During the 2007 NFL Scouting Combine, AF.com's Chris Pika will give his observations on the event, the behind-the-scenes information that you won't see on the NFL Network and any other breaking news as it develops. Keep checking back for updated entries during the day (latest entries listed first).
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Kenny Scott and Georgia DE Quentin Moses. We also have Florida S Reggie Nelson and Nebraska DE Adam Carriker.
Final numbers from National Football Scouting, which puts on the event every year, not the NFL (but the NFL clubs share the cost of putting on the event) - there were 327 players at the Combine (of the 1,200 total voted upon to participate by a panel of club personnel directors/GMs and scouts) and 177 workers from the clubs (coaches, scouts and medical personnel).
On the media side, there were 385 credentialed media and 22 NFL head coaches - including our own Bobby Petrino - addressed the media over the four days of availability. That doesn't count the GMs and assistant coaches who made their way near the media room in the hallway and talked to the press in small group sessions.
Matt and I are packing up right now and heading to the Indianapolis airport for our return home. I will have more from the Combine over the final two days as we start to digest everything we've seen here as the 2007 NFL Draft will be here in about a month.
- 3:57 pm - Some more video to check out: We have added three more player press conferences to the mix - Pitt DB Darrelle Revis, Cal DB Daymeion Hughes and Tennessee DB Jonathan Wade.
- 2:59 pm - Another look at the inside of the RCA Dome: The running backs are doing their 40-yard dash work right now on the floor of the RCA Dome. The work is done in silence with the words of the coaches instructing the players as to technique, etc.
In the stands, right at the finish line of the 40-yard dash, there are coaches, scouts and personnel people about three or four seats wide in every row all the way up the stands. Again, the digital beep sounds of stopwatches being clicked as the player goes past the finish line. No cheers or claps, just beeps and eyes glanced downward to check the time and write the results on their sheets. - 1:59 pm - Catch me if you can - wideout 40s (Group 5): Here are the 40-yard dash results for Group 5 (wide receivers):
Group 5 (Wide Receivers): Mike Walker (Central Florida) - 4.35, Laurent Robinson (Illinois State) - 4.38, Robert Meachem (Tennessee) - 4.39, Mike Mason (Tennessee State) - 4.40, Legedy Naanee (Boise State) - 4.41, Chandler Williams (Florida International) - 4.42, Steve Smith (Southern California) - 4.44, Paul Williams (Fresno State) - 4.45, Ryne Robinson (Miami-Ohio) - 4.47, Courtney Taylor (Auburn) - 4.50.
... and results for Group 4 (wide receivers) vertical jump:
Group 4 (Wide Receivers) - Vertical Jump (in inches): Drisan James (Boise State) - 39, Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio State) - 38, Jason Hill (Washington State) - 37, Aundrae Allison (East Carolina) - 37, Johnnie Lee Higgins (UTEP) - 36 1/2, Aaron Fairooz (Central Arkansas) - 36, Dallas Baker (Florida) - 36, Chris Davis (Florida State) - 35 1/2, Jonathan Holland (Louisiana Tech) - 35 1.2, Jemalle Cornelius (Florida) - 34 1/2.
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1:31 pm - More quarterback drill results: Here are the results for one of the QB position drills for Group 5:
Group 5 (Quarterbacks) - Ball Speed: Troy Smith (Ohio State) - 58.5, Jeff Rowe (Nevada-Reno) - 57, Drew Stanton (Michigan State) - 55.7, Jared Zabransky (Boise State), Paul Thompson (Oklahoma) - 54.8.
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1:04 pm - Applause from the masses: Auburn DB David Irons just got a round of polite applause from the usually-professional media. Irons took most of 10 minutes on the podium to rip his brother about his looks ("I don't need to watch horror movies, I just have to look at him" and "We have Halloween every day when he's home") and his dress habits ("The suit he had on last night was caramel-colored; he looked like Mr. Coffee.").
His brother - his twin brother - is Auburn RB Kenny Irons, who is also here at the Combine, which makes the cracks about his looks even funnier. The media, who have been used to the dry answers to height, weight, agent and whether a player will work out or not, laughed in their seats and groaned when the NFL PR rep announced that he had to leave the stage.
Based on the reaction to his "material", David will probably have a post-football career in stand-up comedy.
Speaking of material, we have an exclusive interview with Falcons President & GM Rich McKay and a Combine Crashers V-Blog as Matt visits with one of the club doctors.
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12:41 pm - We've got numbers: Here are the 40-yard dash times for the wideouts...
Group 4 (Wide Receivers): Yamen Figurs (Kansas State) - 4.30, Jason Hill (Washington State) - 4.32, Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech) - 4.35, David Clowney (Virginia Tech) - 4.36, Aundrae Allison (East Carolina) - 4.39, Steve Broaston (Michigan) - 4.41, Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio State) - 4.44, Jonathan Holland (Louisiana Tech) - 4.45, Craig Davis (LSU) - 4.46), Johnnie Lee Higgins (UTEP) - 4.48).
... and results for one of the QB position drills:
Group 4 (Quarterbacks) - Ball Speed: Toby Karrodi (Central Missouri) - 63 mph, John Beck (BYU) - 61.1, Kevin Kolb (Houston) - 55.2, Trent Edwards (Stanford) - 55.2, James Pinkney (East Carolina) - 53.9.
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10:31 am - Final day of live coverage begins: Welcome to our fifth day of coverage from Indy. The snow and freezing rain as part of the huge winter storm that is hitting the middle of the country also landed here last night. We went from 50 degrees when we came to town to the upper 30s today.
Enough of the weather report, it's another day of football in Indianapolis. Today, running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers will work out on the RCA Dome floor. We will bring you the numbers as we get them from Gil Brandt and the NFL PR staff during the day.
We will also have an interview with Falcons President and GM Rich McKay later this morning.
One note - our condolences go out to the Denver Broncos organization and the family of running back Damien Nash, who passed away last night in St. Louis after a charity basketball event.
