Scouting Combine, Day Three (DL and LB's)

Vernon Gholston and Chris Long both put on a spectacular show at the combine, and showed why they are the cream of the crop for this upcoming draft. I was impressed with the pass rushers much more than the tackles and LB's. Hybrid types include Cliff Avril, Quentin Groves, Marcus Howard, and Shawn Crable all were impressive as all showed they are versatile, and can play different roles in different defenses. Larger End types also were impressing such as Jason Jones, Lawrence Jackson, Chris Harrington, and Jeremy Thompson. I was disappointed that Phillip Merling did not work out, as well as some tackles such as Kentwan Balmer and Glenn Dorsey. I wasn't really impressed with the tackle class as a whole, but some such as Dre Moore, DeMario Pressley, and Trevor Laws stuck out. Sedrick Ellis worked out, and disappointed a bit, but he's still an elite football player. He might have gained too much weight after dominating the Senior Bowl practices and game.

As far as OLB's are concerned, the best (Beau Bell, Keith Rivers) did not work out, and it showed. Some did impress with their speed, such as Wesley Woodyard (who had a great Sr Bowl), Gary Guyton, and Stanford Keglar. ILB's that stood out included personal favorite Jerod Mayo, Curtis Lofton, and Phillip Wheeler. Overall, today was dominated by pass rushers, ends, and versatile players.