2013 NFL Scouting Combine: Tuesday Report

Today was the defensive backs turn to do their on field workouts and there were great numbers put up. There were a few surprises but for the most part, everything went as expected. Now that the Combine is over, the next step in the process is the pro days next month amidst the hysteria of free agency and March Madness.

Day 7 news:

Mike Loyko of nepatriotsdraft.com has a chart with all the numbers

Senior Bowl director and long time NFL executive Phil Savage breaks down the DL class

Daniel Jeremiah has some nuggets of info

The worst kept secret in the NFL: The Cardinals are looking at the Alex Smith option

NFL.com takes a look at potential landing spots for free agent Steven Jackson

Eric Galko of Optimum Scouting has a DB recap

Day 7 Funnies:

SB Nation has a funny GIF of Shamark Thomas 4.38 faceplant

SB Nation also put together a funny set of Rich Eisen GIFs

My thoughts (Corners)

• Robert Alford (SE Louisiana) continued his great draft season by running an official 4.39 40 and showed well during the drills. He attended the Senior Bowl.
  
• David Amerson (NC State) had to have a big day and got it. He ran 4.44, 35.5" vertical, and 10'7" broad jump. I'm still not convinced however as he was terrible in 2012 and got torched on a regular basis. None more worse than against Tennessee in the season opener.
  
• Johnthan Banks (Miss State) really hurt his stock by running a poor 40 (4.61). He drew comparisons to Cleveland's Joe Haden (who else ran a slow 40) but it's inaccurate as Haden is the better athlete.
• Sanders Commings (Georgia) helped himself today with a 4.41 official 40. Commings has the size necessary to play either corner or safety at 6'1 216.
• Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh Wilson (UCONN) turned some heads and made scouts go look at their tapes again. They really improved their stocks so far from the Senior Bowl, especially Wreh Wilson.
  
• Xavier Rhodes (FSU) made himself a lot of money and likely secured a top 20 pick. He's one of the biggest corners in the class and ran 4.43 official, tied for the best vertical jump with 40.5", and a 11' broad jump. Reportedly while in college, he jumped 40" in sandals. Big corners like that don't come around every day.
  
• Desmond Trufant (Washington) carried his already high stock from the Senior Bowl and improved upon it. He ran a blistering 4.38 official and looked like he knew what he was doing in the drills. The bloodlines can't be ignored as well. Trufant has moved into the first round now.
  
• Dee Milliner (Alabama) more than proved his lofty draft stock by running a 4.37 40. He started off slowly during the drills but recovered nicely. The torn labrum hampered him a bit but not enough to lower his stock. Milliner is the runaway top corner in the class.
  
• Tyrann Mathieu runs a 4.5 official, which was expected. He also looked good during the drills, showing his immense ball skills and quickness. However, I'm not interested due to his off field issues and lack of size. The size issue is a glaring deficiency that bigger receivers can exploit repeatedly. Mathieu could be a good nickel corner though with his skill set.
  
• The star of the show was Darius Slay (Miss State). He was very explosive and fast during the drills, featuring good hip turns and ball location skills. Posted the fastest 40 of the DBs with 4.36 official. Johnthan Banks who?
• Leon McFadden (San Diego State) was another Senior Bowl invitee who carried his stock over well. He's been a fast riser up the boards.
  

My thoughts (Safeties)

• Matt Elam (Florida) needed a fast 40 to answer some questions about his quickness. He delivered by running a 4.54 official. He's a talented player that can bring the wood but is undersized at just 5'9 208. Elam also lost the last drill for his team so they were forced to do pushups.
  
• Robert Lester (Alabama) needed to recover his falling stock from the Senior Bowl but had an average day. He has issues recovering from his backpedal and had stiff hips.
  
• TJ McDonald (USC) is one of the bigger safeties in the class (6'2 219). He ran an commendable 4.59 40. The vertical and broad jumps were off the charts though (40" and 10'11). McDonald was a little stiff in the hips but has good instincts and ball tracking ability. The interesting thing is that he took some reps as a corner at the Senior Bowl. I love his bloodlines as his father is none other than 49ers great Tim McDonald.
  
• Shawn Williams (Georgia) was a guy who needed a bounceback Combine after faring not so well at the Senior Bowl. Williams was a lot faster in Indy than in Mobile, posting a 4.46, which surprised a few.
  
• Steve Williams (California) almost broke CJ's record with an unofficial 4.25. It was later confirmed that he ran an official 4.42 but the simulcast showed he was neck and neck with Marquise Goodwin who ran a 4.27. Williams has fluid hip movements and showed he can obviously run with anyone. His issue is lack of size.
• One player who struggled was ND's Zeke Motta. He was a sluggish 4.83 and put up a relatively weak 11 bench reps for a guy his size (6'2 213).