NFL Combine

I have been paying attention to the NFL combine like most of you. Nothing too spectacular, but a few things of interest.Things  that are probably not good for the particular players' chances of getting a early draft, or a drafted at all. First of all, it is no surprise that players take a few plays off. I watched Julius Peppers take entire weeks off when he was with the Panthers. To be fair, he wasn't taught that hard work gets you ahead in life at UNC. Anyway, during his press conference, LSU DE Sam Montgomery admitted that he took easier games off. He said he brought it hard when they played South Carolina or Alabama. I can't imagine a GM wanting to hear his DE say "The Jets this week? I can take it easy."

Another weight around the neck of Notre Dame LB Manti Te'o may be dragging him closer to the bottom of the NFL draft pool. After the Alabama offense made him look like a high school kid in the BCS Championship game, and the whole fake dead girlfriend, he runs a 4.80 and 4.81 40 yard dash. The aforementioned LSU DE Montgomery, listed at 262 lbs, ran a 4.81(No word on whether or not he took it easy). There are 12 other defensive linemen that ran a 4.81. There were two 300 lb linemen that ran under 4.7! Te'o also measured in at 6'1" 241 lbs, ND had him listed as 6'2" 255 lbs. He is a guy that teams would probably use as a 3 or 4 down player. Is he fast enough for pass coverage? Is he big enough to take on some of the NFL offensive lines?

And the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu, is hoping he can impress some teams with his workout at the combine. He says he went through rehab because he wanted to overcome his issues with addiction. He woke up at 4am on Sunday to take a drug test. He says that right now honesty is his best friend. He wants potential teams to be able to trust him. At 5'9", he is already going to have to prove he can cover recievers that are 6'4" and taller.  The Draft starts Thursday, April 25th and lasts through Sunday the 27th.