NFL.com: Gil Brandt: Quick hits from Indy: Day 4

[Cbz40]

Quick hits from Indy: Day 4

By Gil Brandt
NFL.com Senior Analyst


NFL.com draft expert Gil Brandt is in Indianapolis at the 2007 Scouting Combine. While there, he will file daily reports for draft-hungry fans to read about. NFL Network will also provide live coverage of the combine and have daily wrap-ups on NFL Total Access.

* Brandt's quick hits: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 25, 2007) -- Rick McKay of the Atlanta Falcons was the person who spoke to the players last night. All but two of the players that were schedules to arrive last night were there. Tanard Jackson of Syracuse and Dashon Goldson of Washington couldn't get in because of weather.

Jerry Jones came to the rescue, however. The Cowboys owner lent his private jet to transport the two players (who were marooned in Dallas) and so everyone will be accounted for once again.



There were predictions of inclement weather, with predicted freezing rain and snow. At about 5:30 it just got really bad, so everyone was very concerned about players not only getting in, but also getting out. 38 players couldn't get out yesterday because of weather. There wasn't room for them at the Crown Plaza, so they had to be moved to an alternate hotel.

There were 11 quarterbacks in the first group -- 10 of 11 participated in the drills. The only one who didn't participate was Brady Quinn.

In that same group there were 24 wide receivers, and 21 of them ran. Dwayne Jarrett (groin) and Ted Ginn (foot) didn't run because of injury, and David Ball of New Hampshire also didn't run, but he did participate in field cones.

Everyone was curious about Calvin Johnson, and he ran right around a 4.4. He chose not to work out here, because he thought it would diminish the amount of scouts at his pro day -- and cut into the number of scouts who saw his teammates work out. He decided to run though, and he ran well.

It was a fast group with lots of guys in the 4.4 range. The fastest wide receiver was Yamon Figurs of Kansas State who ran a 4.32. Jason Hill of Washington State ran a 4.33 and David Clowney of Virginia Tech ran a 4.39.

In the second group, there were 10 quarterbacks, and seven of them ran. JaMarcus Russell (LSU), Troy Smith (Ohio State) and Isaiah Stanback (Washington) didn't run. Of those three, Russell and Smith sat out by their own choice; Stanback was injured. There were 24 wide receivers in the second group and 21 of them ran. Bret Smith (Tennessee) didn't run because of illness, Jordan Kent (Oregon) because of a right toe injury, and Rhema McKnight of Notre Dame didn't run of his own choice.

Probably the three youngest people at the Combine are the three kids of new Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino -- the oldest is 10. One of the visitors here is the outstanding receiver form Ohio State Brian Robiskie, a true prototype wide receiver who is big and tall and can run fast.

Trent Edwards earned a lot of respect from people today, because after spending all day yesterday in bed with the flu, he worked out today in all the drills and ran.

Jordan Kent's dad is the head coach of the basketball team at Oregon. Oklahoma State's D'Juan Woods' brother Rashaun was a first-round pick. UTEP's Jordan Palmer's brother Carson was the No. 1 overall choice. Jared Zabransky from Boise St. is a real physical specimen, and he's going to be tried at safety. Oklahoma's Paul Thompson will be tried at wide receiver.


Cornerbacks

Tallest: Anthony Arline, Baylor, 6-foot-1 6/8
Shortest: Trumaine McBride, Mississippi, 5-foot-9 1/8
Heaviest: Darrelle Revis, Pittsburgh, 204 pounds; Reggie Lewis, Florida, 204 pounds
Lightest: Ryan Smith, Florida, 174 pounds

Free safeties

Tallest: Michael Johnson, Arizona, 6-foot-2 5/8
Shortest: Brandon Sharp, Louisville, 5-foot-10
Heaviest: Zach Catanese, Arizona St., 225 pounds
Lightest: Brandon Sharp, Louisville, 194 pounds

Strong safeties

Tallest: Aaron Rouse, Virginia Tech, 6-foot-4
Shortest: Jesse Daniels, LSU, 5-foot-10 7/8
Heaviest: Brandon Harrison, Stanford, 227 pounds
Lightest: Marvin White, TCU, 199 pounds

There are several new innovations here. For the quarterbacks and wide receivers, a group of media people have been admitted to the combine to watch their workouts for the first time ever. A select group of media will watch from the press boxes.

The Carolina Panthers have a communication setup between the timers at the 40-yard line folks on the sidelines and John Fox and general manager Marty Hurney up in the stands -- it allows them to get individual times faster without having to wait for everyone to run. In a copycat league, it will be interesting to see if others follow suit.

The fastest quarterback in the second group was Zabransky (4.5), followed by Thompson (4.67) and Michigan State's Drew Stanton (4.72). Troy Smith didn't run, but he is throwing in all the drills.

The fastest wide receivers in the second group were Robert Meachem (Tennessee) and Mike Walker (Central Florida) with 4.4s.

Toby Korrodi of Central Missouri St. had the best measured ball speed (velocity with which the ball comes out) at 63 mph. John Beck of BYU was next best at 61 mph and Troy Smith was next at 59 mph.

Running back Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma) notched a 4.37 in his 40. The other top runners, Marshawn Lynch (Cal) and Antonio Pittman (Ohio State) ran 4.45s.

[CrazyCowboy]

Tallest: Aaron Rouse, Virginia Tech, 6-foot-4

This guy is tall.......

[Future]

Originally Posted by CrazyCowboy

This guy is tall.......

can you imagine him and watkins in the same secondary

[Hoofbite]

Jerry Jones came to the rescue, however. The Cowboys owner lent his private jet to transport the two players (who were marooned in Dallas) and so everyone will be accounted for once again.

Juts looking for ways to spend money......

[McCordsville Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Future 585

can you imagine him and watkins in the same secondary

I sure can...

Two guys getting roasted by Plaxico Burress.