Combine Stuff...

Simpleton

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If Billings drops to us at 34 because of his short arms and height I would be so ecstatic.

Of course we'd probably end up taking Hunter Henry instead but hey.
 

boozeman

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Myles Jack, ex-UCLA standout, expects full clearance in March








5:44 PM ET
Josh Weinfuss
ESPN Staff Writer



PHOENIX -- Former UCLA linebacker/running back Myles Jack has not been cleared to fully participate in the NFL scouting combine next week, almost five months after tearing his lateral meniscus.

The 20-year-old junior told ESPN on Tuesday that he will do the bench press, attend team interviews and undergo the medical check at the combine in Indianapolis.

Jack, who injured his knee Sept. 22, was cleared to begin running and cutting Jan. 22. He expects to be fully cleared in early March.

During media day at the Fischer Institute in Phoenix, where Jack has been training since October, Jack didn't participate in any of the on-field drills the other draft prospects went through, instead riding a stationary bike and working off to the side.

"Personally, I feel great," Jack said. "The knee, I can do whatever I can do with the knee, running, cutting. It feels great. It feels like a new knee."

Jack said he's prepared for team doctors and trainers to poke, prod and twist his knee every which way in Indianapolis to determine if it's healthy enough to risk a first-round pick on him.

"It'll check out fine," Jack said.

Jack's meniscus was torn completely off the bone and was resewn onto the tibia. The timeframe for recovery from that surgery usually takes four months, which would've ended late January.

Until Jack is fully cleared by doctors to return to all football activities, he'll continue to work on getting used to his body again.

"I feel stronger, faster, I've gotten a lot of work in," he said. "Just working combine drills and stuff like that ... drops, working pass rush and everything. I've been working on all that."
 

Cowboysrock55

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Myles Jack, ex-UCLA standout, expects full clearance in March








5:44 PM ET
Josh Weinfuss
ESPN Staff Writer



PHOENIX -- Former UCLA linebacker/running back Myles Jack has not been cleared to fully participate in the NFL scouting combine next week, almost five months after tearing his lateral meniscus.

The 20-year-old junior told ESPN on Tuesday that he will do the bench press, attend team interviews and undergo the medical check at the combine in Indianapolis.

Jack, who injured his knee Sept. 22, was cleared to begin running and cutting Jan. 22. He expects to be fully cleared in early March.

During media day at the Fischer Institute in Phoenix, where Jack has been training since October, Jack didn't participate in any of the on-field drills the other draft prospects went through, instead riding a stationary bike and working off to the side.

"Personally, I feel great," Jack said. "The knee, I can do whatever I can do with the knee, running, cutting. It feels great. It feels like a new knee."

Jack said he's prepared for team doctors and trainers to poke, prod and twist his knee every which way in Indianapolis to determine if it's healthy enough to risk a first-round pick on him.

"It'll check out fine," Jack said.

Jack's meniscus was torn completely off the bone and was resewn onto the tibia. The timeframe for recovery from that surgery usually takes four months, which would've ended late January.

Until Jack is fully cleared by doctors to return to all football activities, he'll continue to work on getting used to his body again.

"I feel stronger, faster, I've gotten a lot of work in," he said. "Just working combine drills and stuff like that ... drops, working pass rush and everything. I've been working on all that."
I wonder if he will run before the draft.
 

VA Cowboy

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First Jaylon Smith and now Myles Jack not cleared for combines.

Jalen Ramsey looks more and more like the pick everyday
 

Simpleton

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Don't care.


If he can't run now, he is not worth a top five pick.
If he can't run a 40 before the draft at all I agree, but what is the difference between running at the Combine now and running at his Pro Day a month or so from now if he can?

I understand that 40 times at Pro Days are generally a little faster than what they are at the Combine but if he can run at the Pro Day I don't think it's a big deal. I'm borderline on him to begin with though so if he can't run a 40 at all before the draft then I agree.
 

Cotton

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Top 10 red-flag players heading into NFL scouting combine

By Charles Robinson
Yahoo Sports

A year ago, there were so many questions for the NFL draft class of 2015. Some were character-based that surrounded some of the elite talents in the draft, from quarterback Jameis Winston (sexual assault allegation) and edge rusher Randy Gregory (substance abuse), to defensive end Frank Clark (domestic violence arrest) and wideout Dorial Green-Beckham (too many questions to choose just one).

Other questions orbited around health. Running back Todd Gurley? Knee reconstruction. Linebacker Shane Ray? Bad toe. Offensive tackle T.J. Clemmings? A stress fracture.

The list went on and on.

So goes the NFL's talent-sifting process, where team personnel departments and coaching staffs slide players up and down draft boards – or drop them off altogether. That plunge for information intensifies next week at the scouting combine, the league's annual gathering of prospects in Indianapolis. For some players, it will be the first time they sit face-to-face and take rapid-fire questions from executives. For others, it will be only the latest round of grilling and testing. And for almost all of them, it will be the first time teams get to poke, prod and peer into medical charts dating back to high school.

With those realities in mind, here's a list of 10 players who will face pressing questions when they arrive in Indianapolis …

CHARACTER QUESTIONS

Noah Spence, DE, Eastern Kentucky: He has shown brilliant flashes as an edge rusher and popped out at the Senior Bowl. He'll most likely be a buzzy combine riser. But the one-time Ohio State standout will get grilled by teams after stunningly getting banned by the Big Ten for twice failing drug tests for Ecstasy (and also initially lying about his failures). He has since spoken openly to some media about his past drug use, sought treatment and has been climbing back up the draft boards after dominating at Eastern Kentucky and the Senior Bowl. Passing the combine drug test would be a good thing. While that sounds obvious, it's worth noting that it should have been clear to Nebraska star edge rusher Randy Gregory last year, yet Gregory still failed it. It's expected that Spence will do well in the athletic portion of the combine. It's off-field things that teams will arrive most concerned about.
Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss: A physically imposing and productive athlete who was a five-star Rivals recruit and universally touted, Nkemdiche could project to either a 4-3 defensive tackle or 3-4 end on the NFL level. But his fall from an Atlanta hotel room window remains an odd moment that will get picked apart in interviews. It also came with a marijuana possession charge that will lead to plenty of questions, as well as a report of synthetic marijuana use (which Nkemdiche has denied). There was also an allegation of an assault in 2014, which resulted in the filing of a lawsuit by an Ole Miss student … and then a countersuit by Nkemdiche and his bother. Add in Nkemdiche's quirky personality, and there will be plenty of interesting conversations with teams at the combine.

Shawn Oakman, DE, Baylor: He's the Senior Bowl defensive MVP who walks into a room looking like a star NFL defensive end, but he has faced criticism about hit-or-miss performances. At the combine he'll continue to get questions about his dismissal from Penn State by then head coach Bill O'Brien (who is now the head coach of the Houston Texans) for a variety of team infractions, including grabbing the wrist of a cashier at an on-campus convenience store. He was also suspended for Baylor's season opener in 2015 for a violation of team rules. The Bears staff didn't specify Oakman's infraction, but it was later determined he had a bench warrant that had been issued for failing to appear in court in relation to a minor traffic citation (running a stop sign).

Leonte Carroo, WR, Rutgers: He's a physical wideout whose powerful, compact stature (5-foot-11 and 217 pounds) and aggressive play have drawn comparisons to NFL great Steve Smith. His medical history will get a bit of a look after he missed two games in 2015 with a high ankle sprain that was aggravated at the Senior Bowl. He'll also face more questions about an arrest and simple assault/domestic violence charge last season that was dismissed after the alleged victim declined to pursue the complaint. The event led to Carroo missing two games. Carroo has maintained his innocence, characterizing himself as a bystander who was trying to break up a fight between his girlfriend and another group of women.

Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State: He's got the prototypical size and tools of an NFL quarterback, and his arm is (thus far) considered good enough to get it done on the next level. Some of his testing in other areas of athleticism could come into play. Cook also doesn't have any glaring character red flags. That said, he has drawn the "what do you hear about him?" question when it comes to NFL scouts. Almost all of this stems from him not being voted a team captain by teammates as a junior or senior, despite already being a successful quarterback. The junior year omission has some reasoning, as he wasn't in a pool of players eligible for the honor. His senior year omission was more eyebrow-raising. NFL teams aren't picking on Cook or treating him differently. It's an ironclad trigger when successful college quarterbacks don't attain captain status as upperclassmen. Teams want to know why. It's a league where teams want their quarterbacks to be clear-cut leaders, so captaincy is a big deal. Some NFL personnel departments were hoping to ask Cook about it during Senior Bowl week, but he declined an invite to the game. So those questions have gotten pushed to the combine.

MEDICAL QUESTIONS

Myles Jack, LB, UCLA: He's a wicked every-down athlete with skills that would dazzle at the combine if Jack was 100 percent. If. Jack is entering the final stretch of recovery from a torn meniscus in his left knee that was expected to take four-to-six months to heal. His medical evaluation at the combine will be extremely important, as teams attempt to discern where he's at on the timetable. Given his combination of skills and production on the field, Jack might be the best player in this draft. One personnel man told Yahoo Sports that Jack carries similarities to Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks when he was coming out of Florida State. With that kind of praise hanging so much on speed and athleticism, Jack's knee assessment will be important.
Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame: Like Myles Jack, Smith is viewed as an explosive every-down linebacker. Unlike Jack, Smith's knee injury (a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee) is far more serious and will keep him off the field for at least a portion of the 2016 NFL season (or potentially all of it). That's where Smith shares another similarity with Jack. His medical progress is going to be paramount in his draft positioning. If his knee surgery appears to be as clean as it has been reported and Smith is healing as expected, that will go a long way in easing fears about making him a first-round pick. This process is still very early for Smith. What will be equally important beyond the combine is where his health projections are at in April, when the rehab process begins to pick up.

Laquon Treadwell, WR, Ole Miss
: He's the consensus No. 1 player at his position, though it's not clear that he's a slam dunk top-10 pick anymore. That's not necessarily Treadwell's fault since other positions have shown strength early in the sifting process and are climbing up the draft boards. That said, teams want to get a closer look at Treadwell's medical chart now that he's more than 15 months removed from a nasty fractured fibula and dislocated ankle. Treadwell looked stronger than ever in 2015, but teams will be looking to square away any lingering questions. They'll also want to see how fast he runs after a relatively short bounce-back period from the injury, which ended his 2014 season and required a rehabilitation process that stretched into the early summer of 2015.

Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor: He was a wildly productive player in the Baylor system despite some inconsistency at the quarterbacks spot in 2015. Yet opinions on his draft stock vary due to the Bears' pass-happy offense run and Coleman's size. The latter is a particular concern, especially if he comes in measuring in the 5-foot-9 range. Coleman also had sports hernia surgery in December, which caused him to miss Baylor's bowl game. That surgery date was expected to put him on track for a full recovery by the combine, and teams will need to see it. It's not so much that Coleman's overall medical is an issue (though his size could prompt questions about long-term durability). It's more that Coleman has a chance to elevate himself considerably at the combine if he shows up healthy and tests off the charts. Indeed, he might be the key to clearing up a wide receiver position that is muddled behind Mississippi's Laquon Treadwell. There is a fight for the No. 2 spot at that position, and Coleman could blow the doors off and solidify himself as a first-round pick. Much will depend on his health and how much training he got in following his December surgery.

PERFORMANCE QUESTIONS


Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State: He's got the prototypical quarterback size and physical tools that teams love. But there are evaluators who see a guy who overwhelmingly had his best season as a freshman and declined in ensuing seasons. He was coached by the Houston Texans' Bill O'Brien in his first year at Penn State, and the talent surrounding him (and protecting him) steadily faded as he advanced into his sophomore and junior seasons. But the most pressing questions are about his accuracy, including serious concerns about when he was missing open receivers. From this point on, every throwing performance for Hackenberg will be big. How Hackenberg reacts in interviews will be huge, too. Specifically, whether he puts the responsibility for shortcomings on himself or points fingers elsewhere.
 

boozeman

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NFL ponders changes to tests given at annual scouting combine


Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports 11:19 a.m. EST February 21, 2016


Is this the end of the NFL combine as we know it?

National Football Scouting Inc., which runs the combine, is establishing a committee of NFL executives, scouts, coaches, athletic trainers, team physicians and others to review all phases of the annual event starting this week in Indianapolis, according to company president Jeff Foster.

The NFL’s operations department also is involved in the review process, which will include periodic checkpoints through April’s draft and beyond, Foster said – a sign of increased interest at the league level in a possible overhaul amidst evolving technology and sports science.

“Our first focus is to look at what we do currently and making sure that that’s relevant,” Foster told USA TODAY Sports. “And if it is, great, we’ll continue to do it, because historical comparison is really important to the evaluation process. But if we believe that there’s something that’s not relevant, then what can we replace it with that will help us evaluate the players?”


No, a quarterback’s throwing session on the field won’t be swapped for one in a virtual reality environment anytime soon. But the days of players training for months to score high in tests such as the 40-yard dash, vertical leap and bench press – sometimes derided as the “Underwear Olympics” – could be numbered.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is among those to criticize combine preparation as a waste of development time. Many NFL teams are integrating advanced evaluation tools in the draft process. League officials have heard presentations from a variety of experts in recent months. Commissioner Roger Goodell toured STRIVR Labs Inc.’s virtual reality facilities as part of his annual Silicon Valley tour in July.

“We’re continuing to explore everything in an effort to improve,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “So, if there are ways to tweak, improve, modify anything we do, we’ll explore that (and that includes) the combine. The mantra is, how can we get better?”

On Wednesday, the league will hold its first football performance and technology symposium, featuring speakers including Dr. Marcus Elliott, founder and director of P3, which has evaluated NBA combine participants the past two years in a 3D motion analysis lab.

“Everybody wins when you do these things,” said Elliott, a onetime physiologist and injury prevention specialist to the Patriots. “You start choosing players that are slotted more correctly based on their real physical tools, and you also have insight into injuries they’re at risk for, so you can help them prevent those injuries.”

The NFL combine did add a functional movement screen several years ago, as well as baseline neurological testing and the Player Assessment Tool, a psychological test developed in part through consultation with general managers as a supplement to the Wonderlic test. But many elements – most notable, tests and drills on the field – have been largely unchanged for decades.

Foster said he expects the new committee to review not only current physical evaluations, but psychological and medical evaluations, which generally are more important to teams at the combine.


“We want to make sure that we’re using the technology that’s available,” Foster said. “What I don’t think we’re interested in doing is beta testing. We want some proven elements that will help us better evaluate the players so that we can project college players to the NFL.”

Foster said NFS has done its own internal reviews of the combine since he arrived a decade ago, but its focus has primarily been on streamlining the data collection and delivery process. (A partnership with Microsoft produced an app that should help going forward.) That process continues, with rest time and mental fatigue for players among the issues being examined.

NFS also is looking into fitting players with some sort of devices to record data during on-field drills at the combine, as many NFL teams do during regular training, and motion-capture technology is another area of potential interest, Foster said.

“What I’ve learned in my short time here,” Foster said, “is nothing is impossible in terms of what we’ll do.”

The sooner the league starts collecting new kinds of data, the sooner it could amass enough to draw comparisons and learn from bad outcomes – a process many teams are going through with their in-house projects now. P3 has independently collected data on roughly a quarter of this year’s combine prospects through partnerships with agencies and a prominent training program, Elliott said.

Some changes could translate to not only better information for clubs and players, but a more compelling spectator event as well.

“You can get in on a really granular level and analyze these systems – even overlays of some of the stuff they do,” Elliott said. “They measure vertical jump, but there’s a lot of ways for two guys to both jump 38 inches. There’s potential for this thing to get so much smarter.”
 

Cotton

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Schedule:

*Coverage will start every day will start at 8 a.m. CT exclusively on NFL Network.*
Friday, Feb. 26: running backs, offensive linemen and special teamers
Saturday, Feb. 27: quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends
Sunday, Feb. 28: defensive linemen and linebackers
Monday, Feb. 29: defensive backs
 

Cotton

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boozeman

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Then he is hurting himself as it looks like he is admitting he has something to hide.
 

VA Cowboy

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It'll be interesting to see which top prospect fails his drug test so we can find out who we'll take in the 2nd.
 

Cotton

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Then he is hurting himself as it looks like he is admitting he has something to hide.
Yeah, I think it's really dumb when players don't participate in every event they possibly can at the Combine.
 

Cotton

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Ten potential NFL Scouting Combine workout freaks

By Chase Goodbread
College Football 24/7 writer

Sports records can last decades before they fall.

However, at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, records fall all the time as football's top prospects are always setting new standards with their physical prowess. Here's a look at 10 prospects for the 2016 NFL Draft, listed alphabetically, with freakish athleticism who could create the most buzz around this year's combine (Feb. 23-29) in Indianapolis.

Note: UCLA LB Myles Jack, if healthy, would be deserving of a spot on this list, but he's coming off a knee injury and hasn't been cleared for full combine participation.

Baylor DT Andrew Billings
A former national-champion weight lifter at the high-school level, Billings figures to rep 225 pounds on the bench press like he's lifting balloons instead of iron. CFB 24/7's pick for the nation's strongest player for 2015 was bench-pressing 500 pounds before he ever set foot on campus at Baylor. If anyone is going to challenge Stephen Paea's combine record of 49 reps on the bench press, Billings figures to be as good a bet as anyone.

Ohio State DE Joey Bosa

No list of potential combine freaks is complete without a 6-foot-5, 280-pound lineman who can do a standing backflip. Along with being a strong possibility to be a top-five pick in the draft, Bosa should rate very high in explosiveness testing, such as the vertical jump. Agility drills tend to be more difficult for taller players, but Bosa should be the exception there, and don't be surprised if he breaks 4.8 in the 40-yard dash.

Miami (Fla.) CB Artie Burns
Football players who are also track standouts typically perform exceptionally well at the combine, which makes Burns one to watch in Indianapolis. Along with being a skilled cornerback for the Hurricanes, he was also one of the top hurdlers in the ACC, earning All-America honors in 2014 in the 60-meter hurdles event.


Baylor WR Corey Coleman
Long before winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver, CFB 24/7 selected Coleman as the most freakish athlete in the nation. Before he even began training specifically for the combine, he tested off the charts in multiple combine events (4.38 40-yard dash, 11-3 broad jump, 45-0 vertical jump, and a 6.62 clocking in the three-cone drill ,which would have topped all receivers at the 2015 combine). He could set the bar at his position in multiple events in Indianapolis.

Ohio State WR Braxton Miller
With more than 300 prospects in Indianapolis, there might not be anyone whose combine performance will be more heavily anticipated than that of the former Ohio State star. He was dynamic at 215 pounds at OSU, but trimmed down to 204 for the Reese's Senior Bowl to help facilitate even more explosiveness. His minimum expectation in the 40-yard dash is in the low 4.3s, and that wouldn’t surprise anyone at OSU.


Ole Miss DT Robert Nkemdiche
Ole Miss' star defensive tackle was athletic enough to also contribute at running back and tight end for the Rebels, albeit sparingly, over the course of his college career. He'll weigh-in in the neighborhood of 300 pounds and just might run in the 4.8-range in the 40-yard dash. His explosiveness bodes well for his vertical-jump and agility-drill testing as well. There shouldn't be a player in Indy of Nkemdiche's size who will have a better overall performance.

Baylor DE Shawn Oakman

Yes, there is legitimate room for three Baylor players on this list. In fact, the Bears pass rusher should consider the combine his personal showcase. After all, his reputation as a freakish athlete comes more from his weight-room exploits than his play on the field. That's what doing pull-ups with 120 pounds of iron hanging from your waist, and performing 40-inch box jumps while holding 70 pounds worth of dumbbells, will do for expectations. So with the body fat of a defensive back and the physical strength of a lineman, all eyes will be on the 6-foot-7, 269-pound monster in Indy.

East Carolina LB Montese Overton

You want a sleeper to watch for at the combine? Try Overton, who could prove to be the fastest linebacker at the event. His ECU official bio claims a 4.31 40-yard dash that makes him the fastest at the position in school history. Combine 40 times are notoriously slower than the 40 times recorded at the college level, but Overton should nonetheless acquit himself very well.

Florida State DB Jalen Ramsey
Florida State's star defensive back can play any position in the secondary, and will bring the kind of track exploits to Indianapolis that foretell a stellar outcome. He was the long-jump champion of the ACC last year, and ran a 100-meter dash in 10.61 seconds. No, they don't test in the long jump at the combine, but he's a smart pick for a brow-raising measurement in the broad jump. He'll test at more than 40 inches in the vertical jump as well. One NFL executive has already predicted that he'll "win the combine."

Notre Dame CB KeiVarae Russell
Notre Dame's top cover man was selected as one of CFB 24/7's most freakish athletes entering the season, and he didn't disappoint in his final college season. With reported sub-4.4 speed and a broad jump of 11-plus feet, he should fare very well in Indianapolis. Just this week, he posted a video clip claiming a 51-inch box jump that bodes well for his vertical leap measurement at the combine.
 

Cotton

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It'll be interesting to see which top prospect fails his drug test so we can find out who we'll take in the 2nd.
Here you go...

 

ravidubey

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Then he is hurting himself as it looks like he is admitting he has something to hide.
Maybe he doesn't want to look like a fool next to Coleman. As far as I'm concerned, he'd have to run a 4.7+ for teams to even think of downgrading him.
 

ravidubey

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http://harvardsportsanalysis.org/2015/02/the-combine-actually-matters-part-2/

Harvard bean counting says you can predict success from Combine results.
This is very intriguing stuff and I can't imagine the teams haven't already run these kinds of numbers.

What I love is how numbers show no bias, they are just facts.

Weight matters more for DE's than any stat for them or any other position... imagine that. More evidence that Randy Gregory is too thin to win.

Another bizarre correlation is bench press for CB's. Revis had 16 reps and Peterson 15. Morris Claiborne declined to lift.

Most interesting of all was how nothing at the combine at all correlates to how good a WR you will get. Speed, press, cones, height, weight-- nothing matters. Purely a talent evaluation game. Love it.
 
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