One of the more obvious trends of last years draft was the Ireland/Parcells penchant for taking late round offensive lineman that tested off the charts at the combine and/or pro work outs. I was a little curious to see who might fall into that category this year, so I dumped a bunch of the top performers off of NFL.com/combine into a spreadsheet and did a little sorting. The results are interesting:
Keep in mind that I am the worst talent evaluator in all of NFL fandom, and have not actually seen some of these guys play. None of this should be seen as endorsement of any player, merely commentary on how the combine worked out for a few guys in relation to apparent public consensus about their abilities. I generally prefer guys who perform on the field rather than workout warriors, but I got nothing better to do right now.
A few interesting points:
I suspect if I did this with wide receivers or defensive ends, I'd get a list of top picks and underachievers. With offensive lineman, I get some of that, but I mostly get a list of gutty, effective guys who are supposed to be unathletic. I'm wondering if the overachievers are just better at preparing for the combine, or if weight room strength translates funny on the playfield.
For a guy who's supposed to be relatively unathletic, Travis Bright (BYU) sure lit it up. Look at that vertical!
Xavier Fulton sure works out like a much more serious prospect than he's considered to be.
Seems like a lot of centers this year with a brighter future at guard than with the ball between their legs--AQ Shipley, Juan Garcia, Robby Felix and John Cooper all athletically seem to be maulers better suited as a guard than as the guy in the middle.
NFL.com on John Cooper: "Simply lacks the bulk and strength to compete with NFL-caliber defensive linemen unless protected by a zone-blocking scheme and plenty of size flanking him." Might want to update that to say that his strength doesn't translate to the field?
Slauson's sort of interesting, even though his bench strength is lacking. I'm curious what kind of vertical he put up.
Keep in mind that I am the worst talent evaluator in all of NFL fandom, and have not actually seen some of these guys play. None of this should be seen as endorsement of any player, merely commentary on how the combine worked out for a few guys in relation to apparent public consensus about their abilities. I generally prefer guys who perform on the field rather than workout warriors, but I got nothing better to do right now.
A few interesting points:
I suspect if I did this with wide receivers or defensive ends, I'd get a list of top picks and underachievers. With offensive lineman, I get some of that, but I mostly get a list of gutty, effective guys who are supposed to be unathletic. I'm wondering if the overachievers are just better at preparing for the combine, or if weight room strength translates funny on the playfield.
For a guy who's supposed to be relatively unathletic, Travis Bright (BYU) sure lit it up. Look at that vertical!
Xavier Fulton sure works out like a much more serious prospect than he's considered to be.
Seems like a lot of centers this year with a brighter future at guard than with the ball between their legs--AQ Shipley, Juan Garcia, Robby Felix and John Cooper all athletically seem to be maulers better suited as a guard than as the guy in the middle.
NFL.com on John Cooper: "Simply lacks the bulk and strength to compete with NFL-caliber defensive linemen unless protected by a zone-blocking scheme and plenty of size flanking him." Might want to update that to say that his strength doesn't translate to the field?
Slauson's sort of interesting, even though his bench strength is lacking. I'm curious what kind of vertical he put up.
