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NFL Scouting Combine 2008: Day Five

by David Kindervater on February 25th, 2008

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL

Even though the roughly 500 reporters (including yours truly) have departed Indianapolis and the Media Work Room is now closed, the player workouts continued with defensive linemen and linebackers getting their reps in today. It feels weird watching this on TV at home and not actually being there in Indy, even though I spent some time looking at NFL Network’s coverage on the monitors in the Interview Room. It’s much different when you know the action is just down the hall. But such is the typical schedule here each year.

In my opinion, Virginia DE Chris Long stole the show among the linemen. Chris was already considered a top five pick by most “experts” and it was good to see that he wasn’t afraid to showcase his skills in spite of that. That really said something to me. He had a 34-inch vertical, a 4.75-40 and excellent performance in the drills he took part in. Plus, I’ve seen him interview and he really seems like a kid that has it together. Chris gets my vote as the can’t-miss Draft choice of 2008. He’s obviously supremely talented. He loves the game. He’s confident. He’s humble. And he just plain seems to “get it” when it comes to what it takes to make it in the NFL. Ohio State’s Vernon Gholston certainly made his presence felt, winning the Bench Press, Broad Jump and Vert Jump. He’s the real deal. I also liked what Notre Dame’s Trevor Laws did. He has good lateral movement and body control for a chubby guy. He’s a good athlete even if he doesn’t really look the part.

The linebacker drills were completely dominated by Purdue’s Stanford Keglar and Georgia Tech’s Gary Guyton. Literally. One or the other won every drill. My friends from NFL Draft Scout said their Combine performances have improved their stock and could get them picked in the fourth or fifth round now. Two of the top linebackers in the Draft, Penn State’s Dan Connor and Southern California’s Keith Rivers, did not participate in drills or tests Monday. Dan left Indianapolis early with an intestinal virus (blech), and Keith apparently tweaked his right ankle. That’s a shame because I was really looking forward to seeing both of these players workout.

Here are the winning numbers for defensive linemen and linebackers in their drills:

Defensive Linemen - Bench Press (Vernon Gholston, Ohio State, 37); Broad Jump (Vernon Gholston, Ohio State, 10′5″); Vert Jump (Vernon Gholston, Ohio State, 35′5″); 3-Cone Drill (Cliff Avril, Purdue, 6.90); 20-yard Shuttle (Chris Long, Virginia, 4.21); 40-yard Dash (Marcus Howard, Georgia, 4.45).

Linebackers - Bench Press (Stanford Keglar, Purdue, 29); Broad Jump (Gary Guyton, Georgia Tech, 10′6″ and Stanford Keglar, Purdue, 10′6″); Vert Jump (Gary Guyton, Georgia Tech, 36′5″); 3-Cone Drill (Stanford Keglar, Purdue, 6.70); 20-yard Shuttle (Stanford Keglar, Purdue, 3.98); 60-yard Shuttle (Stanford Keglar, Purdue, 11.43); 40-yard Dash (Gary Guyton, Georgia Tech, 4.47).

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