2008 Combine Report-TE/OL

by Jason Jones

Starting with the offensive lineman, the combine changes perception right, wrong, or indifferent. It is my belief that no one should put too much stock in the combine. Some guys test off the charts and can’t play football. Some guys test very poorly and turn into all pros. Like most draft analysts, I had preconceived notions on who should be ranked where. I am still inclined to keep everyone where they were. Not so much the case with the TE’s, but we’ll get to that later.

My Pre-Combine OL Rankings (regardless of position)

1. Jake Long – OT
2. Ryan Clady – OT
3. Gosder Cherilus – OT
4. Chris Williams – OT
5. Jeff Otah – OT
6. Chilo Rachal – OG
7. Sam Baker – OT
8. Brandon Albert – OG
9. Roy Scheuning – OG
10. Heath Benedict – OT
11. Eric Young – OG
12. Drew Radovich – OG
13. Tony Hills – OT
14. Mike McGlynn – OG
15. Shannon Tevaga – OG
16. Jon Greco – OT
17. Adam Kraus – OG
18. Robert Felton – OG
19. Mike Pollak – OC
20. Kory Lichtensteiger – OC

Those 20 are the way I see them, especially as of before the combine. Some of the following information (more specifically for those who don’t get the NFL Network) may allow you to change your mind on the order of the previous list. Bold indicates players from my top 20 list.

40 Times:

1. Jeremy Zuttah-4.99
2. Donald Thomas-5.00
3. Mike Pollak-5.02
4. Duane Brown-5.08
5. Heath Benedict-5.09
6. Oniel Cousins-5.11
7. Branden Albert-5.17
8. Chris Williams-5.17
9. Breno Giacomini-5.20
10. Gosder Cherilus-5.21

Bench Press (reps at 225 pounds):

1. Jake Long-37
2. Jeremy Zuttah-35
3. Kirk Barton-34
4. Mike Gibson-31
5. Carl Nicks-31
6. Brandon Keith-31
7. John Greco-30
8. Mike McGlynn-30
9. Chris McDuffie-29
10. Mike Pollak-29

Vertical Jump (in inches):

1. Cody Wallace-30.5
2. John Sullivan-30.0
3. Heath Benedict-28.5
4. Chad Rhinehart-28.5
5. Duane Brown-27.5
6. Jake Lone-27.5
7. Mike Gibson-27.0
8. Demetrius Bell-26.5
9. Jamey Richard-26.5
10. Jeremy Zuttah-26.5

Broad Jump (feet, then inches)

1. Cody Wallace-9’5
2. Tyler Polumbus-9’4
3. Branden Albert-9’3
4. Mike Gibson-9’2
5. Mike Pollak-9’2
6. Heath Benedict-9’2
7. Demetrius Bell-9’1
8. Carl Nicks-9’1
9. Breno Giacomini-9’0
10. Chilo Rachal-9’0

3-Cone Drill (measured in seconds)

1. Mike Gibson-7.21
2. Steve Justice-7.40
3. Jake Long-7.44
4. Donald Thomas-7.45
5. Cody Wallace-7.45
6. Corey Clark-7.47
7. Drew Radovich-7.47
8. Mike Pollak-7.49
9. Breno Giacomini-7.56
10. Duane Brown-7.58

20-Yard Shuffle (measured in seconds)

1. Mike Pollak-4.47
2. Duane Brown-4.52
3. Drew Radovich-4.53
4. Jeremy Zuttah-4.54
5. John Sullivan-4.55
6. Cody Wallace-4.55
7. Kory Lichtensteiger-4.56
8. Chad Rhinehart-4.56
9. Steve Justice-4.58
10. Breno Giacomini-4.63

As I mentioned earlier, the combine changes perception. There are more than a handful of names on the respective leader boards who weren’t on my list. I say with warning, to not let the combine completely change your mind on these players. I will admit, however, some of these guys now have sparked my interest from their combine performances enough to make me want to go back and watch them on film again.

Tight Ends.

With this particular group, I will not be so casual. I have a pre-combine list for them as well. However, the difference is, these guys changed my mind in a very solid manner. There is one guy in particular who is on my list but not near #1. He is completely ingrained as my consensus #1 TE. The guy I had at #1 going in I still like, but he was more than disappointing…and not running the 40 is not helping his cause. This list was more entertaining to watch and evaluate, especially with how the TE position has changed over the years.

Pre-Combine TE Rankings

1. Fred Davis
2. Jermichael Finley
3. Jacob Tamme
4. Martellus Bennett
5. Brad Cottam
6. Dustin Keller
7. Martin Rucker
8. John Carlson
9. Kellen Davis
10. Joey Haynos

These top 10 TE’s are respective of game film watched and overall perceived talent. Some I’ve seen more than others. Some I now wish I had seen more of. There are no less than 5 of the 10 that will move in some fashion, up or down. The following results will show exactly who. Especially, Mr. Keller.

40 Times:

1. Dustin Keller-4.55
2. Jacob Tamme-4.58
3. Craig Stevens-4.59
4. Kellen Davis-4.60
5. Brad Cottam-4.63
6. Gary Barnidge-4.65
7. Martellus Bennett-4.68
8. Jermichael Finley-4.82

Bench Press (reps at 225 pounds):

1. Craig Stevens-27
2. Dustin Keller-26
3. Fred Davis-24
4. Brad Cottam-24
5. Derek Fine-24
6. Kolo Kapanui-23
7. Gary Barnidge-22
8. Kellen Davis-22
9. Adam Bishop-21

Vertical Jump (measured in inches):

1. Dustin Keller-38.0
2. Tom Santi-36.0
3. Martellus Bennett-34.0
4. Brad Cottam-33.0
5. Gary Barnidge-31.0
6. Joey Haynos-30.5
7. John Carlson-30.5
8. Jacob Tamme-30.0

Broad Jump (measured in feet, then inches):

1. Dustin Keller-10’11
2. Joey Haynos-10’3
3. Tom Santi-10’1
4. Gary Barnidge-9’9
5. Martellus Bennett-9’9
6. Kellen Davis-9’9
7. Jermichael Finley-9’8

3-Cone Drill (measured in seconds):

1. Derek Fine-6.80
2. Dustin Keller-6.88
3. Gary Barnidge-6.92
4. Joey Haynos-6.92
5. Jacob Tamme-6.99
6. Craig Stevens-7.07
7. Tom Santi-7.08

20-Yard Shuttle (measured in seconds):

1. Dustin Keller-4.14
2. Derek Fine-4.19
3. Gary Barnidge-4.23
4. Tom Santi-4.27
5. Jacob Tamme-4.27
6. Adam Bishop-4.28
7. John Carlson-4.28

60-Yard Shuttle (measured in seconds):

1. Gary Barnidge-11.29
2. Jacob Tamme-11.51
3. John Carlson-11.59
4. Dustin Keller-11.74
5. Craig Stevens-11.78

If you haven’t noticed, Dustin Keller from Purdue owned the day. The vertical jump was the most impressive. He looked like he could, flat footed, jump out of the tunnel and into the upper bowl of the stadium. After his first jump I was sure they didn’t have enough of those measuring sticks for his second attempt. Gary Barnidge is another guy who wasn’t that high with me. At least Keller was on my list. Barnidge was on most leader boards. I really like Jacob Tamme from Kentucky. Tamme made Andre Woodson look good all season, and not the other way around. Tamme reminds me a lot of Jason Witten. He looks like a big blocking TE, but just makes plays in the passing game. The big disappointment was with Fred Davis. Fred Davis all season looked a lot like another Kellen Winslow type TE. A mismatch every time. Instead, he came across as a prima donna who’s mind was elsewhere. He dropped too many passes and had a bit of a cocky swagger. Good news is, he ran routes like an all-pro WR.

The big point here is, neither extreme is necessarily correct. If I were a GM, I would put more value in what happened on the field of play with pads and full contact than I would grades and results from the combine. However, the combine cannot be ignored. In some cases it should force guys up as well as down. Chances are that if you follow this whole thing and have never heard of someone, and then they test through the roof, that should be a red flag of some sort. Best example I can think of …a couple of years ago Jeremy Bloom, a Colorado Buffalo WR/KR was kicked out of the football program for skiing in the Olympics. He was then invited to the combine and graded very well (especially in the timed events, 40, shuttles, etc). He didn’t make it to the Eagles bye week and is barely hanging on in the league. He’s very fast and shifty, but could not play football at the NFL level. Case of giving the combine too much credit. There was also a rumor that Vince Young scored the lowest on the Wonderlic test…ever. I’m sure Coach Fisher didn’t give 2 s@#$’s.

The real “Black Quarterback Syndrome”

By Rick Morris

The ridiculous heat that Vince Young has taken this week seems to dictate that we spell out for you one more time what really constitutes the “Black Quarterback Syndrome.”

Donovan McNabb implied earlier this year in his crybaby diatribe that black quarterbacks are persecuted more than their white peers and that the racial dynamic involved is just a perpetration of Jim Crow attitudes. Wrong.

Black quarterbacks don’t suffer because of bias against them; they suffer because they are put on too high of a pedestal.

The truism “no man is an island” never seems to be applied to goalies in hockey and quarterbacks in football. Ignorant and emotionally driven fans and analysts refuse to acknowledge the extent to which these players (like everyone else) are dependent on supportive efforts from teammates and coaching philosophies with a chance of success. Goalies Chris Osgood and Curtis Joseph dealt with shameful lack of fan appreciation throughout their tenures in Detroit and quarterback Tim Couch suffered the slings and arrows of an uneducated fanbase in Cleveland that refused to fathom that a bad organization and coaching staff had stacked the deck against him.

As such, black quarterbacks are not the only players in sports to suffer scrutiny that may become unfair, although their ups and downs are always considered newsworthy by our modern race-obsessed media. But the predominant reason for their struggles eludes everyone, although the dots are very easy to connect.

We at FDH predicted before the season that Vince Young would have some issues this year with lack of support. Certainly, in a purely statistical sense, we knew that he would not be a great fantasy football value and we had him 14^th on our draft board when he showed up 9^th on our “experts’ draft board” (an average of other leading industry websites and magazines). The reason?

Arguably the worst wide receiver corps in the league catching his passes.

Sadly, Young fits a pattern in the NFL that stretches back several years. McNabb never had a legitimate #1 wide receiver before Terrell Owens. Mike Vick, although highly inaccurate and a bad citizen, in all fairness had a bunch of scrubs catching his passes. Byron Leftwich never had anyone worth a pitcher of warm spit hauling in his throws after Jimmy Smith retired (although, frankly, that has far more to do with the rank incompetence of the Jacksonville front office when it comes to evaluating wideouts – they have spent high draft picks and free agency money, but they are hopeless in terms of their talent recruitment). Daunte Culpepper never had anyone who wasn’t a waste of protoplasm playing wide receiver with him after Randy Moss left town.

Essentially, because the terms “black quarterback” and “mobile quarterback” have become one and the same in the public mind, and the concept of the mobile quarterback has become revered in the football world, there is the sense that talented black quarterbacks can do no wrong. NFL front offices take this thought process, such as it is, and run with it. Why bother to spend finite resources on great wide receivers, the logic seems to be, when we can put those resources elsewhere and count on our superstar to succeed offensively all by himself?

And this theory gets propagated year in and year out by well-respected and well-paid pro personnel men!

The Vince Young situation is very simple. I’ll break it down for you here. Yes, he may be having some typical second-year issues in which he must counter-adjust to the adjustments that defenses have made to him. But the vast majority of his problems stem from the fact that his wide receiving core is not even Arena League-worthy. Get him some help and he’ll be a top statistical quarterback who makes several Pro Bowls over the course of his career. Leave him with the dregs he’s got now and he’ll continue to be a piñata for uninformed people who want to bury him when he’s got no chance to succeed.