Another edition of the NFL Scouting Combine (“the underwear Olympics”) has come and gone. If you watched it at home on television, just for “fun,” recreationally, well you’re a braver person than I and highly commend your love of the game. For everyone else, let’s recap the week, and look at who the biggest winners and losers were after what transpired.
Here’s the link to our latest NFL mock draft, which we posted right before the scouting combine started. Now with so many players seeing their NFL Draft fluctuate, in some cases quite extremely, we’ll be making a lot of changes in our next update.
OL Orlando Brown, Oklahoma
Brown came into the combine as a top 15, top 20 overall prospect after twice earning Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year honors. He left as one of the main storylines, and not in a good way. Yes he was the tallest measured man at the combine, but he was also the second heaviest, at 345 pounds.
Unfortunately, his testing measurables don’t exactly convey the maxim “muscle weighs more than fat.” Brown finished dead last in the 40-yard dash with a 5.85. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who is nearly 60 years old, ran a 5.41 in a suit and tie last week.
Brown also finished last among offensive linemen on the bench press after putting up just 14 reps. His 19.5-inch vertical and a 6-10 broad jump don’t exactly inspire awe either. You can say good night to his first round prospects now.
QB J.T. Barrett, Ohio State
Barrett is lot like another former Buckeye in the other revenue sport- Aaron Craft. They are both elite college players at the most important position in their sport who achieved greatness, but just don’t have the skill set to translate to the next level. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. To put it plainly, Barrett just didn’t show the arm strength, and his passing drills performance was so poor that he simply looked like a guy who didn’t really belong in Indianapolis.
WR Calvin Ridley, Alabama
He ran a decent 40 at 4.43, but his vertical and broad jump were both terrible. Obviously, these numbers don’t translate on the field, as his accomplishments speak for themselves. Also, it’s not like Ridley now has low NFL Draft stock or anything like that- it’s just that you can’t peg him the number one WR off the board now.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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