As a Clemson Tigers football fan, I was anxiously awaiting the NFL Network's coverage of the NFL Combine workouts for QB's, WR's and RB's on Sunday. My sole purpose in tuning in to the three hour segment was to see how QB Cullen Harper, WR Aaron Kelly and RB James Davis performed in the workouts. I must say that I was very disappointed in how miniscule the coverage was for the entire group of RB's. As a matter of fact, the only RB drills that were even shown were a couple of long and vertical jumps and Beanie Wells of Ohio St. was featured in both.
Let me say that I am a big fan of the NFL Network and couldn't live without it. However, I am bewildered by the fact that they devoted perhaps 10 minutes of the entire segment to RB coverage. 5 minutes was on Beanie Wells falling backwards and forwards trying to complete a long jump. The other 5 minutes was Beanie Wells and another player in the vertical jump drill. I'm biased about wanting to see Davis but there were 32 RB's present. Surely UGA fans wanted to see Moreno, 'Bama fans wanted to see Coffee and UConn fans wanted to see the nation's leading rusher, Donald Brown.
Moving on, QB Cullen Harper was measured at 6'3 and weighed in at 225 lbs. He is listed on the Clemson roster at 6'4, 225 lbs. Harper received the most "face time" of any of the three players. Early in the segment, he was shown in live drills throwing two passes to different WR's running a deep post corner route. Harper completed the first pass although it was slightly underthrown. The second pass was also a completion and hit the receiver in stride. Both passes also allowed the WR's to stay in bounds and turn upfield instead of leading the receiver out of bounds. Harper's 40 yd. dash time was one of the slower among QB's at 5.01 and he bench pressed 225 lbs. 19 times.
WR Aaron Kelly measured 6'4 1/2 and weighed 204 lbs. He packed on some weight for the combine since the Clemson roster lists him as 6'5, 190 lbs. Kelly got some face time running that deep post corner route and catching a ball thrown by Fresno St. QB Tom Brandstater. Aaron ran a decent route and had to really stretch out for the ball, catch it on his fingertips and pull it in. He also had the presence of mind to drag his toe to get two feet in before his momentum carried him out of bounds. Kelly was a top performer among WR's in the 40 yard dash, posting a 4.49 time. He had a 38'' vertical jump, which was in the middle of his group. Aaron bench pressed 225 lbs. 11 times, which was near the bottom of the 21 participating WR's.
RB James Davis measured 5'11 and weighed in at 218 lbs. He is listed at 5'11 and 215 lbs. on the Clemson roster. As I mentioned earlier, it's unfortunate that we didn't even catch a glimpse of him in the NFL Network's coverage. I do know that Davis ran a 4.61 40 yd. dash and the average among the 23 participating RB's was 4.58. James also bench pressed 225 lbs. 17 times while the average among the 23 participating RB's in that drill was 21. I've read an unconfirmed report that his vertical jump was 33''. If this is true, it would put him in a tie for worst out of the 15 participating RB's.
Keep in mind that some of these players' drill performance statistics are subject to change as they become "official". It's also important to note that not all players in each position group elected to participate in all of the drills. The players' performance statistics are therefore relative only to the number of players who did participate but it's subjective in terms of comparing them to the entire group who will be eligible for the draft. There is such a limited amount of information available at this time that it's impossible to know how the NFL personnal have "graded" our guys and whether they helped our hurt their "stock". I will do an update as more info. becomes available.
Let me say that I am a big fan of the NFL Network and couldn't live without it. However, I am bewildered by the fact that they devoted perhaps 10 minutes of the entire segment to RB coverage. 5 minutes was on Beanie Wells falling backwards and forwards trying to complete a long jump. The other 5 minutes was Beanie Wells and another player in the vertical jump drill. I'm biased about wanting to see Davis but there were 32 RB's present. Surely UGA fans wanted to see Moreno, 'Bama fans wanted to see Coffee and UConn fans wanted to see the nation's leading rusher, Donald Brown.
Moving on, QB Cullen Harper was measured at 6'3 and weighed in at 225 lbs. He is listed on the Clemson roster at 6'4, 225 lbs. Harper received the most "face time" of any of the three players. Early in the segment, he was shown in live drills throwing two passes to different WR's running a deep post corner route. Harper completed the first pass although it was slightly underthrown. The second pass was also a completion and hit the receiver in stride. Both passes also allowed the WR's to stay in bounds and turn upfield instead of leading the receiver out of bounds. Harper's 40 yd. dash time was one of the slower among QB's at 5.01 and he bench pressed 225 lbs. 19 times.
WR Aaron Kelly measured 6'4 1/2 and weighed 204 lbs. He packed on some weight for the combine since the Clemson roster lists him as 6'5, 190 lbs. Kelly got some face time running that deep post corner route and catching a ball thrown by Fresno St. QB Tom Brandstater. Aaron ran a decent route and had to really stretch out for the ball, catch it on his fingertips and pull it in. He also had the presence of mind to drag his toe to get two feet in before his momentum carried him out of bounds. Kelly was a top performer among WR's in the 40 yard dash, posting a 4.49 time. He had a 38'' vertical jump, which was in the middle of his group. Aaron bench pressed 225 lbs. 11 times, which was near the bottom of the 21 participating WR's.
RB James Davis measured 5'11 and weighed in at 218 lbs. He is listed at 5'11 and 215 lbs. on the Clemson roster. As I mentioned earlier, it's unfortunate that we didn't even catch a glimpse of him in the NFL Network's coverage. I do know that Davis ran a 4.61 40 yd. dash and the average among the 23 participating RB's was 4.58. James also bench pressed 225 lbs. 17 times while the average among the 23 participating RB's in that drill was 21. I've read an unconfirmed report that his vertical jump was 33''. If this is true, it would put him in a tie for worst out of the 15 participating RB's.
Keep in mind that some of these players' drill performance statistics are subject to change as they become "official". It's also important to note that not all players in each position group elected to participate in all of the drills. The players' performance statistics are therefore relative only to the number of players who did participate but it's subjective in terms of comparing them to the entire group who will be eligible for the draft. There is such a limited amount of information available at this time that it's impossible to know how the NFL personnal have "graded" our guys and whether they helped our hurt their "stock". I will do an update as more info. becomes available.
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