no matter who else is available. A lot of mock drafts has us taking either USC's DT Sedric Ellis, who would be converted to a DE to take over for Trevor Pryce, which would be a great pick. However, now I don't think Ellis will be there, but I also like Miami's DE Calais Campbell, as his height and weight will make him a prototypical pass rushing DE in the NFL, even though he is only listed on ESPN's draft board as the 26th best prospect.

Either way, the key to this draft will be the free agency that begins tomorrow and will refilter each tem's needs prior to April's draft.

Let the bidding wars begin!

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Comments

Calais Campbell

His poor Junior year performance, concerns about a lack of work ethic, plus the fact that he only lifted the bars 17 times and ran a 5.24 40 in the combine should absolutely knock him out of 1st round consideration. My gut feeling on him is that he is lazy and hoping to get paid without doing the work. 1) His technique is poor, which implies he didn't work particularly hard in college. 2) He registered for the draft a year early, despite a poor Junior campaign, implying that he didn't think he would improve his for his Senior year. 3) He was relying on his supposed strength and speed to impress his way into the first round, and he bombed at the combine (the strength and speed moment of the NFL). In short, forget it.

by mathgeek on Feb 28, 2008 8:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Campbell

Wow, thanks for the in depth report! I didn't know the specifics, but they sound a lot like a guy currently on the Ravens roster named Terrell Suggs, who dropped after it seemed a lock that the Cardinals would take the home town stud. The Ravens jumped on him (after the Byron Leftwich debacle) and his poor efforts at the combine never seemed to matter. If we could get him in a later round, I'd still be for it. Ray and Ed would whip him into shape!

Rexx

by Rexx on Feb 29, 2008 10:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

math geek

You are right in that the Miami triplets (McGahee included) seem to insist on nothing but the best from their own. If we spent a second on him, it might be a really good gamble, as he obviously has potential, and we have a really good DLine coach to grill him on technique.

by mathgeek on Feb 29, 2008 12:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs