Which brings us to the 2013 NFL Draft.
http://www.nepatriotsdraft.com/2013/03/pro-day-spotlight-alabama-oregon-geno-smith.html
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks finished the 2012 college football season ranked as the top two teams in the nation. Both programs, which have a number of stars from their successful teams now in line to be selected in the 2013 NFL draft, held their pro days earlier this week.
Alabamaās pro day was held in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Wednesday, while Oregonās was in Eugene, Ore. on Thursday. Thanks to ESPN3ās coverage streamed online, I was able to watch portions of each pro day. While the coverage unfortunately did not show much of the positional drills from either workouts, there were players at both that stood out with their measurable performances.
Alabama
One year removed from producing five of the NFL draftās top 35 picks, Alabama has a chance to replicate those numbers yet again in 2013, with a draft class that includes six potential first-round selections.
The standout among them Wednesday was defensive tackle Jesse Williams. He did not participate in on-field drills at the NFL Scouting Combine due to a knee injury, but made up for it with a strong pro day highlighted by an impressive time of 4.92 seconds (hand time) in the 40-yard dash.
For a 325-pound defensive lineman whose game is not predicated on his speed, showing that level of athleticism only makes him more attractive as a prospect. Williams is better known for his strength and power, and is the best true nose tackle prospect in the draft class. But although a massive and powerful gap-filler, he has surprising quickness and athleticism, and that athleticism could push Williams into the draftās top 10-15 picks.
Alabamaās top overall prospect for the draft is guard Chance Warmack. His athletic testing was underwhelming on Friday: he ran times of 5.01 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.91 in the 3-cone drill according to NFL.com, and only managed 24.5 inches in the vertical jump.
Granted, these numbers matter little for a guard, but are notable in that he is not the same caliber of athlete as North Carolinaās Jonathan Cooper, the other star guard prospect in the draft class. Warmack did shine, however, during the streamed portion of on-field drills. He moves his feet well in short areas, and did every drill smoothly with textbook posture and stance.
Another potential first-round pick, right tackle D.J. Fluker, also did positional work with Warmack. In comparison to his counterpart, Fluker looked stiffer in his movement, and his feet did not look as natural, while he drove too high into the bag on blocking drills.
Alabamaās other three potential first-round picks ā cornerback Dee Milliner (shoulder), offensive lineman Barrett Jones (foot) and running back Eddie Lacy (hamstring) ā are all nursing injuries and did not participate in on-field drills. Jones did, however, put up a solid number of 27 repetitions in the bench press.
Safety Robert Lester had a solid day in his pro day workouts. His 40-yard dash time (4.65 seconds unofficial) was subpar, but he had good marks in the vertical jump (34 inches), broad jump (10 feet, 1 inch), 20-yard shuttle (4.25 hand time), 3-cone drill (7.25 seconds, according to NFL.com) and 60-yard shuttle (11.75 unofficial).
Lester had a disappointing mark of only seven repetitions in the bench press, but looked good in the streamed portion of defensive back drills, tracking the ball well and catching the ball clean.
Michael Williams is a very good in-line blocker for a tight end, but he proved that he is only a blocker and short-yardage receiving threat on Wednesday. Williams looked like an offensive tackle (which he could ultimately be developed into, measuring in at 6ā5 5/8ā and 278 pounds) than a tight end during athletic testing.
Williamsā marks in the 40-yard dash (5.09 hand time), 20-yard shuttle (4.88 unofficial), 3-cone drill (8.10 hand time), vertical jump (25.5 inches per NFL.com) and broad jump (8 feet, 1 inch per NFL.com) all would have been worst by a significant margin among tight ends at the NFL Scouting Combine.
All 32 NFL teams were represented Wednesday, and NFL.com reported that attendees executives included New York Jets general manager John Idzik, New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese and Detroit Lions senior personnel executive Brian Xanders and defensive line coach Kris Kocurek.
