NFL Combine Winners & Losers – Defense
With the defensive players having gone through the combine wringer it is time to sort through who some of the winners and losers are coming out of this past weekend’s combine.
Winners
USC defensive end Everson Griffen ran the second fastest 40 for ends at 4.66, did 32 reps on the bench press, and at 6′ 3″/273 he will not need to add any significant weight to play at the next level. Griffen may have solidified himself as a first round prospect after being seen as a second rounder when he declared for the draft in December.
Alabama corner Kareem Jackson posted a 4.48 40 time which was better than expected solidifying him as a fringe first round prospect and a definite second rounder.
Virignia’s Chris Cook (CB) should see his stock being to rise after this week. He ran the second fastest 40 time amongst corner backs at 4.46 and has the size (6′ 2″/212) to play safety in the NFL. Some of his off field transgressions, namely sitting out 2008 due to being academically ineligible, could hold his draft position down a bit.
Wake’s Brandon Ghee posted the fastest 40 time amongst corner backs and should see his stock rise a bit, but, he still has some technique issues that will keep him from rising too high though.
While Terence Cody ran the slowest 40 time amongst all defensive tackles he still comes out a winner simply because he showed up some 20 pounds lighter than what was being anticipated. Some post-season reports had Cody ballooning up to as much as 375 pounds, so the fact that he weighed in at 354 pounds showed he has some discipline and is at least taking some of the process seriously. The slow 40 time will have little bearing on where he is drafted as Cody is seen as an anchor at nose tackle in a 3-4 defense. He is seen as one of those Grady Jackson types of players who will occupy blockers and anchor against the run and is unlikely to see the field on passing downs.
TCU’s Jerry Hughes posted a 4.69 in the 40 and showed scouts the athleticism they were looking for to be able to potentially make the switch to OLB in the NFL.
Missouri’s Sean Weatherspoon reportedly stood out in the skills tests amongst all of the linebackers.
Losers
Joe Haden may come out as one of the biggest losers from this year’s combine after running 4.57 and 4.58 in the 40 yard dash. Coming into the weekend Haden was considered a lock to go in the top 10, a lot of draft sites have him going to Cleveland at #7. Haden could end up like Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins was considered the top corner in last year’s draft and a lock to go in the top ten only to fall to the New Orleans Saints at 14 after posting similar times in the 40. Haden will still go in the first round and will likely be the first corner to come off the board simply based on what he has shown on tape. The question will be whether a team is willing to spend a top 10 pick on a corner who does not demonstrate elite speed.
Penn State’s Navarro Bowman checked in at 242 pounds, roughly 10 more pounds than anticipated, and ran a pedestrian 4.74 40. He simply did not perform well in the position drills and coupled with some character issues this could cause him to plummet well into the second round. Bowman was once seen as a potential late first rounder and his stock continues to creep downwards as we get closer to the draft.
Florida’s Brandon Spikes did not run the 40 and did not work out terribly well reinforcing some of the concerns scouts have about his ability to make plays at the next level. He may need to kill it at UF’s pro day if he wants to stay in the first round.
Carlos Dunlap (Florida) ran well and looked to be in good shape, but, he reportedly looked stiff and somewhat un-athletic in some of the position drills. He really needed to dominate the position drills to off set all of the off-field baggage he is carrying around with him right now. Don’t be surprised if Griffen leap frogs Dunlap on a lot of team’s draft boards.
[...] NFL Combine Winners & Losers – Defense [...]