Next up: NFL Combine

Football is in the air and I cannot wait to the big upcoming weekend otherwise known as the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

There have been over 330 invited to this event including former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher, MarQueis Gray.

The event goes from February 23^rd-26^th. The actual workouts to watch are as follows with Saturday having the Tight Ends, Offensive Linemen and Special Teams. Sunday will have Quarterbacks, Running Backs and Wide Receivers. Monday will have Defensive Linemen and Linebackers and Tuesday concludes with Defensive Backs.

I believe the Vikings are in biggest need of help on the defensive line, linebackers and wide receivers so I will be watching Sunday and Monday the most. I will watch each day but concentrate the heaviest on these 2 days.

There are so many experts in the world and have have their thoughts on who should go to whom and when. The only one who really knows is the player and yes they are confident but only their play on the field will show all.

How many first round busts have we seen in our time in the NFL, or how many low drafted players have made it big? I will even go as far as saying how many players have made it big and they did not even get drafted. It is truly an exciting time for fans but we must also be patient with time. The upcoming weekend may show just what player means business in the combine.

The events these guys go through are 40 yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 3 cone drill (ability to change direction at high speed), and the shuttle run (lateral quickness and short explosion capability) These are the events but there are also several interviews sessions with different staff from the NFL teams.

The times have changed for media as each year more and more media come. This year over 800 media passes were handed out.

I really enjoy Mike Mayocks insight on TV and his columns. I have met him at Training Camp in Mankato and he has done Vikings preseason game.

I have found have found his top 5 on each position as I trust what he says. They go as follows:

Outside linebacker

1. Dion Jordan, Oregon
2. Jarvis Jones, Georgia
3. Khaseem Greene, Rutgers
4. Barkevious Mingo, LSU
5. Arthur Brown, Kansas State

 

Inside linebackers

1. Alec Ogletree, Georgia
2. Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
3. Kevin Minter, LSU
4. Kevin Reddick, North Carolina
5. Kiko Alonso, Oregon

Defensive End

1. Bjoern Werner, Florida State
2. Damontre Moore, Texas A&M
3. Ezekiel Ansah, BYU
4. Sam Montgomery, LSU
T-5. Datone Jones, UCLA
T-5. Margus Hunt, SMU

Defensive Tackle

1. Sharrif Floyd, Florida
2. Star Lotulelei, Utah
3. Sheldon Richardson, Missouri
4. Sylvester Williams, North Carolina
T-5. Kawann Short, Purdue
T-5. Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State

Wide Receiver

1. Cordarrelle Patterson, Tennessee
2. Keenan Allen, Cal
3. Terrance Williams, Baylor
4. Tavon Austin, West Virginia
5. Quinton Patton, Louisiana Tech

These are the names I will follow and if I had my choice for the team I would go with 1 of 2 players for the Vikings pick at 23. I am high on Defensive Tackle, Sharriff Floyd out of Florida. The SEC conference puts out tremendous talent each year into the NFL and if Floyd would come I would welcome him.

The other player I really enjoyed watching is Wide Receiver, Cordarrelle Patterson out of Tennessee. Once again a player out of the south who had a great college season with 10 touchdowns. He is a multi-purpose player as he rushes for 3 TD’s caught 5 touchdowns, returned a punt and kickoff for a touchdown. He is 6’4” and weighs 205. The big receiver the Vikes are in need of.

If our draft is anything like 2012 we are in for another fun season as it is the last season in the dome.

Enjoy watching the combine and just see how many of these youngsters you can envision in Purple

Source: nfl.com Pre-Combine Position rankings for 2013 NFL Draft written by Mike Mayock

Thanks for treading

Purplestick