NFL Scouting Combine 2016: Notes from day 1

Day 1 of the 6-day NFL Scouting Combine is in the books…we’ve now seen weigh-ins on RB and OL (seems like no one has a complete set of QB numbers), so here are my first thoughts:

First of all…we get John Schneider to do 15 minutes of presser at a draft event, and he spends a good 7 minutes of that time talking about one player that has months of rehab ahead of him and another that is retired. Schneider seemed visibly annoyed at those questions. Do better guys.

Secondly…we HAVE to figure out a single, consistent method of measuring arm length across all pre-draft events. I didn’t go over every single player today, but a few that I happened to know from memory at the Senior Bowl came to Indy and got longer arm measurements (Joe Dahl and Cody Whitehair being two). It makes no sense that this can’t be unified. The good news is: this may bode well for some of the CB that had short arms at the Senior Bowl.

During the RB weigh-in, almost all of my suggested Seahawk targets came in up to spec. I think only Paul Perkins came in under weight (only down 2 lbs at 208). Devontae Booker, Alex Collins, Kenyan Drake, Keith Marshall, Jonathan Williams are all right in the pocket. Kenneth Dixon is a perfect 5’10"/215lbs. Peyton Barber is a bit bigger than typical Seattle taste, but at 5’11"/228, I think it’s tolerable.

Speaking of Barber…in his first media interview in Indy, he kind of dropped this heartbreaking story behind his early declaration to the draft: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14839635/nfl-draft-early-entrant-peyton-barber-says-mother-homelessness-spurred-decision-go-pro

There was a time two years ago when Seattle went really heavy on these kinds of stories. The idea was the presence of overcoming personal struggles helped show a type of grittiness in the character of the player. Either due to that draft not yielding great results, or due to a refinement in their method of scouting grit, I don’t know that we saw the same approach in 2015. Regardless, I like Barber on tape. Within the first 3-4 plays of this tape he’s throwing an awesome cut-block and then catching a nice little wheel route. http://draftbreakdown.com/video/peyton-barber-vs-alabama-2015/

It’s the stuff you like to see if you’re looking for a 3^rd down back.

Along the OL…we saw some great OT measurements, especially in the arm length column. Shon Coleman, Jack Conklin, Germain Ifedi, and Ronnie Stanley were added to the previously measured Senior Bowlers that came in over 35", and Tyler Johnstone, Laremy Tunsil, and Halapo Vaitai were added to the list of 34"+. Conklin is starting to get more traction as a top 15 pick, while Taylor Decker (who came in with 33 ¾" arms…more of a Right Tackle length) might be dropping back.

I think Coleman’s measurements look great. If he runs well, he could jump up into the first. I also am very pleased with where Vaitai measured in: 6’6"/320 with 34 ¼" arms. I just checked again as I’m writing this, and Vaitai’s current projection by draftscout is at #294 overall as of their last update on 2/23/16. Even if you jump him up four rounds from that number, I think that’s a nice value get.

At Center; I’m really glad to see Max Tuerk come in at 298lbs. He had been listed in the 285 range during the season. His 32 ½" arms don’t really match his 6’5" frame, but that’s why USC moved him off of OT. That number is fine at Center.

A little disappointing to see Jack Allen had lost weight since the Senior Bowl (down to 294), and he also was given a shorter height measurement. This is a guy with such a great demeanor and some true leadership qualities, but is that size acceptable to PCJS? I have my doubts.

Alabama Center Ryan Kelly came in at a very solid 6’4"/311, with 33 5/8" arms. Nothing wrong with that size. Nick Martin at 6’4"/299 and 32 ½" arms is fine. And then, surprisingly, Duke Center Matt Skura weighed in at 6’3"/329 with whopping 35 ¼" arms. You don’t often see centers that long.

Apologies to whoever had the story on twitter earlier, but it was reported that teams have been talking to Cody Whitehair about playing Center. Of course, I’ve been hypothesizing all year about Joe Dahl moving in to play center. The Seahawks did have that rumor last year about asking Ty Sambrailo about playing center. So this made me wonder about some other college tackles that might look good snapping the ball. Twitter helped with suggestions: Connor McGovern, Rees Odhiambo, Christian Westerman. Not a bad list.

McGovern and Westerman will probably be the two names to watch Thursday when Group A rotates to the bench press portion of the testing. McGovern is a pretty well-documented weight-lifter that expects to do minimum 40 reps of 225 lbs, and I believe Brock Huard was singing the praises of Westerman earlier this week as a bench freak. Sidenote: did you see my tweet about Westerman’s hands??

https://twitter.com/JaredStanger/status/702629747109470208

Also Thursday: WR and TE weigh-in.