Tuesday 17 February 2009

Combine countdown - links & analysis

The NFL combine kicks off tomorrow as the kickers, offensive linemen and tight ends get down to business. I'll keep you up to date with everything that happens in what promises to be an eventful few days in Indianapolis.

Chris Steuber from Scout.com held a live Q&A session today and I asked Chris who had the most to gain from a good combine performance:

"The guy who has to have a solid performance to be selected in the first round is Georgia Tech DE Michael Johnson. He has a lot of talent, but has been inconsistent throughout his career. He's been mentioned as a top prospect based on his upside, not his production. He has the physical ability to have a standout performance at the Combine." -- Chris Steuber

Chris also talked more specifically about the Seattle Seahawks and the possibility of taking Michael Crabtree (WR, Texas Tech).

"I find it hard to believe that if Michael Crabtree is on the board that the Seahawks pass him up. He's too talented. Crabtree won't run at the Combine, but the interview process will be just as important for him. The only way the Seahawks don't select him, if he's available, is if he doesn't perform well during his interview." -- Chris Steuber

In case you missed it earlier, Chris recently published an updated two round mock draft.
To see more draft related links click here.

Danny O'Neil lists the full schedule for this weeks scouting combine.

Todd McShay records a podcast for ESPN radio to discuss who will work out at the combine and who won't. He also talks wide receivers and corner backs. In a separate segment, McShay talks about the two highly rated quarter backs Matt Stafford and Mark Sanchez.

Matt McGuire says Michael Crabtree "isn't elite" and questions whether he is intelligent enough to impress during interviews in Indianapolis.

Kyle Rota produces scouting reports for three Missouri prospects: Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin and William Moore.

Mike Sando looks at how the NFC West's general managers have drafted in the past. This includes current Seahawks GM Tim Ruskell, who has traditionally favoured defensive linemen according to Sando's research.

Aaron Weinburg has kicked off the second round of his Interblog mock draft and the Seahawks will soon be on the clock.

There's also a new poll on Seahawks Draft Blog. We're asking 'who is the number one running back in this draft class'? Check the right hand side bar and cast your vote.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rob. I'm confused about the Combine scheduling. NFL.com says it starts tomorrow as well, but the first day it's broadcasting anything is Saturday, Feb. 21st. Are they just not showing it live this year?

Rob Staton said...

Hi Chris,

I think a lot of reporting from the combine will start on the 19th but with some of the more interesting drills not happening until the weekend, the actual live broadcasting won't start until Saturday. Tomorrow it's mainly kicker and punters etc, so it's not a great draw. If you check out this link:

http://www.nfl.com/combine

I'm sure there'll be information on each day. If I find any links for live coverage I'll make sure they are posted on the blog. Any reports and analysis will also be well covered.

Anonymous said...

And now Matt Maguire has officially become an irrelevant source of draft information. First the Beanie Wells love and now the Crabtree bashing. Obviously he is entitled to his opinion but his questioning of Crabtree's intelligence is actually quite funny. He is basically saying a guy's communication skills directly equate to his football intelligence. Just because he is not going to cure cancer or give a breath taking speech has nothing to do with him knowing what to do and where to be on the football field.

Now, unless the Hawks are considering him to take over the PR department, then I don't think we should be worried about how eloquently he speaks.

Everything I have watched on Crabtree points to a guy who simply knows football and where to be in every situation.

Rob Staton said...

I'm going to ask Kyle Rota to add an... 'Ability to give a breath taking speech' grade to his future scout reports! :)

Rotak said...

Haha. Not going to happen. I felt dirty just from mentioning how Sanchez would be a good "face of the franchise" personality.

That said, I'm a little concerned. In general, smart people tend to be good communicators, and dumb people tend to be bad communicators. So there is some worry there. However, this is by no means a rule. Hell, I consider myself fairly smart but one reason I love the online forum is that I do not speak particularly clearly... I come across smarter than in person. I don't think I'm a bad communicator in person, but I know I am much better online.

So by no means should we say Crabtree IS dumb. But a team should check it out. 'Course, they should be checking it out anyways. Much better way is to ask Crabtree to explain assignments, since that actually involves football, which is what we want.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree that smarter people tend to be better communicators. That said, in my personal experience playing at a high level in sports, some of the "smarter" baseball guys I have played with were pretty stupid guys when it came to education. They did have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Intelligence and instincts in sports really has nothing to do with how "book" smart they are as a person. I played baseball at Georgetown and for a "smart" school, we sure had a lot of idiots on the baseball field that didn't do the smart things that "dumb" guys I had played with in year's past. A few of those "dumb" guys are now making a lot of money in the MLB.

Rotak said...

Yeah, instincts is a different sort of thing from intelligence.

I too played baseball, for about 13 years, and I have some minor football experience as well. Baseball intelligence and football intelligence are two vastly different things. Baseball is, well, mentally easier, IMO. Maybe it is just because I played more baseball than football, but I really do believe teaching someone what they're supposed to do in baseball is easier than doing the same in football. (now, doing it on the other hand...)

Your point about sport smarts not equaling book smarts is well taken, however. It is concerning, though not a condemnation. Just incentive to look closer at Crabtree's football intelligence.