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BRB From The NFL Combine: That's A Wrap!

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(Picture obviously courtesy of scout.com, it's the Legend of Haden: A Joe To The Past.  I really hope this becomes a sequel to Barkley: Shut Up & Jam Gaiden)

Joe Haden brought the big news of Day 4 of the combine:  He was the first guy I had covered who specifically said that the Texans had interviewed him already.  Of course, at this point the interviews really mean nothing, but it was nice that they targeted him.  It would probably take a trade up to land Haden, but as good as he already is, he thinks there is more there.  He explained to the throng that he'd been recruited as a quarterback, "I set many Maryland (high) school records.  I've only been playing corner for three years."  There might be some additional upside here.  He went on to say that run support was the easiest part of becoming a corner since he'd spent his little league and high school days playing linebacker, and that he prefers press coverage and bumping guys off their routes to playing zone.  If we had to trade up to get him, but Frank Bush promised to let him play press more often than the Texans did last year, I might even consider that smart.

It was sort of a listless day apart from the final press conference, which I actually got a full transcript of and which I want to save for later this week since it's more of an analytical coverage than an actual interview.  This might give away who it is.  Behind the jump will be tidbits from the majority of the big name corners and safeties, including Myron Rolle, Eric Berry, Kyle Wilson, and others.  Before I get there I'd like to give a thank you to SB Nation for letting me attend and Tim for vouching for me.  I'd also like to recommend you read the other SB Nation writers who went there.  In particular Matt Connor of Arrowhead Pride, who put up an astonishing amount of entries, but also Mojokong for Cincy Jungle and Peter Bean for SBNation.com.  Additionally I'd like to thank Drew Doughtery on the mothership (and his camera man Julio) amongst others for putting up with my constant badgering of Texans-related questions.  He's got some great podcasts up from here, including one with Rick Gosselin, who is absolutely the best mainstream media guy on draft coverage.  Okay, done making sure everyone will actually remember me when I make a LinkedIn page.  Now, onto the jump!

Star-divide

Brandon Ghee, CB, Wake Forest: Another soft-spoken guy I couldn't really hear much of since he wasn't at a podium.  "There were a few teams talking to me about safety, but not many," he noted.  He explained his lack of college interceptions (he only had 1) by saying that he'd had a few drops, but mostly it's because "not many people were throwing at me."  He mostly played man-to-man.

Eric Berry, S, Tennessee: Berry spent most of the time playing up his versatility.  He doesn't think being a safety should hurt him as far as going #1 overall because he's spent a lot of time in the box, he's played strong safety, he's played inside on passing downs, and he thinks he can do it all.  When asked why he left early, he told us that Monte Kiffin told him "you'd be a fool to come back," and later went on to say that he really had wanted to break the NCAA interception return yardage record but "teams were looking at me like I had the plague, nobody was throwing at me."   He gets motivation from us:  Every year before the season starts he takes the worst thing anyone has said about him, puts it on his bathroom mirror, and reads it while he brushes his teeth.  One media member then noted that his teeth were REALLY white.  "You know why."  

Nate Allen, S, South Florida: Allen feels like he's improved already just in the offseason.  Most of the time he was making calls, directing traffic, he's not really a box safety.  Another one who won't run, because he pulled his quad.  He mentioned a lot of teams were asking him how much benefit he got from having Jason Pierre-Paul and George Selvie in front of him, which he honestly answered "it helped a lot."  Allen had a lot more complex defense from his freshman-junior seasons where he had to check out of things more often, but it was sort of toned down last year.  I asked him if he thought he could start right away and he gave a sort of humble "we'll see" response.

Taylor Mays, S, USC: I was in the bathroom for most of this conference.  Happens to the best of us.  I got back in time to hear him say "I'm a football player, I'll play wherever."  Like I said folks, versatility is the major theme.

Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers: Played a lot of Cover 2 at Rutgers; that's a checkmark for the Texans.  He said he's more physical than his brother and has been hearing from teams that he could be as high as late first and as low as the 3rd or 4th round.

Major Wright, S, Florida: Kind of a tame interview.  They asked him one of the same questions they asked Haden, which was "How much did practicing against Tebow and the rest of these guys help you?"  I don't think I even need to type the answer.  He said he's a straight safety, and that Urban Meyer originally wanted him to come back but changed his tune late in the process.  The Draft Advisory committee gave him a grade of "No later than the third round."

Chad Jones, S, LSU: Chad played baseball, which is what most of the questions were focused on here.  Again, lots of talk about versatility and special teams play.  He went down from 232 pounds to 221 after the season and he thinks losing that weight will help him run a little faster and show a little more range.

Myron Rolle, S, FSU: "I want it as much as anyone else out here today," it began.  Rolle took the media on such a carpet ride that I don't think anyone even bothered asking him about football beyond his motivation for it.  He talked about having a roommate from Seoul who asked him why cameras were following him around and why he was famous, and how he tried to explain to him the concepts of the game.  He talked about playing rugby, although he was a wing, so he didn't get too banged up.  Of course, he talked about wanting to be a neurosurgeon later in his life, at about 40 or so, and how he was influenced by one of Ben Carson's books (he didn't say which).  A popular question that teams were asking him was whether his time away from the game would hurt his football career in the future, and he noted that "my academic pursuits helped with football."  In particular he noted that patience and timing were key skills in research and he thought they translated well to football.

Earl Thomas, S, Texas: John McClain got about half of the total questions in on this conference.  He kept repeating that he was a "ballplayer who was ready to play."  He doesn't care where.  McClain specifically asked him about the Texans and he said "whoever wants me, I'm ready.  That'd be a great situation."  He also noted that he'd put on about 13 pounds of muscle to help being in the box, banging heads all day.  Unfortunately, he also said he was a Cowboys fan.  Let's not draft him.

Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State: Wilson praised his brother a lot of this press conference, and said he'd helped him get into college football by sending a recruiting video to all the top 50 teams.  He thought that "level of competition" between BCS auto-bid conferences and non-auto-bid conferences was pretty negligible.  Wilson thought his time in the WAC, playing against all those spread offenses, will help him in the NFL.

Donovan Warren, CB, Michigan: He did not come out because of concerns about the CBA.  He'll play whatever, but he feels more comfortable in man-to-man.  Warren went on to say he'd had three separate defensive coordinators and it was hard to learn a new system every year.

2 recs  |  Comment 32 comments |

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nice breakdown, good monday morning read.

Be judgmental about the actions of the past, be hopeful about the actions of the future. -The Homers Creed

by DaGoaT on Mar 1, 2010 7:43 AM CST reply actions  

I heart Donovan Warren

That is all

" If CB is a big hole, Dunta was the shovel."
- Rivers McCown

by MDC on Mar 1, 2010 8:30 AM CST reply actions  

Please to sell me on him.

He’s definitely the corner I feel like I know the least about

- Rivers McCown, From Mom's Basement | Twitter

by riversmccown on Mar 1, 2010 10:35 AM CST via mobile up reply actions  

Absolutely awesome, Rivers!

This was quite a contribution to the BRB! Thx!

This overshadows the Olympics in my mind and gives you something to build on for the future, too.

I suppose if all of the stars, moons and planets align it could be possible, but what are the chances of that?

by Rip Jersey on Mar 1, 2010 8:42 AM CST reply actions  

I dunno about overshadowing the olympics

But I’m glad I was able to give some perspective from the ground. Thanks for the support. Without the readers BRB is nothing.

- Rivers McCown, From Mom's Basement | Twitter

by riversmccown on Mar 1, 2010 10:36 AM CST via mobile up reply actions  

I certainly won't mind and won't grow tired....

if you remind us from time to time about your experiences at the Combine and refer back to your notes to remind us of what you heard and saw. I imagine as the draft gets closer and probably immediately after the draft, your notes may become all the more pertinent.

I suppose if all of the stars, moons and planets align it could be possible, but what are the chances of that?

by Rip Jersey on Mar 2, 2010 9:54 AM CST up reply actions  

I completely agree with Rip Jersey

Rivers,

This was so awesome of you to make this trip on our behalf. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your articles about the combine. (I got back to Battle Red Blog a bit later than I had hoped) But just like Rip Jersey said, please feel welcome to remind us of your notes from the Combine as the draft gets closer.

Thank you !

by BattleRedFan on Mar 8, 2010 5:30 AM CST up reply actions  

Nice work Rivers.

We all appreciate your efforts over there!

Bacon tastes good... Pork chops taste good.

by beefy on Mar 1, 2010 9:49 AM CST reply actions  

re: Drew Dougherty

The Texans don’t give press credentials to “online” media, what about HoustonTexans.com?

Is Drew employed by the Texans, ie McNair signs his checks?

Dunta's weightspeed was too low

by texanphil on Mar 1, 2010 9:58 AM CST reply actions  

If Myron Rolle drops because he's smart

it’s a true travesty.

This is great stuff. Nice to see the Texans talking to Haden (although he’ll be long gone by 20).

Wilson’s still my choice at CB (doubt we’ll get him).

by TexansDC on Mar 1, 2010 10:43 AM CST reply actions  

Mainstream Media are fucking morons

I can understand teams at least taking it into consideration since they will be betting millions of dollars on him(and really any pick in the draft is a bet one way or another) but I doubt teams will actually shy away from him becuase he is too smart.

Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.

by nolander on Mar 1, 2010 12:12 PM CST up reply actions  

Some teams may...
"We’ll have to find out how committed he is," an NFC assistant coach said, echoing the sentiment of five other NFL types leading up to this weekend’s scouting combine. "Committed" is a euphemism for desire, care, passion and whatever other combination of emotions goes into wanting to play football enough to make it a career.

From this article. It’s a good article on Rolle.

by TexansDC on Mar 1, 2010 12:22 PM CST up reply actions  

I don’t think in the long term they are going to have an issue with it. It makes sense that they would at least double check.

Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.

by nolander on Mar 1, 2010 3:44 PM CST up reply actions  

Rec'd

I agree 100% with this.

If the Treasury Secretary doesn't have to pay taxes, then why do I?

by Shake on Mar 1, 2010 12:15 PM CST up reply actions  

IMHO

If anyone was offered the chance to become a Rhodes Scholar, You are an effin Idiot not to take it. I think Rolle did what he wanted and probably needed. A lot of Professional athletes don’t even have a diploma from school. What happens if you become the next Andre Ware or Chris Simms? You can always fall back on oh wait you dont have a college diploma because you left early to play sports.
I give props to Rolle and would love to have him on my team.


Go Texans!

by Taco Joe on Mar 1, 2010 12:37 PM CST up reply actions   1 recs

If anyone is an effin idiot

they probably are not being offered a chance as a Rhodes Scholar. So this makes sense because whoever thinks this is a negative towards Rolle is an effin idiot.

by theaxeeffect4311 on Mar 1, 2010 12:40 PM CST up reply actions  

don't believe the hype

if he actually drops because of this, yes, but I wouldn’t believe what the GMs and coaches are saying right now.

Also never believe McShay et al.

If he falls and we get a late round steal, it was good (negative) PR by all the GMs.

Dunta's weightspeed was too low

by texanphil on Mar 1, 2010 2:31 PM CST up reply actions  

Thanks for the combine coverage Rivers!

We definitely owe you a beer. Or seven.

P.S. I hate them damn mucinex commercials.

by Jordann on Mar 1, 2010 11:58 AM CST reply actions  

yes

but mucinex is still a wonderful product

Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.

by nolander on Mar 1, 2010 12:12 PM CST up reply actions  

the answer to that

Hinges on if BFD made it to the combine or not.

Rudimentary creatures of flesh and blood, you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.

by nolander on Mar 1, 2010 12:13 PM CST up reply actions  

Well Haden obviously

If I had to pick one of the others, I’d probably lean McCourty at this point. But nobody really blew me away.

- Rivers McCown, From Mom's Basement | Twitter

by riversmccown on Mar 1, 2010 2:11 PM CST via mobile up reply actions  

I think

Haden is the only corner who is out of our reach. I’m not sure how I feel about that, as I’m not sure if it means there’s good value in this draft or if it’s just weak at corner. Personally I’d prefer a DT in 1 and a CB in 2.

by JimboTexan on Mar 1, 2010 5:23 PM CST up reply actions  

according to the experts

It’s supposed to be a deep draft at corner. LZ said potential starters could be had through the first three rounds. He usually gets pretty good direct info from scouts too…of course a lot of scouts thought Bush would be a game changer too.

"Well, at least our players kept their helmets on, so that showed some intelligence"-Bob McNair

by papabear on Mar 1, 2010 7:17 PM CST via mobile up reply actions  

Haden may not be out of reach

with a 4.6 at the combine.

We know the Raiders won’t take him.

Dunta's weightspeed was too low

by texanphil on Mar 2, 2010 9:16 AM CST up reply actions  

Ghee

I’m a Wake alum, have had season tix for five years, and saw pretty much every play of Ghee’s career. As he said, teams were terrified to throw near him. When he did get to make a play, I’m pretty sure he dropped some balls/missed some tackles because he was bored or lulled to sleep. He’s a good player, bit not great IMO. If we take him, I hope it’s in the 3rd or later.

by DieselDeac on Mar 2, 2010 7:20 PM CST via mobile reply actions  

If we want Ghee

there’s a decent chance at him for pick 20. I would be thrilled. He has speed and can be coached up.

Williams/Weatherspoon and Ghee? Ka-effin-ching.

by TexansDC on Mar 2, 2010 7:25 PM CST up reply actions  

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