Not to pile on Damontre Moore, who was listed as a loser from Sunday, but there may not be a player having a worse combine than the Texas A&M product. On Monday, Moore almost surpassed five seconds in the 40-yard dash, posting a time of 4.95 seconds.
2013 NFL Combine Monday winners and losers
The NFL Combine is nearing its conclusion with defensive backs taking the field Tuesday. On Monday, it was defensive linemen and linebackers who performed in drills.
Joe Robbins
Conversely, Florida’s Sharrif Floyd was impressive. The defensive tackle finished with a 4.92-second 40-yard dash and moved around well in drills. Similarly, BYU’s Ezekiel Ansah confirmed his athleticism, but that was expected.
But neither of those players were the true standouts from Monday. Here are the winners and losers.
WINNERS
Dion Jordan, OLB/DE, Oregon
After his combine performance, Jordan is locked in as a top six pick and could go as high as the Jacksonville Jaguars with the second choice. The lanky Jordan ran a 4.6 40-yard dash and has the coverage ability to stay on the field in non-pass rush situations.
Jamie Collins, OLB, Southern Mississippi
During his media session at the combine, Colilns had the attention of exactly two people: Me and one other person. But if the media met Collins after his performance Monday, he’d be speaking to an overflowing table of reporters. Colins told me he was running the 40-yard dash in the 4.5-second range, even at 250 pounds. He came close to it, officially running a 4.64 40 and notching the day’s best vertical jump at 41.5 inches. Collins may be in play for the second round of the draft.
The word “twitchy”
Someone contact Merriam-Webster. If “sexting,” “F-bomb” and “earworm” can get into the dictionary, we should get a new definition for Mike Mayock’s favorite word for front seven defenders with quick movement skills. What “excited” was to the Browns’ Rob Chudzinski, “twitchy” is to Mayock.
Cornelius Washington, OLB, Georgia
Washington did almost nothing at Georgia last season, finishing with 22 tackles, three tackles for loss and just a half sack while playing in 14 games. His showing in Indianapolis will have teams wondering why the production never came. At 6’4, 265 pounds, Washington ran an incredible 4.55 40-yard dash and had the most bench press reps of all linebackers with 36. He’s a developmental sleeper Leo player.
LOSERS
A.J. Klein, MLB, Iowa State
Klein was the kind of player who needed to do everything possible in Indianapolis. A knee injury, though, knocked Klein out of his shuttle runs and the vertical jump. While not critical to his draft placement, it’s just less of a chance for Klein to grab someone’s attention.
Kevin Minter, MLB, LSU
Most made a stink about Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o running in the 4.8 range, but how about Minter? He ran a similar time and has never been regarded as the best movement skills. Some teams will like Minter the same now as they did a week ago. But the combine proved he’s a scheme-specific prospect.
Anyone who falls in love with combine numbers
Despite it being a spectacle of large men running in spandex, the combine is oddly entertaining. Just don’t be too fast to fall in love with workout warriors. Of Monday’s performers, Zaviar Gooden and Margus Hunt of SMU come to mind. Both are solid players, but get overtaken by their stellar workout times. On the field, Hunt is still a project who plays too high. Gooden may be an athlete, but he’s not a complete football player. He can run, but not much else.
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