Official 2014 Combine Thread

[mraynrand]

What's with the Jayhawk gear for Stubby?

[mraynrand]

"Coach Mike McCarthy offered a new bromide Friday: using more players in a variety of positions and packages."

Sometimes McGinn takes pot shots for no apparent reason. In case you didn't know, 'bromide' is derogatory.

"A bromide is a phrase or platitude that, having been employed excessively, suggests insincerity or a lack of originality in the speaker."

it's the offseason, McGinn. Time to be a bigger, stronger man.

[mraynrand]

Here is a far more thorough write-up by McGinn on McCarthy's press conference.

Someone on this board thought (or reported) that like Jenkins and Matthews or Raji and Matthews, Neal would be paired next to Matthews to create a nightmare for pass protection. McCarthy said they never got to it because of injuries and players moving around by necessity and not design.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-plan-to-get-creative-with-defensive-looks-b99210737z1-246645691.html

He is still positing the Seahawks as the Defense to emulate, but otherwise, its a great writeup.

It's a great write-up because there are so many juicy quotes from Stubby. Micah Hyde is our best slot blitzer, Matthews is versatile, in reference to playing Perry at ROLB. Damn. Neal and Matthews on the field together rushing from the same side. Where have I heard that suggested before....

Stubby basically tipped the Packer's hand. Neal's agent should be paying attention.

[pbmax]

On 40 yard times. This is so detailed that I almost expected a conspiracy theory to break out, but its apparently the work of conventional press. Shorter version? There is nothing more accurate or more convincing about the "official" 40 yard times from the combine compared to unofficial numbers.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-28/sports/sfl-draft-winds-20130228_1_draft-winds-simon-clancy-chris-kouffman/7

Metadata for copyright trolls: This is just a portion of the article. Part of one page of a 11 page article.

Draft Winds: A study of Cordarrelle Patterson

February 28, 2013|Dave Hyde

There is nothing official about an “official” time. No NFL team uses them. Not one, amongst the 32 teams in the league. They all use a system of hand times.

Though the timing is considered “electronic”, it is only half-electronic. There is a human deciding when to begin the count. Because they try and make it as uniform as possible, instead of pure judgment they rely upon a set of rules on when to start the count, which is why Steelers scout Mark Gorscak spends so much time trying to warn players about practices which will trigger the start earlier than preferred, such as “rolling starts”, or “jack starts”. He even warns against stances that they haven’t seen before. The result of trying to apply their universal start rules to such a wide variation of stances and starts is a number of perversions in the final results.

The problem lies with the fact that players do not fit uniformly into these square holes. Every player’s start differs because their bodies are wired differently. They have differing stances. Some flex their feet first. Some roll a shoulder. Some lift the hand before it is absolutely necessary. All of these differences can result in more than a tenth of a second disparity between players that essentially have the exact same speed.

Take a theoretical example. Players A and B have the same speed but not the same start style. Player A doesn’t move his hand until the moment he jacks his feet and creates the explosive thrust to get off the line. Player B moves his hand first and then jacks his feet. These players will have differing “official” times by a tenth of a second or more. But they’ll have stepped across 40 yards of earth in the exact same amount of time.

Note back in 2010 when Taylor Mays and Trindon Holliday were infamously put together on Simulcam and Mays solidly beat Holliday even though Mays walked away with an “official” time of 4.43 in the 40 yard dash, versus Trindon Holliday’s 4.34 “official” time.

A year ago the “official” time recorded for Kendall Wright came in at 4.61 seconds in the 40 yard dash. He ran a 4.42 at his pro day.

It is also important to note that some of the databases of 40 times that are most popularly referenced for historical 40 times have not been in the practice of using “official” times until very recently. Comparisons between “official” an unofficial times are apples to oranges. People often do not realize they are comparing “official” and unofficial times.

[mraynrand]

Take a theoretical example. Players A and B have the same speed but not the same start style. Player A doesn’t move his hand until the moment he jacks his feet and creates the explosive thrust to get off the line. Player B moves his hand first and then jacks his feet. These players will have differing “official” times by a tenth of a second or more. But they’ll have stepped across 40 yards of earth in the exact same amount of time.

there's a lot of jacking off going on here. That's why TT has his scouts remind him to draft football players.

[gbgary]

according to mayock the te's are pretty lame after the top 4 and the top 4 pretty much sucked. disappointing.

[smuggler]

This is only really true if they can't block. Finley can't block much, either.

[mraynrand]

according to mayock the te's are pretty lame after the top 4 and the top 4 pretty much sucked. disappointing.

I'd be more inclined to believe Mayock sucked

[Pugger]

according to mayock the te's are pretty lame after the top 4 and the top 4 pretty much sucked. disappointing.

And this was supposed to be this great TE class...

[Striker]

And this was supposed to be this great TE class...

It still could be. Yes, combine performance matters, but I'd say the edge goes to game type. Hopefully it will cause some of them to slide back to second/third round projections so they remain in play for the Pack.

[woodbuck27]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/0ap2000000328274/2014-Scouting-Combine-Top-wide-receivers

2014 Scouting Combine: Top wide receivers

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine-top-performers/0ap2000000328267/Speedy-wide-receivers-at-combine

Published: Feb. 23, 2014 at 11:26 a.m.

SIX sub 4.4 second WR's... timed at the 2014 NFL Combine.

GO PACK GO !

[red]

jace amaro looked like shit, ebron got hurt and didn't do drills. ASJ didn't do anything

2 guys that i was paying attention to that i thought looked OK were fiedorowicz and arthur lynch from georgia, the fella from wisconsin looked good in drills too

my favorite is still Fiedorowicz in the second or third. the dude is massive and can block, which is a huge plus

draft him and maybe one of the many giant WR's, and maybe we could be a threat in the redzone again

[mraynrand]

my favorite is still Fiedorowicz in the second or third. the dude is massive and can block, which is a huge plus

draft him and maybe one of the many giant WR's, and maybe we could be a threat in the redzone again

Comments following the Jeffery pick by the Bears:

Funny story.....Alshon is from South Carolina and he was deciding between SC and Tennessee

Lane Kiffin told him you go to SC you'll be pumping my gas some day......Fast forward a few years and Gamecocks finish 2011 season at 11-2 at #7 overall and Alshon laughing all the way to the bank tonight

Lane Kiffin is at a different school and Tennessee in disarray

Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery in the redzone together is a nightmare for defenses

Also, both guys can make big plays down the field or use their size to catch the 1st downs

[red]

jeffrey is exactly who i was thinking about while watching the WR's work today

a lot of 6'3+ guys that could move and catch. and some of them are gonna be had in the mid rounds

i think it would be great to have a giant TE to go with jordy and another WR in the 6-3 to 6-5 range, with cobb running wild underneath the coverage

[PaCkFan_n_MD]

With how many good Te's and Wr's this year I'm almost want TT to go offense heavy (esp since his track record is much better there).