Draft-eligible players begin arriving Wednesday in
I’ll be heading to the combine tomorrow, and will have full coverage from there for four days, beginning Thursday.
I go there with an open mind, but with some thoughts on certain players . . . such as:
–QB Sam Bradford: Seems like a risky pick to select a QB high in the first round from a spread offense who is stil recovering from surgery on a separated throwing shoulder.
–QB Jimmy Clausen: My first experience watching him was as the highest-rated prep QB. He came out for the 2006 small-schools
—QB Tim Tebow: I just don’t understand. He knew a year ago he had major mechanical flaws that would keep him from being a QB at the next level. He had all last offseason before his senior year at
—RB Jahvid Best: Hopefully his days of leaping at the goal line are over. I still can’t get that image out of my mind. And you know teams are concerned, too.
–RB C.J. Spiller: I’m hearing he’s a more NFL-ready version of Reggie Bush. I’d hope so. Bush is just a role player.
—RB Dexter McCluster: Anyone who wants a specialty back/return man will be interested in this waterbug. The question is, at his size, is he worth a second-round pick?
—RB Toby Gerhart: After the Heisman season, he has fallen off the face of the earth. Nobody is talking about him. Why is that? I’ll ask around about him in
—WR Dez Bryant: Obviously, he’s very talented. But might teams be wary of his choice of representation? He hired Michael Crabtree’s agent, Eugene Parker.
—OT Trent Williams: He was strong at right tackle a year ago, but struggled on the left side this past season. Who is the real Trent Williams?
—OT Bruce Campbell: I’m hearing he will turn heads at the combine with his physique and athleticism.
—OG Mike Iupati: When the top tackles fly off the board, he how will it take for a team to grab him? Many believe he has the feet to step in and be a darn good right tackle.
–OLB Koa Misi: I’ll be doing a daily notebook with him, beginning Friday when he reports to
—CB Javier Arenas: His man coverage skills aren’t the best in this class, but he has strong attributes as a return man. That warrants consideration for some teams.
–S
Those are just some of my thoughts. I’ll have four days to share many of other observations.
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Please pass along the players you wish to read more about while I’m in
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Here is a list of the players invited to the scouting combine (*-denotes players who were granted early entry into the draft):
QUARTERBACKS
*Bradford, Sam (
Brown, Levi (
Brown, Jarrett (
Canfield, Sean (
Clark, Daryll (Penn St)
*Clausen, Jimmy (Notre Dame)
Edwards, Armanti (Appalachian St)
Hall, Max (BYU)
Hiller, Tim (
Kafka, Miike (Northwestern)
LeFevour, Dan (
Lewis, Thaddeus (Duke)
McCoy, Colt (
Pike, Tony (
Robinson, Zac (
Skelton, John (Fordham)
Skinner, Riley (Wake forest)
*Snead, Jevan (
Tebow, Tim (
RUNNING BACKS
Asiata, Matthew (
*Best, Jahvid (Cal)
Blount, Legarrette (
Brown, Chris (
*Dwyer, Jonathan (Georgia Tech)
Gerhart, Toby (Stanford)
Hardesty, Montario (
James, Javarris (Miami-Fl)
Johnson, Stafon (USC)
*Marshall, Darius (Marshall)
*Mathews, Ryan (
McCluster, Dexter (
*Mcknight, Joe (USC)
*McNeal, Shawnbrey (SMU)
Miller, Lonyae (
Minor,
Paschall, Pat (
Scott, Charles (
Spiller, C.J. (Clemson)
Starks, James (
Tate, Ben (
Toston, Keith (
Williams, Keiland (
FULLBACKS
Conner, John (
Jackson, Rashawn (Virginia)
WIDE RECEIVERS
Ajirotutu, Seyi (
Alexander, Danario (
Arnett, Alric (
Banks,
*
*Benn, Arrelious (
Boateng, Nyan (Cal)
*Briscoe, Dezmon (
*Brown, Antonio (
*Bryant, Dez (
Carter, Chris (UC Davis)
Cooper, Riley (
Decker, Eric (
Easley, Marcus (
Ford, Jacoby (Clemson)
Gettis, David (Baylor)
Gilyard, Mardy (
Hodge, Shay (
James,
Jones, Donald (
Jurovich, Kevin (
LaFell,
Long, Scott (
McGaha, Chris (
Meier, Kerry (
*Mitchell,
Parker, Preston (
Perry, Jared (
Price,
Reed, David (
Roberts, Andre (Citadel)
Sanders, Emmanuel (SMU)
*Tate, Golden (Notre Dame)
*Thomas, Demaryius (Georgia Tech)
Tucker, Verran (Cal)
West, Chastin (
White, Blair (
*Williams, Damian (USC)
Williams, Jeremy (Tulane)
Williams, Kyle (
*Williams, Mike (
Williams, Stephen (
Wolfe, Ryan (UNLV)
TIGHT ENDS
Byham, Nate (
Dickerson, Dorin (
Dickson, Ed (
Dray, Jim (Stanford)
Eldridge, Brody (
Epps, Dedrick (Miami-Fl)
Geer, Riar (
Graham, Garrett (
Graham, Jimmy (Miami-Fl)
*Gresham, Jermaine (
*Gronkowski, Rob (
Harbor, Clay (Missouri St)
*Hernandez, Aaron (
Hoomanawanui, Michael (
Mastrud, Jeron (
McCoy, Anthony (USC)
Moeaki, Tony (
Peek, Colin (
Pitta, Dennis (BYU)
Quarless, Andrew (Penn St)
TACKLES
Beadles, Zane (
Black, Ciron (
Brown, Charles (USC)
*Bulaga, Bryan (
Calloway, Kyle (
*Campbell, Bruce (
Capers, Selvish (
*Davis, Anthony (
Degeare, Chris (
Ducasse, Vlad (Massachusetts-Amherst)
Fox, Jason (Miami-Fl)
Jerry, John (
Jolly, Kyle (
Kopa, Matt (Stanford)
Lauvao, Shawn (
Newhouse, Marshall (
Okung, Russell (
Pemberton, Cole (
Saffold, Rodger (Indiana)
Scott, Chris (
Tepper, Mike (
Ulatoski, Adam (
Veldheer, Jared (Hillsdale)
Wang, Ed (Virginia Tech)
Washington, Tony (
Welch, Thomas (Vanderbilt)
Williams,
Young, Sam (Notre Dame)
GUARDS
Asamoah, Jon (
Brooks, Dorian (James Madison)
Carter,
Gregory, Kurtis (
Hawley, Joe (UNLV)
Iupati, Mike (
Johnson, Mike (
Parsons, Alex (USC)
Petrus, Mitch (
Smith, Shelley (
CENTERS
Byers, Jeff (USC)
Cook, Erik (
Hickman, Jake (
Larsen, Ted (
Olsen, Eric (Notre Dame)
*Pouncey, Maurkice (
Tennant, Matt (
Walton, J D (Baylor)
DEFENSIVE ENDS
Alem, Rahim (
Alualu, Tyson (Cal)
*Basped, Kevin (
Carrington, Alex (
Coleman, Antonio (
Cunningham, Jermaine (
Davis, Dexter (
Davis, Hall (Louisiana-Lafayette)
Deaderick,
*Dunlap, Carlos (
Galette, Junior (Stillman)
*Geathers,
*Gibson, Thaddeus (
Graham,
*Griffen, Everson (USC)
Hardy, Greg (
Hughes, Jerry (
Ihenacho, Carl (
Kindle, Sergio (
Kirlew, Jammie (Indiana)
Lane, Austen (
Lang,
Lorig, Erik (Stanford)
McClellan, Albert (
Middleton, Greg (
Misi, Koa (
Moats, Arthur (James Madison)
*Morgan, Derrick (Georgia Tech)
*Pierre-Paul, Jason (
Sapp, Ricky (Clemson)
Schofield, O’Brien (
Selvie, George (
Sheffield, Cameron (
Te’o-Nesheim, Daniel (
Tracy, Adrian (William & Mary)
Washington, Lorenzo (
Wilson, C.J. (
Wootton, Corey (Northwestern)
*Worilds, Jason (Virginia Tech)
Young, Willie (
DEFENSIVE TACKLES
Alexander, Charles (
Atkins, Geno (Georgia)
Cody, Terrence (
Houston, Lamarr (
Jones, Art (
*Joseph, Linval (
*McCoy, Gerald (
Mitchell, Earl (
Mullins, Aleric (
Neal, Mike (Purdue)
Odrick, Jared (Penn St)
Oghobaase, Vince (Duke)
Owens, Jeff (
Peters, Corey (
*Price, Brian (UCLA)
Ross, Jay (
Sheppard, Malcolm (
Smith, D’Anthony (
Suh, Ndamukong (
Thomas, Cam (
Troup, Torell (
Williams, Dan (
Woods, Al (
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
Beauchamp, Jason (UNLV)
Bosworth, Kyle (UCLA)
*Bowman, Navorro (Penn St)
Clayton, Keenan (
Cole, Justin (
Coleman, Harry (
Conner, Kavell (Clemson)
*Curran, Rennie (Georgia)
Edds, A.J. (
Grimm, Cody (Virginia Tech)
Kristick, Keaton (
Lawrence, Simoni (
Lee, Sean (Penn St)
Maxwell, Samuel (
Riley, Perry (
Sylvester, Steven (
Watson, Dekoda (
Weatherspoon, Sean (
INSIDE LINEBACKERS
Angerer, Pat (
Campbell, Lee (
Chaney, Jamar (
Dillard, Phillip (
Goethel, Travis (
Johnson, Micah (
Lee, Boris (
*McClain, Rolando (
McLaughlin, Mike (
Muckelroy, Roddrick (
Sharpton, Darryl (Miami-Fl)
Spikes,
Triplett, Nathan (
Washington, Daryl (
Wilson, Kion (
CORNERBACKS
Arenas, Javier (
Brown, Cornelius (UTEP)
Carroll, Nolan (
Chancellor, Chris (Clemson)
Cook, Chris (
Cox, Perrish (
*Franks, Dominique (
Ghee,
Green, Marshay (
*Haden, Joe (
Hawkins, Chris (
Jackson, Brian (
*Jackson, Kareem (
Lewis, Myron (Vanderbilt)
Lindley, Trevard (
McCourty, Devin (
McManis, Sherrick (Northwestern)
*Moore, Joshua (
Murphy, Jerome (
Owusu-Ansah, Akwasi (Indiana-Pa)
Pender, David (Purdue)
Pinkard, Josh (USC)
Robinson, Patrick (
Ross, Devin (
*Spievey, Amari (
Thomas, Kevin (USC)
Thompson, Syd’Quan (
Thurmond, Walter (
Verner, Alterraun (UCLA)
Virgil, Stephan (Virginia Tech)
Wall, Jamar (
*Warren, Donovan (
Wilson, Kyle (
SAFETIES
Allen, Nate (
Amaya, Jonathon (
Antoine, Lucien (
*
*Burnett, Morgan (Georgia Tech)
Chancellor, Kam (Virginia Tech)
Church, Barry (
Coleman, Kurt (
*
*Jones, Reshad (Georgia)
Lewis, Kendrick (
Mays, Taylor (USC)
McCarthy, Kyle (Notre Dame)
Polk, Nick (
*Rogan, Dennis (
Rolle, Myron (
Stewart, Darian (
Stuckey, Darrell (
*Thomas, Earl (
Ward, T.J. (
Woodall, Justin (
*Wright, Major (
SPECIALISTS
Pettrey, Aaron (Ohio St) kicker
Swenson, Brett (Michigan St) kicker
Bowden, Brent (Virginia Tech) punter
Dodge, Matt (
Malone, Robert (Fresno St) punter
Mesko, Zoltan (
Ravanesi, Scott (
Gresham, Clint (Texas Christian) long snapper
Holliday, Trindon (Louisiana St) returner
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