LSU wideout Dwayne Bowe ran in the 4.5's unofficially. He lost some weight before this week to improve his time. Bowe is one of my favorite players in the draft because he's a physical receiver with good hands. He can also block like hell, which helps a young receiver get on the field quickly.

This time seems like it won't affect Bowe's late-first round grade much either way.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Early juicy tidbits from the Combine.

Calvin Johnson surprisingly ran, and ran very well: a 4.35. 239 pounds and 4.35. He's a freak. I don't see how he gets out of the top four picks and he's a legitimate number one candidate.

Washington State's Jason Hill, one of my favorites, ran a 4.32. He has good ball skills and should be a good value in the second round.

Dwayne Jarrett reportedly didn't run because he was clocking in the mid 4.7's while training for the Combine. That won't help.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Weather-related change of plans. With a snowstorm battering the Chicago area and knocking out weekend news maven Evan Silva, I am cranking through a busy Sunday morning of newspapers from around the country.

Early morning highlights: The Seahawks want to trade Darrell Jackson (I've been calling this for weeks), and Jared Allen of the Chiefs wants to be dealt (not going to happen).

I'll have the Combine on over my shoulder in Rotoworld headquarters and will catch up with all the coverage later, but the liveblogging will be intermittent at best to open today's 11A session.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's linemen and tight ends was a good introduction to on-field activities at the combine. Joe Thomas solidified his top-three status. C Ryan Kalil stood out, and T Tony Ugoh showed some toughness. TE Michael Allen of Whitworth got himself noticed. Greg Olsen has been explosive is now the clear favorite to be the first tight end drafted.

Tomorrow's quarterback, running back, and wide receivers day are the main event, especially for fantasy leaguers. We'll see Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch battle each other. We'll see the quarterbacks and wideouts spin it. It's no mistake the NFL is putting the most exciting Combine day on Sunday.

I'll check on some of the pressers going on the rest of the day, and the remaining action, but check back with the blog on Sunday morning. Thanks for stopping by.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Arizona State TE Zach Miller and Rutgers TE Clark Harris both ran in the 4.8's on their second forty time unofficially.

Miami TE Greg Olsen could have pushed himself into the first round by running 4.45. We'll get the official times later, but Olsen made himself some money. Olsen also made a nice grab with his hands in the first passing drill. In the second drill, his speed helped him make a great long grab.

Miami didn't have a good passing game because of their quarterbacks, which kept Olsen's numbers down in college. He had a nice vertical leap.

The second fastest tight end was DIII Michael Allen, out of Whitworth. Allen has looked great. Olsen also looked great in the gauntlet drill, while Zach Miller was all over the place.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Okay, so maybe Arkansas T Tony Ugoh isn't out for the day. He just blew the doors off the broad jump, going for 9'9. The longest jump last year was at 9'2. Wow.

Just a note about all our forty times. They are unofficial, and from the NFL Network. It was just announced that Joe Thomas actually ran a 4.92. He ensured himself some money today.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have some draft stock affecting news! Arizona State's Zach Miller ran an unofficial 4.84 forty, which is a little disappointing for a speedy tight end type. He had a bad take-off. Of course, the hosts pointed out that Tony Gonzalez runs about a 4.8.

Greg Olsen of Miami, however, just ran an unofficial 4.47! Okay, so he can't block. But if Olsen was graded close to Miller, well, he's probably the top tight end in the draft now. He's the fastest tight end thus far and it's not close. Delaware's Ben Patrick ran an unofficial 4.74.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Arkansas tackle Tony Ugoh pulled his quadriceps and is out for the rest of the day. Dick Vermeil speculated he'll probably miss at least a few weeks of workouts.

Luckily for Ugoh, Arkansas has two pro days. The second one is April fourth.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (415)

Herbert Taylor of Texas Christian has made the interesting choice of working out in sunglasses. Indoors.

Anyhow, here's Mayock's top five tight ends...

1. Greg Olsen - Miami
2. Zach Miller - Arizona State.
3. Ben Patrick – Delaware
4. Martrez Milner – Georgia
5. Scott Chandler - Iowa

Olsen and Miller may have a chance to be drafted in the first round since this draft class at tight end is so weak. I'm not so sure. As recently as 2005, only one tight end (Heath Miller) was drafted in the top 70 picks. The talent of the draft didn't justify higher picks. There is no Heath Miller in this class from the sound of it.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Tony Ugoh from Arkansas ran a 4.99 on his second crack at the forty. Joe Thomas got his time down to 4.96 unofficially. Vermeil pointed out that Thomas was more impressive in his final 30 than his first ten, which isn't a good thing.

Either way, Thomas isn't getting past the first three picks. And the lineman are almost done with their four days at the Combine. Let's get to the speed positions!

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)