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Why some teams didn't want Alabama's Robert Foster at the NFL scouting combine
AL.comAt least some NFL teams didn't want Robert Foster at the NFL scouting combine.
They were hoping the former Alabama wide receiver didn't get an invite and were disappointed when he did.
The reason?
As people at Alabama have heard it, those teams were hoping for Foster to continue to go under the radar and for them to be able to steal him in the later rounds of the NFL draft or possibly as an undrafted free agent. However, they knew that was probably no longer going to be a possibility once Foster got that combine invite in early February.
Some NFL teams may not yet be aware of Foster's speed and physical tools. They will be soon, though. Unfortunately for those teams that were hoping for Foster to continue to fly under the radar.
"I think he's as good as anybody else that will be out there at the combine," former Alabama wide receiver and current NFL draft prospect Calvin Ridley said of Foster. "Brings elite speed and great route running. Regardless of his production for us the past few years, I think he will show everyone at the combine truly how talented he is and that he's just as good as anybody else."
One of Foster's nicknames at Alabama: "The Road Runner."
On a team full of fast players, Foster was arguably the fastest.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Pennsylvania native ran the 40-yard in 4.34 seconds during the Tide's 2016 spring testing, which was tied with Anthony Averett and Tony Brown for the fastest time on the team.
He ran a 4.44 40 in 2015 and a 4.47 last year.
Regardless of the times, though, people at Alabama will tell you that Foster is a rare level of fast, which should show when wide receivers go through on-field testing at the combine on Saturday.
"I expect him to really just set it on fire (at the combine)," former Tide linebacker Rashaan Evans said. "I think it's good for him to be kind of under the radar because no one expects anything as far as what he's going to run in the 40 or anything else because they really don't even know too much about him. But I think once he (goes through) the combine and him doing the 40, the L-cone drill, the (shuttle drill) and him getting on the field and seeing how he can catch on the run and all those things, they're going to be blown away."
Though his numbers last season weren't great by any means, Foster started 13 of Alabama's 14 games and was tied for second on the team among wide receivers with 14 catches.
He had a season-high three catches during the Tide's win over Georgia in the national championship game. And there was an early season touchdown against Colorado State that showed the speed that will be on display at the combine. After catching a pass approximately 15 yards down the field, Foster flew past multiple Colorado State players on his way to a 52-yard touchdown.
Ridley, Evans and others like Minkah Fitzpatrick have also seen more of that speed and athleticism in person in recent weeks. Those three along with Foster and a few other former Alabama players have been doing their pre-draft training together in Tuscaloosa.
Foster started with that training three days after the national title game.
"He's a freakish athlete," Evans said. "He can do some things that, you'll look at some of these guys at the combine and be like 'OK, they're good' but then you'll see Robert and be like 'Why isn't he like top-five?' ... A lot of people are going to be surprised by what he does."
Which is why those NFL teams probably no longer believe that they'll be able to land Foster late in the draft or as an undrafted free agent.
"My primary goals," Foster said, "are basically just to do everything full speed, do everything the right way, do everything in a respectful manner and show that I have something to prove and that I have the ability to play at the next level."
Why some teams didn't want Alabama's Robert Foster at the NFL scouting combine
