Tim Tebow Gets a Private Workout with the Seattle Seahawks

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times just broke the story that Tim Tebow is getting a private workout with two known NFL teams. The Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks.

Tim Tebow gets private workout with Seattle

It has been talked about a lot in the last few weeks when 950 KJR had Peter King from Sports Illustrated comment that Tebow would be a fantastic fit in Seattle. The reasons being, he would have time to work behind Matt Hasselbeck and would be far enough away from Florida that he wouldn’t have immense amount of pressures as he would in say, Jacksonville.

Tim Tebow is a controversial topic in seattle, as in the rest of the country. Many on are on the side of- he won’t be a successful quarterback in the NFL, others are saying because of his hard work and in certain systems he can be a solid quarterback given a few years to learn the NFL.

I don’t think the majority of seattle would be happy with the Tebow draft choice, however, this primarily depends on the place we draft him. If its out of the first round or even the second round many would side on the fence of “well at least we should give him a shot.”

This is my thoughts exactly. Lets not waste a first rounder on him but anything else and I wouldn’t complain. He has proven to be an athletic freak in the combine and in college, and he has proven that he is willing to work his butt off to be NFL ready. He isn’t motivated by money or by personal fame, he is motivated to be a better person and a better NFL player. We could certainly use more of that. He is a leader, he is a freak, he is smart, and he will fight to be a winner in the NFL.

So why not let him have a private workout? No harm and seeing what he’s got. Why not let him backup Hasselbeck if say, we pick him up in the 2nd-4th round range. Its not like the quarterback position is ever a sure thing anyways. Its always a risk even if say you draft a pocket passer say in Ryan Leaf or Alex Smith.

Its not like Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford are a sure thing either and they are going in the first round.

Give Tebow a chance? I vote yes.

2010 NFL Combine Losers and Winners

Every year there seems to be winners and losers of the NFL combine but this year the draft class is considered one of the best in a long time. John Clayton said, that the draft classes are graded based on how many juniors/underclassmen are going to go in the first round. This year he figures there could be 21 to 22!

That means, the combine this year has a lot more at stake if there is that much skill in the first round. Players like Taylor Mays who if he would have come out of college last year would have been in the top 10 but this year is hoping to go in the top 20 but no one would be shocked if he fell to the end of the first round.

Here are my top 5 winners from the combine:

Montario Hardesty (Adam Brimer)

1. Montario Hardesty- Who? Exactly. This guy was the starting running back out of Tennessee. He was good in college but he wasn’t a guy people were harking on. He ran the 40 in 4.49, had 21 reps of 225lbs, a vertical of 41″ (the top running back), a broad jump of 10′ 4″ (the top running back), and he didn’t stop there. In fact he was at least in the top 6 in every category of competition for running backs at the competition.

Before the combine he was looking to go at the highest in the late second round but most likely the third round. Now he is fighting for a spot in the late first round.

2. Bruce Campbell - He was fighting before to be in consideration as one of the top offensive tackles on the board. However, he only had 17 career starts to his name. There was really nothing to go on for this guy. However, at the combine he punched a card to be in the top three for consideration if not the top one or two. He ran a 4.85, had 34 reps of 225lbs, a 32″ vertical, and was one of the most athletic offensive lineman in the 3 cone drill and the 20 yard shuttle.

He was going to go in the middle to late first round. He may have moved himself into the top 10 picks. The offensive tackle is one of the muddiest postions in the draft with campbell fighting in that 5 tackle race. (Okung, Cambpell, T. Williams, A. Davis, and Bulaga)

Jarrett Brown

3. Jarrett Brown- was by far the best looking quarterback that competed in the positional drills. He looked accurate and well poised. He had the fastest 40 time of any of the quarterbacks and did significantly well in all of the other drills.

Was out of the top 100 athletes coming into the combine and was rated the 8th best quarterback. He probably wouldn’t have made an appearance until the 4th round at the earliest. Now he is pushed himself into the second round.

4. Taylor Mays- He was blazing fast. There is a huge controversy going on about the combine times now because of Taylor Mays. His unofficial time was 4.24 equal to the fastest man (Chris Johnson) ever at the combine. He then went and ran a 4.34 unofficial time. They published his official time as 4.43. Either way he was the fastest safety or defensive back off the board. He also was one of the top safeties in almost every category and drill.

Many were saying he was going in the second round before the combine. Now, he has taken back over the second safety off the board behind Eric Berry. He should go in the top 20.

5. Tim Tebow- easily won the combine. The man showed he is a freak of an athlete and did exceedingly better than many anticipated. He was fast (4.72), he was the best quarterback in the vertical (38.5), in the 3-cone drill, 20 and 60 yard shuttle. He by far proved he has a place in the NFL now the question is where? He still wants the quarterback position and we will see on his pro day if that is what teams will take him at.

He is a hard one to predict before or after the combine. Many are saying he should go in the 4th or 5th round while they know some team will probably grab him in the second. He could go anywhere from the end of the first to the top of the 5th. We will have a better accurate guess after his pro day.

Here are my 5 losers from the combine:

Joe Haden (Bob Rosato/SI.com)

1. Joe Haden- ran a really slow time to be considered the top cornerback in the draft. He ran a 4.57 unofficially and looked sluggish. 4.57 isn’t fast enough to be considered an elite corner by any means in the NFL. This could really hurt his draft stock. He said he plans to re-run the 40 on his pro day, and that he has never run that slow in his life.

He was projected as the top cornerback coming off the board most likely to the cleveland browns but if he doesn’t improve his 40 time he could drop to the second round.

2. Bryan Bulaga- He really had a shot to be the best tackle coming out of the combine. However, he didn’t do anything. He was ineffective and benched about has much as a running back benched. He looked terrible at the combine.

I don’t think he will drop out of the first round but he may drop out of the top 5 tackles and could go late in the round. Instead of in the top 15.

3. Dan Lefevour- made a terrible decision to not throw to receivers at the combine. I don’t know if he just puts himself up with the elite quarterbacks like Clausen and Bradford or not but he only wanted to throw to non-moving targets. And even when he was throwing to stationary targets he didn’t look impressive.

He really hurt his draft stock. He may even fall into the really late rounds (5 or 6). Though there are a lot of teams that need quarterbacks but when you decide not to show off and other quarterbacks are, you are in trouble. He plans to throw at a pro day and he may change some minds then but for now he is looked at as a late round quarterback.

4. Earl Thomas- was the second best safety in the draft coming into the combine. He didn’t improve his draft stock nor did he really elevate it. However, he let Taylor Mays show him up. Thomas is already looked at as undersized and a little slow, so he has a lot to prove but he didn’t.

He just became the 3rd safety off the board which will probably happen in the second or third round.

5. Jason Pierre-Paul- could have easily become the best DE in the draft with a good athletic performance at the combine. He didn’t do much at the combine to really wow anyone.

He didn’t hurt his draft stock but he didn’t improve it. It looks like he will still go in the middle of the first round.

Final Answers- 2010 NFL Combine Update

The 2010 NFL Combine is over, and here are the answers to the questions I posed before it started. If you don’t remember or you just want to reference back. Click here.

I have answered a lot of the questions as they have come out. I will show you the newest answer and then review.

Taylor Mays showed his speed at the combine with a showing of 4.43, the fastest defensive back or safety at the combine. I think this helps his case to become the second safety off the board especially with Earl Thomas not really making a case for himself.

Jahvid Best looks healthy and fully recovered from his concussion. He also posted the fastest 40 time for running backs. I think teams may still be leery of his injury past and he probably still won’t be the first running back off the board (CJ Spiller still is holding that spot) but he made a strong case to be the second.

Sam Bradford looked strong and healthy and the Rams are starting to at least mock interest in him. We will see what he looks like as a passer when he throws at his pro day.

Carlos Dunlap didn’t relax anyone about his work ethic or his off field issues. I think the red-flag is still flying for him. However, he did prove, what everyone was already saying, that he is a freak of an athlete.

Toby Gerhart ran a 40 time around 4.54 and he definitely made a case to come out in the second round if not sooner.

Jason Pierre-Paul did not come away as the best DE but didn’t hurt his draft stock either. He looks to be at the right spot, he didn’t move up the draft board or down it.

The top 5 O-lineman is a confusing and even more muddy situation after the combine. I would encourage you to read my article about it here.

Coming soon— The Risers and Fallers of the Combine.

2010 NFL Combine Update 2- Fast 40s

Toby Gerhart (Ben Liebenberg/NFL.com)

One of the major questions coming in, for a lot of teams, was Toby Gerhart and his speed. Is he fast enough or is he just going to become the next bulldozer 3rd down back in the NFL.

He didn’t blow anyone away with his 40 time but he didn’t disappoint either. It doesn’t look like they will be converting him to fullback anytime soon. He ran around a 4.5 range in his unofficial time.

He also is not backing down from being known as the strength back or the bulldozer because he benched 225lbs- 22 times. He went on to be one of the top jumpers with a 38″ vertical and 9′ 10″ broad jump. He didn’t stop there either as he was a top performer in the 3-cone drill and the 20 yard shuttle. Showing his agility and his speed.

-Jahvid Best is starting to make for an interesting combine story besting CJ Spiller in the 40 time, with Best’s at 4.35 and Spiller at 4.37. Making Best the fastest running back available in the draft. However, is his durability going to be an issue?

-The fastest 40 time posted in this years combine was by receiver Jacoby Ford out of Clemson, he posted a 4.28.

-For you Seahawks fans, I would be keeping an eye on both Ryan Mathews who has been impressing lots of people at the combine and Joe McKnight who is making a case to once again be the best back in this year’s class from USC.

Tim Tebow (Ben Liebenberg/NFL.com)

-Tim Tebow is also showing why he is a complete freak when it comes to athletic ability. He ran a 4.72, has a vertical of 38.5″, and a broad jump of 9’10″. He was the fourth fastest quarterback, but came at the top of the vertical, the broad jump, the 3 cone drill, the 20 yard shuttle, and the 60-yard shuttle. Making a case that he might be the most complete athlete in this year’s combine.

-Jason Pierre-Paul hasn’t made a clear break to be the top DE in the class but he isn’t disappointing anyone yet. Though scouts are starting to say he would fit best in a 4-3 scheme along with another top DE, Derrick Morgan (ESPN.com).

More Combine Updates as they come. Stay tuned!

2010 NFL Combine Update- The OT shuffle…

The answers are slowly coming out as many athletes have gone through medicals and measurements. Offensive Lineman and Tight Ends have done many of the positional drills and the combine drills.

One of the many questions I posed before the combine was how is Sam Bradford going to look?
While his official medical hasn’t happened, he came into the camp weighting 236 at 6’4. Which puts him over 10 pounds from what he weighed in college. This is fantastic because he always was deemed as too lanky and skinny for the beating of the NFL. Bradford is showing that he is working on building up some padding for the NFL which scouts are pleased with.

One of the other questions I posed was how is the Top-5 offensive lineman going to look after the combine. Who is going to be the best? Will any rise or will any fall?

Bruce Campbell running the 40. (Ben Liebenberg/NFL.com)

The top 5 O-line before the combine in order were- Anthony Davis, Russell Okung, Bryan Bulaga, Trent Williams, and Bruce Campbell.

The one who is making the most noise is the one who barely made the top-5 and that is Bruce Campbell. He came in built like an offensive lineman at 6’6 and 314 pounds but has been performing like he belongs in the group of Tight Ends. He has posted the fastest 40 yard dash time (4.85) for an offensive lineman. He has performed flawless in the positional drills and did the vertical for 32 inches and had 34 reps in the bench press. NFL.com had him listed as the performer of the day for Feb. 27th. He has been an animal and is literally jumping up the draft board.

Trent Williams is also moving up as he was near the top of almost all the offensive lineman categories. The only thing he seemed to come up short on was the bench press but he still finished high enough for scouts to not worry.

Russell Okung was a beast in the bench press but did not impress in any of the other categories and suffered a minor injury in one of the positional drills. That in itself could hurt his draft stock.

Anthony Davis and Bryan Bulaga have barely even made a blip on the radar. Honestly, if you didn’t know any better you wouldn’t even know Bulaga was even at the combine (he is). Davis on the other hand did have a vertical of 33 inches but in everything else he has looked less than impressive.

As of now it looks like the Top O-lineman are in a jumble and the last couple guys are looking to take over the top and the top guys are performing as if they like the second round.

Stay tuned.

Dan Williams Future Seahawks Profile*

*Note, these profiles are on draft prospects and not yet official ‘future Seahawks’.

Senior defensive tackle out of the University of Tennessee, Dan Williams. 6′ 3″ 329 lbs. Memphis, TN, East High School.

Dan Williams from Tennessee

In high school, Williams was one of the best defensive lineman in the state of TN. He was voted to the All-State team by both the Associated Press and the Tennessee sportswriters in 04. His senior year at East High School he totaled 132 tackles with 5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles.

Williams decided to go to the in-state school at University of Tennessee and was red-shirted in 2005.

In his red-shirt freshman year he was still second on the depth chart and only appeared in 6 games but was able to get 1 sack and 2 tackles.

In 2007, Williams began splitting time and was able to start in 9 games and appeared in all of Tennessee’s games. He ended the season with 40 tackles and 2 sacks including a sack in the Outback bowl against Wisconsin.

His redshirt-junior year appeared to be a breakout year for Williams as it was only Eric Berry and Williams to have at least 3 tackles a game for Tennessee’s defense. (utsports.com). He recorded the most tackles for a defensive tackle on his team with 48 and 8 1/2 tackles for loss. He finished the year with one sack and 9 quarterback hurries or pressure.

His senior season, 2009, he recorded a personal season best with 62 tackles and 2 sacks. He had his best game against Ole Miss when he racked up 9 tackles.

He is listed as the best nose tackle in this year’s draft.

Strengths: Takes up space and plugs up holes. He is also explosive enough to get in the backfield and make some noise. He is big and strong but is also agile enough to not get caught too often off position. He plays best against the run.

Weakness: He is not a sack machine only getting 6 total at Tennessee. He needs to work on his speed off the snap. There also may be a minor concern with work ethic. He also struggles with longevity in games. He can wear out quickly and will probably need to work on his endurance if he wants to play a whole game.

If the seahawks are actually looking to become a 3-4 defense this year, this is the best nose tackle available in the draft. He will probably be around right at the 14th pick as most experts are expecting him to go about that time.

Projection: First Round

Check out other Future Seahawks Profiles* here.

Jahvid Best Future Seahawks Profile*

*Note, these profiles are on draft prospects and not yet official ‘future Seahawks’.

Junior running back out of the University of California, Berkley. 5′ 10″ 215lbs. Vallejo, CA. Salestian High School.

California RB Jahvid Best

Best was a popular running back coming out of high school. In his junior and senior high school years he competed in a major competitive track invitational, winning events in both years. His speed earned him scholarships offers from 6 of the Pac-10 teams.

His freshman year at Cal was spent mostly on special teams and as current Seattle Seahawks running back Justin Forsett’s back up. He ended his freshman year with 29 carries for 221 yards and 2 TDs and was making a name for himself on special teams.

He quickly found the spotlit his sophomore year with big games and just two games into the season he already accumulated 411 yards and 4 TDs. He would later become the 7th consecutive 1,000 yard rusher from Cal with 201 yards against rival Stanford and he became the first Golden Bears running back to run for 300 yards against the Washington huskies. He would later go on to receive offensive MVP honors at the 2008 Emerald Bowl with 186 yards and 2 TDs. He finished his sophomore year with 1,580 yards and 15 touchdowns.

During his junior year Best began to show some catching ability out of the backfield to go with his explosive running ability. His season however, was cut short by a concussion during a touchdown run against Oregon State. He would miss the remainder of the season and would finish his season with 867 yards, 12 TDs, and 4 receiving TDs in 8 games.

Strengths: Explosive runner. A tough, fast runner who can create big plays from small holes. He has the double threat as a receiver out of the backfield. Some have made comparisons to Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans.

Weaknesses: His history with injuries will work against him. Needs to develop into a blocker for pass protection as well as a runner.

Projection: First rounder. Ranked just below C.J. Spiller for top back in the draft.

Check out other Future Seahawks Profiles* here.

Myron Rolle Future Seahawks Profile*

*Note, these profiles are on draft prospects and not yet official ‘future Seahawks’.

Senior defensive back out of Florida State University, 6′ 2″ 215 lbs. Galloway, New Jersey. David Brearley High School.

FSU safety Myron Rolle is a gentleman and a (Rhodes) scholar

Rolle was a highly touted safety coming out of high school and joined Bobby Bowden’s FSU Seminoles football team in 2006. Rolle put up a solid freshman year at Florida State with 77 tackles and an interception. His great freshman year was awarded with a first-team Freshman All-American.

Rolle followed up his freshman year with equally successful sophomore and junior seasons with 68 and 62 tackles. His junior year caught a lot of attention from the media for reasons other than his play on the field. Rolle was a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship in 2008 and eventually, hours before a game actually, was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of Oxford in England.

Rolle decided to forgo his senior season, and the NFL, to study in England. He also announced that he would indeed enter the 2010 NFL draft after his study at Oxford was finished.

Strengths: Rolle is a well built safety. Has the abilities to succeed, he can hit and knows how to wrap up to ensure a takedown. Covering ability is above average as well.He is a very smart player

Weaknesses: Relies on the thought process, analyzing, etc. rather than instincts prior to reacting to a play. Hasn’t quite lived up to the playing ability of his size. His choice to go to Oxford may cause some rustiness while trying to re-acclimate to game-speed play.

Projection: Is looked at as a 2nd-4th round safety. He played well at the Senior Bowl and a good showing at the upcoming scouting combine could raise his stock even more.

Check out other Future Seahawks Profiles* here.

UW, Pac-10, Pete Carroll, and the 2010 NFL Combine Breakdown

The 2010 NFL Combine is just a couple days away, (Feb 24) so I decided to breakdown the combine invitees based around the local connection, of course the Pac-10, and concluding with the Pete Carroll connection.

I need to give credit where credit is due and a lot of the ground work was done by Mike Sando (ESPN NFC West Blogger) who uploaded the document which I did most of the digging through here.

The University of Washington is represented by two players in Daniel Te’O-Nesheim and Donald Butler both expected to go in the later rounds of the draft. Te’O-Nesheim is listed as the 24th best DE in the draft and Butler as the 18th best ILB in the draft (by scouts inc). Which puts them both 4th-7th rounders barring some kind of miracle.

Donald Butler (image courtesy of Elaine Thompson- AP)

For those of you, like me, that are husky fans, it might make you feel better to know that WSU had 0 invites to the combine.

Which leads me to the Pac-10, how did the Pac-10 do overall as a conference?
The conference received exactly 40 invites, and placing them 3rd overall-technically, there is a 3 way tie for second. Here is the conference breakdown:

SEC- 64
Big 10- 41
Big 12- 41
ACC- 41
Pac-10- 40
Big East- 21
MWC- 18
WAC- 14
CUSA- 10
Mid-America- 7
Other- 32

Every team in the Pac-10 had invites besides the afore mentioned WSU. USC led the charge and was second in the nation, behind LSU, with 11 invites.

Which leads us to the obvious question, with 11 former USC players now expected to get drafted by an NFL team and probably others wanting to contend for a spot, how much will Pete Carroll want to grab his guys?

Let’s look at our needs vs. who is coming out of USC:
Our biggest need is a O-Line and USC has almost their whole starting line being invited to this combine. Their guard, Alex Parsons (projected to be a late rounder). Their center, Jeff Byers (depending on the need could go in the middle rounds). Also they have their starting left tackle, Charles Brown (he will probably go in the second round).

We also need a better safety and USC obviously has Taylor Mays coming out (projected to be a late first rounder).

The hawks need a better pass-rush or D-Line, and some mocks have us taking Everson Griffen, who is coming out of college early probably because he is expected to go in the first round.

Stafon Johnson (image courtesy of Warren- AP)

It would be nice to be able to improve our running game and its possible the Seahawks look late in the draft an pick up a back. USC has two running backs invited to the combine. Joe McKnight is expected to go in the second to third round range and is ranked 86th overall by scouts inc. Stafon Johnson is the other back going to the combine and he is expected to be a late in the draft grab.

It would probably be nice to add some depth to our corners and what? USC has two corners with invites to the combine: Kevin Thomas and Josh Pinkard (both expected to go very late in the draft).

Could Pete Carroll push his guys, especially-when its the 5th, 6th, or 7th round?

Let’s wait and find out, but for now the combine starts this week on February 24th! Stay tuned for more updates about the combine on juddsports.com!

Ryan Mathews Future Seahawks Profile*

*Note, these profiles are on draft prospects and not yet official ‘future Seahawks’.

Junior running back out of Fresno State University, Ryan Mathews. 5′ 11″ 220 lbs. Bakersfield, CA, West High School.

(Image Courtesy of Mark Crosse and Merced Sun-Star)

Mathews was highly recruited coming out of high school as one of the leading rushers in central California. He accumulated 1,104 yards and 18 touchdowns for West. He was often seen taking snaps from the “wildcat” position and rushing from there in high school.

Mathews went to fresno state and played as a true freshman in 11 of the 13 games and was an immediate impact. He totaled 13 touchdowns and his best game came against Nevada where he rushed for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns.

In 2008, his sophomore year, Mathews was on pace to be one of the best rushers in not just his conference but in the nation before getting injured in the UCLA game. He tried to play in the next few games but ended up sitting out the rest of the year.

In 2009, Mathews rose back to the top of the rushing leaders in the nation and many Fresno State fans felt he should be up in the Heisman running. His best game came against ranked Boise State in which he had 19 carries for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns. That wasn’t his last 200+ yard game, he did it again versus San Diego State rushing for 233 yards on 20 carries and 1 touchdown. He finished the season with 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns. (Mark Ingram-Heisman Winner rushed for 1,658 for 17 touchdowns)

He is listed as the third best running back in this year’s draft by Todd McShay and fifth by Mel Kiper Jr.

Strengths: Explosive and runs with force. He is both fast and powerful, he has a mean stiff arm and incredible balance, he runs with vision and power. He would work best in a zone-blocking scheme.

Weakness: Durability might be a small issue. He did miss a lot of games in the 2008 season. He doesn’t get a ton of work rarely getting more than 20 carries in a game.

If the seahawks are actually looking for a back in this draft, Mathews would be a great grab if he is around for us the second or third round. He fits our zone-blocking structure and system.

Projection: Most likely in the second round. Could rise up into the first or drop to the third.

Check out other Future Seahawks Profiles* here.