Rob Agnone traveled to Florida recently to train for what he hopes will be an NFL career.
When he arrived at the private facility, he didn’t know what to expect, where he’d fit and how he measured up against some of the country’s elite college athletes.
They came from everywhere, many from power conferences that traditionally played in major bowls and from schools that historically ranked among the top 25.
Talking about The Next Tom Brady is a lot harder than finding him.
Six quarterbacks drafted outside the first round have started Super Bowls in the last 10 years. Brady is one, but each of the other five was discarded by at least one team before reaching the biggest stage.
by Pete Dymeck
It is now April 7 and the pro days are wrapping up. The Senior Bowl and NFL Combine are long-gone but we have three players that are increasing their value for the upcoming draft.
Due to certain circumstances, these prospects are taking advantage of the downtime in between the combine and draft.
Let’s start our journey on the eastern seaboard
There is no doubt about it. Jeremy Maclin is definitely on the NFL’s most-wanted list.
Scout.com has learned that Maclin has already visited with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he is scheduled for official visits with the Detroit Lions, the New York Jets, the St. Louis Rams and the Cleveland Browns so far. He’s also scheduled for a private workout with the Oakland Raiders this week.
The multi-talented wide receiver out of Missouri is the third player in NCAA history to average over 200 all-purpose yards per game during a career, posting an incredible 5,609 all-purpose yards in just 28 games. He averaged 82.6 yards per game receiving, 73.1 yards per game gained on kickoff returns, 20.6 yards on punt returns and 23.8 yards rushing. As a kickoff returner, he fell just two yards short of setting a single-season record in 2007 with 1,346 yards.
Our final offensive position rankings have been posted.
You may disagree with some of these, so use the comments section to divulge your opinion. Also, do not hesitate to come back one year, five years, or ten years from now to prove us wrong or right.
In the rankings, you will see several players that we are high on and others that we are not.
Our top five overrated offensive players:
1. WR Percy Harvin (Florida)
2. OT Andre Smith (Alabama)
3. TE Jared Cook (South Carolina)
4. RB Shonn Greene (Iowa)
5. OG Herman Johnson (LSU)
Our top five underrated offensive players:
1. OT Troy Kropog (Tulane)
2. OG Trevor Canfield (Cincinnati)
3. WR Kenny McKinley (South Carolina)
4. TE James Casey (Rice)
5. QB Mark Sanchez (USC)
As for Mark Sanchez, he will be a first round pick but his value and stock is unfairly lower than Matt Stafford’s. At the end of the day, both Stafford and Sanchez grade out as 1a and 1b but we will take Sanchez’s keenness for the film room over Stafford’s wonderlic score all day, every day.
Click here for the rankings main page or use the navigation bar on the right to view each position.
The Detroit Lions held a private workout with QB Matthew Stafford this morning in Georgia. Stafford contacted me a few minutes ago and told me the workout went really well.
The Lions contingent arrived in Georgia on Monday night, and coach Jim Schwartz had dinner with Stafford. At 8 this morning, Stafford met with the team for about an hour and a half to diagram plays on the blackboard and throw passes outside.
When the Lions met with Stafford three weeks ago, they gave him a playbook to study, and they quizzed him on it this morning. Stafford told me he thought he aced the quiz and was comfortable with how he performed on the blackboard and in throwing drills.
Stafford, out of the University of Georgia, is trying to become the first overall pick in the draft. He left school after his junior year and has stated that he wants to go to Detroit and try to help the 0-16 Lions reverse their fortunes.
Charles Davis, Jamie Dukes and Steve Wyche have Stafford going to the Lions in their NFL.com mock drafts, but Pat Kirwan disagrees, saying Detroit will take Baylor OT Jason Smith.
Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno wasn’t on hand because he was visiting the Chargers.
Source
A sizable contingent of NFL assistant coaches and scouts were in attendance at Richmond’s pro day on March 19 to watch DE/LB Lawrence Sidbury Jr. (6-2 1/2, 265 pounds).
Representatives from 31 NFL teams came to the pro day, including Carolina Panthers GM Marty Hurney (who has been virtually everywhere on the pro day circuit), linebacker coaches from the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins and defensive line coaches from three teams. Baltimore Ravens linebackers coach Vic Fangio worked out Sidbury.
Sidbury, who has visited the Buffalo Bills and will visit the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans, stood on his numbers from the combine.
The players worked out in a strong crosswind outdoors on FieldTurf. The players did the broad jump and the vertical leap after positional drills due to rain. Here are other notables:
RB Josh Vaughan (5-11 1/4, 224 pounds) had times of 4.59 and 4.63 in the 40-yard dash, with a 37-inch vertical leap and a 9-foot, 11-inch broad jump. He had times of 4.15 seconds in the short shuttle and 7.10 seconds in the three-cone drill, with 36 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press.
TE Joe Monteverde (6-4 1/2, 247 pounds) ran the 40 in 4.85 and 4.77 and had a 35 1/2-inch vertical with a 9-foot, 10-inch broad jump. He had a 4.31 short shuttle and a 7.06 three-cone drill, and didn’t participate in the bench.
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