Combine this week.

[onejayhawk]

Who and what are you checking out?

J

[onejayhawk]

OL had their weigh in. Results will be posted today most places. Tyron Smith passed the eyeball test, weighing in at 307, with extremely long arms. He was listed at 280 in the USC press guide, so there had been concern that he was too light.

Marcus Cannon has the opposite problem. He is said to have played at upwards of 375, but weighed in at 358. Cannon is expected to be a workout star this weekend.

The buzz of the day is Colorado's Nate Solder, who registered at 6' 8" and 319 pounds. He added over 20 pounds a year, from a starting point of 6'5" and 235 pounds. He is also the team weight room award winner. His work ethic is a major resume point.

J

[onejayhawk]

More weigh ins. The skill positions were notable for their lack surprises. The QBs are all big, RBs were all short, and WRs were all lanky. More to the point, heights and weights were in line with those published by the schools. One notable is Oregon State RB Jacquizz Rodgers (5-5⅞) but a solid 196 pounds. 2010 2nd round pick Dexter McCluster was 178 pounds.

The early strength results are in. To no one's surprise, Marcus Cannon led the OL with 33 reps. However, Chris Hairston of Clemson matched him. Cannon is everyone's idea of a great power RT/OG, but Hairston made himself some money.

Late addition. The Cs topped the Rep chart. Ryan Bartholomew of Syracuse banged out 34, and Utah's Zane Taylor did another 33.

J

[onejayhawk]

Ryan Bartholomew is impressing down the line. He tested near the top of his group in every field test, he is a Syracuse Team Captain, and is reported to be acing his interviews. He was considered a very late to UD player. He is now well up in the middle rounds, possibly into day 2.

Marcus Cannon is proving very quick and agile, despite the 358 pounds. He reminds me of former UT OL Leonard Davis, now with Dallas. He may be huge, but he makes it look natural.

For polish, there is Anthony Costanzo. He has limited upside, but you could drop him into almost any OL tomorrow, and expect him to start. RT is his best position, but he can play LT and probably OG as well.

J

[onejayhawk]

I made a thread to cover two eyepopping numbers that came out of Indianapolis: Stephen Peae's 49 reps at the bench press and Jason Kelce's 4.14 shuttle time.

In more mundane numbers, no one has put up anything like the 4.28 Jacoby Ford ran last year, much less the show Chris Johnson put on in 2008, but Julio Jones opened some eyes with a 4.39 40, to go with excellent scores in the broad jump and vertical. Clearly at least a mid 1st round prospect, Jones may be crowding the top 10. At the other extreme, Jon Baldwin ran only a 4.5 and did not test well in other events. Once thought the second best WR in this pool, he is rapidly sliding into the 2nd, or even 3rd round.

Among the RBs, a surprise was Auburn's Mario Fannin posted a sub 4.4. Fannin is a 235 pung FB. The top two RBs, Mark Ingram and Mikel LeShoure are not known for their speed. Both tested as expected: 4.61 and 4.59. Jordan Todman of UConn made some money, running 4.40 and looking good in drills.

Ryan Mallett looked much better than he did in front of the microphone, executing all the throws. Unfortunately, he has trouble doing the same under a pass rush. Cam Newton did not silence questions about his ability to execute at the next level. On the up side, remember the name Colin Kaepernick of Nevada. This is the guy that led the upset of Boise State, has a cannon of an arm, and also posted the best 40 among the QBs. He is starting to crowd the first round, but could conceivably be the first QB taken. A lot depends on how teams grade his learning skills.

J