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Young good, not great at workout
http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http:...ing=todd_mcshay&name=SEARCH_m_archive&srvc=sz
By Todd McShay
Scouts Inc.
Rarely does a pro day draw as much attention as Texas' did on Wednesday. The event began at 11 a.m. ET and 31 of the 32 NFL teams were represented, with nearly 200 coaches and personnel officials in attendance. The Commanders, who do not currently own picks in the first or third rounds of the upcoming draft, were the only team that did not send at least one scout to view the proceedings.
Jim Redman/WireImage.com
Vince Young will have private workouts with a number of teams before the draft.
While the Longhorns' pro day was oozing with talent, no workout was scrutinized more than quarterback Vince Young's. All in all, Young's results can be classified as good but not spectacular. He ran the 40-yard dash only once and it was timed between 4.55 and 4.60, depending on the scout's stopwatch you believe. The result wasn't quite as fast as some expected (there were rumors that he was being timed in the 4.4's during practice runs), but Young's top-end speed is far better than most starting quarterbacks in the NFL and nobody can question his overall athleticism, especially considering his prototypical size (6-4 5/8, 228).
Far more important was Young's throwing session, which took place more than four hours later at 3:15 p.m. ET. Young got off to a hot start, connecting on his first eight attempts. He lost the "strike zone" during a couple brief stints over the course of the 45-minute exercise. Two other complaints that I heard from scouts in attendance were that Young waited for his receivers to come out of their breaks on too many of his throws and that he also was not forced to make some of the more challenging throws that he will be asked to make during private workouts. But overall, Young showed good accuracy and better-than-expected arm strength, particularly on some of the deep-out routes. Despite his unconventional throwing style, scouts were also impressed with the quickness of his release.
Young will be placed under an even more intense microscope over the next few weeks when he is brought in by interested NFL franchises for individual workouts at their respective practice facilities. However, he was at least able to effectively take snaps from under center and show a good rhythm as a passer when working off of drops, which he did little of while starting in Texas' shotgun read-option scheme.
Few prospects have seen their draft stock fluctuate as much as Young has over the course of the last three months. It seemingly peaked after his phenomenal Rose Bowl performance versus USC, which triggered his decision to leave school early for the 2006 NFL draft. At that point, Young was being discussed as a possible top-overall selection. Over the next couple of months, however, Young's value began to nose-dive a bit after he elected not to work out at the combine and scored a 15 (best of two attempts) on the Wonderlic Personnel Test. Wednesday's workout definitely helped stop the bleeding, though. As is stands right now, it's safe to say that Young has solidified a spot in the top 15 picks but he will need to impress during his more intense individual workouts for NFL teams in order to secure a place in the top 10. The Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and New York Jets already have scheduled private workouts and I've been told that the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens are two of the other teams planning on doing the same.
As for the other prospects who worked out in Austin on Wednesday, defensive backs Cedric Griffin and Michael Huff continued to increase their draft stock with impressive showings in agility drills. Griffin improved on his short shuttle time from the combine (4.10) by running it in 3.97 seconds, which will only help solidify his spot on Day 1. Huff, on the other hand, helped solidify his place in the top 10 overall picks with excellent times in the short shuttle (3.96) and three-cone drill (6.68), which were two of the events that he opted out of at the combine.
Tight end David Thomas helped his cause as a fringe first day prospect by putting on a solid showing as a deep snapper, which is not an area he was expected to work out during the pro day. Thomas also ran an impressive short shuttle time of 4.15 seconds and registered 21 reps on the 225-pound bench press -- both of which were improvements from his combine workout.
Defensive tackle Rodrique Wright, a fringe first-round prospect, elected to keep most of his combine results but he did improve his short shuttle time by running it in 4.47 seconds.
Conversely, defensive tackle Larry Dibbles and guard Will Allen, both of whom were combine snubs, were unable to help their causes as late-round prospects during their workouts on Wednesday. Allen (6-4 7/8, 306) ran the 40-yard dash in 5.34 seconds and 5.36 seconds, notched 24 reps on the bench and ran slow times in the short shuttle (4.66) and three-cone drill (8.04). Dibbles (6-1 3/8, 290) showed up lighter than expected but still clocked embarrassingly slow times in the 40 (5.37, 5.38), short shuttle (4.75) and three-cone drill (8.08), while also failing to break the 20-rep plateau on the bench press (19).
http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http:...ing=todd_mcshay&name=SEARCH_m_archive&srvc=sz
By Todd McShay
Scouts Inc.
Rarely does a pro day draw as much attention as Texas' did on Wednesday. The event began at 11 a.m. ET and 31 of the 32 NFL teams were represented, with nearly 200 coaches and personnel officials in attendance. The Commanders, who do not currently own picks in the first or third rounds of the upcoming draft, were the only team that did not send at least one scout to view the proceedings.
Jim Redman/WireImage.com
Vince Young will have private workouts with a number of teams before the draft.
While the Longhorns' pro day was oozing with talent, no workout was scrutinized more than quarterback Vince Young's. All in all, Young's results can be classified as good but not spectacular. He ran the 40-yard dash only once and it was timed between 4.55 and 4.60, depending on the scout's stopwatch you believe. The result wasn't quite as fast as some expected (there were rumors that he was being timed in the 4.4's during practice runs), but Young's top-end speed is far better than most starting quarterbacks in the NFL and nobody can question his overall athleticism, especially considering his prototypical size (6-4 5/8, 228).
Far more important was Young's throwing session, which took place more than four hours later at 3:15 p.m. ET. Young got off to a hot start, connecting on his first eight attempts. He lost the "strike zone" during a couple brief stints over the course of the 45-minute exercise. Two other complaints that I heard from scouts in attendance were that Young waited for his receivers to come out of their breaks on too many of his throws and that he also was not forced to make some of the more challenging throws that he will be asked to make during private workouts. But overall, Young showed good accuracy and better-than-expected arm strength, particularly on some of the deep-out routes. Despite his unconventional throwing style, scouts were also impressed with the quickness of his release.
Young will be placed under an even more intense microscope over the next few weeks when he is brought in by interested NFL franchises for individual workouts at their respective practice facilities. However, he was at least able to effectively take snaps from under center and show a good rhythm as a passer when working off of drops, which he did little of while starting in Texas' shotgun read-option scheme.
Few prospects have seen their draft stock fluctuate as much as Young has over the course of the last three months. It seemingly peaked after his phenomenal Rose Bowl performance versus USC, which triggered his decision to leave school early for the 2006 NFL draft. At that point, Young was being discussed as a possible top-overall selection. Over the next couple of months, however, Young's value began to nose-dive a bit after he elected not to work out at the combine and scored a 15 (best of two attempts) on the Wonderlic Personnel Test. Wednesday's workout definitely helped stop the bleeding, though. As is stands right now, it's safe to say that Young has solidified a spot in the top 15 picks but he will need to impress during his more intense individual workouts for NFL teams in order to secure a place in the top 10. The Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and New York Jets already have scheduled private workouts and I've been told that the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens are two of the other teams planning on doing the same.
As for the other prospects who worked out in Austin on Wednesday, defensive backs Cedric Griffin and Michael Huff continued to increase their draft stock with impressive showings in agility drills. Griffin improved on his short shuttle time from the combine (4.10) by running it in 3.97 seconds, which will only help solidify his spot on Day 1. Huff, on the other hand, helped solidify his place in the top 10 overall picks with excellent times in the short shuttle (3.96) and three-cone drill (6.68), which were two of the events that he opted out of at the combine.
Tight end David Thomas helped his cause as a fringe first day prospect by putting on a solid showing as a deep snapper, which is not an area he was expected to work out during the pro day. Thomas also ran an impressive short shuttle time of 4.15 seconds and registered 21 reps on the 225-pound bench press -- both of which were improvements from his combine workout.
Defensive tackle Rodrique Wright, a fringe first-round prospect, elected to keep most of his combine results but he did improve his short shuttle time by running it in 4.47 seconds.
Conversely, defensive tackle Larry Dibbles and guard Will Allen, both of whom were combine snubs, were unable to help their causes as late-round prospects during their workouts on Wednesday. Allen (6-4 7/8, 306) ran the 40-yard dash in 5.34 seconds and 5.36 seconds, notched 24 reps on the bench and ran slow times in the short shuttle (4.66) and three-cone drill (8.04). Dibbles (6-1 3/8, 290) showed up lighter than expected but still clocked embarrassingly slow times in the 40 (5.37, 5.38), short shuttle (4.75) and three-cone drill (8.08), while also failing to break the 20-rep plateau on the bench press (19).