Speedsters steal the show in Indy on day 2 of combine

West Virginia’s Tavon Austin during a drill at the NFL Combine

Coming in to day 2 of the NFL combine in Indianapolis, the biggest storyline was probably how Tavon Austin was going to perform on the field. Austin has been getting a lot of press over the past few weeks and it was going to be critical for him to live up to the hype. Austin may not have been the fastest wide receiver today, but he was certainly impressive in drills.

After Austin and Texas wide receiver Marquise Goodwin ran their 40-yard dash, they both had an unofficial time of 4.25 seconds. Later, when the official times were squared away, Goodwin came away the decisive victor with a time of 4.27. Whoever timed Austin must have had a heavy trigger finger and his official time came in at 4.34. Along with Austin and Goodwin, Texas A&M’s Ryan Swope, Oklahoma’s Kenny Stills, and TCU’s Josh Boyce all ran under 4.4 seconds in the wide receiver group.

Austin was technically not a top performer in any other drill today, other than the 3-cone drill, but when you consider his height of just about 5’8” in cleats, Austin had a very good day. Austin had a 32-inch vertical jump and 120-inch broad jump, both more than solid marks considering his stature. He also looked very good catching the football this morning. Austin was probably already a lock to be a first round pick, but he certainly helped his draft stock even more with his performance in Indy.

Before moving on, I should mention Michigan QB Denard Robinson worked with the wide receivers today and looked pretty good doing it. He ran a good 40 time of 4.43 seconds and looked decent in drills. It will be very interesting to see if NFL teams think he has the ability to make the transition to wide receiver at the next level.

After the receivers, the quarterbacks took to the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for their on-field drills. The number one QB on most boards is Geno Smith from West Virginia, and he did nothing to hurt himself today, which is all you can ask from him. He ran a great 40 at 4.59 seconds (best in the group) and had a very good broad jump at 10’4” (also best in the group). Smith also had a 33.5” vertical jump, just a half inch behind Florida State QB EJ Manuel who recorded a 34” vertical. Smith also looked pretty good throwing the ball so he should certainly still be the top guy in this mediocre group of QBs.

As I’m writing this, the running backs are just finishing up their drills for the day and the story of in that group, again, was the speedsters. The winner of the day was Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb who had an unofficial time of 4.21 seconds in his second attempt of the 40-yard dash. If that mark would have stood, it would have broken the record set by Chris Johnson in 2008. However, that time was just a tad off as the official time came in at 4.34, which was still the best time of the day. McCalebb obviously has some world-class speed, but he is an extremely small guy with a sprinter’s frame. McCalebb could find a spot on a team as a return specialist but unless he bulks up (a lot) he will be destroyed in the NFL as a running back.

Onterio McCalebb from Auburn wowed the scouts in Lucas Oil with his blazing speed

Other running backs that opened my eyes were Arkansas back Knile Davis and Johnathan Franklin from UCLA. Davis held the lead in the 40 for a long time with an official time of 4.37 before McCalebb’s second attempt. What you have to realize about Davis is that he had a phenomenal season in 2010 with over 1000 yards and 13 touchdowns. Davis then missed the entire 2011 season. What you shouldn’t do is blame him for having a poor 2012 for the razorbacks, that team gave up after week 3. After the day he had today, scouts are going to have to take another look at him, and he might just shoot up a lot of draft boards.

On the other hand, Johnathan Franklin might be the most interesting prospect at the running back position. UCLA head coach Jim Mora had some very high praise for Franklin today and Franklin showed some good ability today in drills. After today’s performance, I know that I’m going to go and take another, closer look at Franklin on film.

The day that quarterbacks, wide receivers, and running backs take the field is always a marquee day at the combine. There were plenty of storylines in Indy today and some great performances with some world-class speed and agility being showcased at all positions. There were some players that helped their draft stock immensely, and a lot that probably stayed at the status quo.

Check us out tomorrow as defensive lineman and linebackers take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium.

 

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Record, battle and press conference highlight first day of NFL Scouting Combine

By Jeff Vinton, Blogger/Editor, On the Clock

Offensive lineman Terron Armstead of Arkansas-Pine Bluff gets into his stance before running a NFL Scouting Combine offensive lineman record 4.72 seconds in the 40-yard dash this morning. (Picture courtesy of atlantafalcons.com)

The NFL Scouting Combine began today with groups one through three, which consisted of offensive linemen, tight ends, and special teams players, taking the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The primary story to come from the performances today was that of 305-pound Arkansas-Pine Bluff offensive lineman Terron Armstead in the 40-yard dash. Armstead, the second lineman to run the 40 this morning, ran a blistering time of 4.71 seconds. To put that time into perspective, last year’s top performer for offensive linemen in the 40 (Donald Stephenson, Oklahoma) ran a 4.94, the average time for offensive lineman today was a 5.23 and top prospect Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M ran a 5.30. Armstead’s time is the new record for offensive lineman at the Combine.

Armstead had already begun to shoot up draft boards because of his performance at the East-West Shrine Game last month. His 40 time, along with his 31 reps in the bench press, vertical jump of 34.5 inches and his broad jump of 112 inches will no doubt help make him rise up draft boards even more.

Other top performers on the day were Stanford’s Zach Ertz and Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert, the consensus top two tight ends in this year’s draft class.

There has been much coverage by the media over these two, who are battling to become the top tight end taken in the Draft on April 25. And battle they did today, as they interchanged spots in the top performers group through the various drills. Eifert bested Ertz in the 40-yard dash with times of 4.68 seconds and 4.76 seconds respectively. Ertz toppled Eifert in the bench press test by two reps, 24-22. Eifert came back and beat Ertz by five inches in the vertical jump, 35.5-30.5. That trend continued in the broad jump as Eifert out leaped Ertz 119 inches-111 inches. Analysts from NFL Network said that Ertz looked more natural catching the ball, so the battle lives on.

A story from off the field was also a large story during the first day of the Combine.

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o took to the podium at 2:15 p.m. EST, his first press conference since the Lennay Kekua incident and his first public appearance since his interview with Katie Couric. Te’o, whose press conference was called “a zoo” in a tweet by Miami Dolphins beat writer Ben Volin, was asked both questions about the incident and general football questions.

When asked if NFL teams had talked about the incident with him, Te’o said, “They all talked to me about it.”

Te’o also made it clear that he is done talking about the incident, first reported in January by Deadspin.com, and that he is moving on and focusing on football.

The NFL Scouting Combine consists of 11 groups each holding certain positions that take the field for drills over the course of four days. Group one has kickers, special teamers, and some offensive linemen. Group two is all offensive linemen, and group three is the tight ends. Groups four and five consist of quarterbacks and wide receivers, and the running backs are in group six. Groups seven and eight consist of defensive linemen and group nine has the linebackers. Groups 10 and 11 hold the defensive backs.

Tomorrow is the skill position day with groups four, five and six taking the field to participate in the various drills and impress NFL Scouts. Drills will begin at 9 a.m.

Coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine will continue through Tuesday, along with daily player previews on On the Clock: Your NFL Draft Destination.