After watching it for the past two days here are some very quick observations:

 

*Chad Jackson made himself a lot of money. He ran a 4.32/40 and caught the ball very well. He is only 20 years old right now and has monster sized arms. He might be challenging Santonio for the 1st WR selected now.

 

*Jay Cutler has a very live arm and can make all the throws but he seemed to try to hard and was inconsistent. He clocked a very athletic 4.75 but looked akward running. He also has a nice tire around his stomach but as a QB I guess that does not matter much. He had great touch on the deep balls. Repped 225 23 times.

 

*Omar Jacobs looked like a beast. He has an extremely athletic build and all of his weight looks like muscle. While he still has that akward throwing motion, he was maybe the most accurate QB overall and could not have hurt his stock. He looks like a great position bargain prospect.

 

*Will Blackmon, who is trying to make an attempt as a WR in the NFL looked very uncomfortable adjusting to poor throws and looked to be fighting the ball while making catches. He used his body way too much.

 

*Chris Hannon from Tenn has great size and showed great speed and hands to go along with that speed. He is a little lanky but was a legit 6'4'' and ran a 4.42. He seemed to be very graceful and almost looked like he was gliding when he ran. Could be a great find and impressed me immensly.

 

*Mike Haas showed that he will be more of a posession WR in the NFL, as the thought going in was. He ran a 4.61 but may have the most natural pass catching ability and smoothest hands in the draft. The ball seemed to fall into his hands like they were made of silk.

 

*Brandon Marshall, a WR from UCF who has the nickname "Baby TO" because of his stature at 6'4'' and a ripped 229 continued to see his stock rise with a 4.50/40. He is a guy who I cant figure out why everyone is sleeping on. He played DB 2 years ago because of UCF's injuries but he is a beast of a WR who has performed well in the all-star games. I'd love the fins to get him.

 

*Sinorce Moss ran a 4.34, one of the faster times as was expected. He also showed great burst and overall has good hands. He looks like a natural pass catcher.

 

*Some QB 40 times:

Reggie McNeal: 4.35

Marcus Vick: 4.42

Bruce Gradkowski: 4.59

Ingle Martin: 4.65

Brad Smith: 4.46

 

Thats all I feel like writing now, maybe I will post more later.

Vick had a great showing today.

I wouldn't mind the Dolphins taking a shot at Ingle Martin in the 6th round or so.

 

Also, Chad Jackson was a beast at that skills competition thing in Miami a few weeks ago. Caught the most passes from the jugs machine by quite a margin.

I really like Brandon Marshall he is a 1st round talent that the Phins can get in the 4th.

The Eagles were apparently having conversations with Marcus Vick :banghead :banghead

Leon Washington, FSU RB, had a real good workout (it looked like)

 

4.42 40 for those wondering

 

seems like a good kid with his head on straight during his interview with the NFL Network guys.... Ill be rooting for him wherever he goes next year

Jeremy Bloom ran a 4.49. While many people look at that and think it is disappointiing and slower than they expected from this "speed" guy, it is not. He has been training strickly for the Winter Olympics and skiing. He also just competed and is probably jet lagged and not in "football shape". He is a legit 4.3 guy with training and is definitely one of the faster people in the draft.

 

The biggest news today was TE Vernon Davis from Maryland. He measured in at a shade under 6'4'', taller than expected and showed off great hands today. He is also very well built and strong as hell. However, the biggest thing was today he ran a 4.37 40 time and had a 42 inch vertical which should solidify him as an easy top 10 pick. The Bears, who many had pegged him to go to initially, now have no shot to get him unless they trade up and from his onfield performance and measurables, that might not be a bad idea. He may be the biggest physical freak the combine has seen in a long, long time.

how about that dude from tOSU with the 46 reps of 225?

 

I think his name is Kudia?

Mike Kudla, DE/OLB

 

He is a friggin beast. He got no attention because of Hawk and Carpenter, but he's going to be a very good NFL player.

 

NFL COMBINE | NOTEBOOK

Kudla ties record for repetitions in lifting

Monday, February 27, 2006

Bill Rabinowitz and James Walker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

INDIANAPOLIS ? When he finished, Mike Kudla thought he had set an NFL combine record in the bench press.

 

When he learned he had merely tied it, that didn?t seem to bother him.

 

The Ohio State defensive end lifted 225 pounds 45 times at the combine yesterday. Kudla thought the combine record was 43.

 

It wasn?t. Texas-El Paso?s Leif Larsen had 45 reps in 2000.

 

"I had 46 right there," Kudla said. "I just couldn?t get that last inch on that right arm. It just kind of gave way. . . . It?s not a (personal best), but I?m very happy with it."

 

Kudla said his previous best was 52 in June, but he devoted more attention to his speed work as the combine approached. He has his running drills today.

 

He said he and his agent, Neil Cornrich, talked before he lifted and agreed they?d be happy if Kudla reached 40 repetitions.

 

"I?m glad he tied the record," Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk said. "Forty-five is a bad day for Kudla. He?ll probably break that at pro day (March 9 at Ohio State)."

 

To give an indication of how impressive 45 reps is, Hawk said he did 24 reps, and he?s a sure top-10 draft pick.

 

Kudla was overlooked for much of his college career. His performance yesterday will certainly help his cause, particularly if he runs well today. He had been projected to be a second-day draft pick. Now he?s likely to move into the first three rounds.

 

"I talked to my mom and dad this morning," Kudla said. "They?re very proud. It?s neat to be on a stage like this and take advantage of the opportunity."

 

 

Not bad for a guy who almost died 3 years ago. He was diagnosed with mono after his freshman year (2002) and got another viral disease as a result. Only 10% of all people who get it survive it and I really wish I could remember its name. It causes you to bleed from the eyes and nose, he lost over 40 pounds in the span of 2 weeks. At one point, his mom came to visit him in the hospital, went in his room, and asked the doctors where they moved him to only to find out it was her son. He was read his last rites at one point. He beat it, put the weight back on over the course of the summer and was back on the field into his Sophomore year. Psychologically he didn't fully get over it until this season though, it's the first time he hasn't looked somewhat tentative.

FSU DT Brodrick Bunkley repped out 225 a nice 44 times and helped his stock.

 

An unofficial report has DE-OLB Manny Lawson clocking in at 4.43 and Mario Williams at 4.66. If these times hold true, Lawson has really helped his stock out (I'd love to grab this guy) and Williams ran as expected and also measured in at 6'7'', 295 and benched 225 a solid 35 times, which is very good considering his arm length.

Bunkley was a total beast today. That standing jump he did over 9 feet was amazing as well as his reps.

 

I would love for lawson to be there when we pick, and hope he will be. But I keep seeing him in a browns uniform.

I found the story I was looking for. I had the 10% backwards, 10% don't make it, not only 10% make it. Anyway, the story:

 

DOGGED DETERMINATION

OSU defensive end Mike Kudla worked his way back to the top of his game after an agonizing scare three years ago

Published: Friday, December 23, 2005

SPORTS 01E

By Ken Gordon

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The call came during the dinner hour, from Dr. John Lombardo in Columbus to Mary Fran Kudla in Medina.

 

It was January 2003, and Lombardo had been caring for Mary Fran's son, Mike, an Ohio State defensive end who had been admitted to the hospital with what appeared to be pneumonia.

 

Doctor and mother had spoken on the phone several times, but this call was different.

 

"He said I'd best pack a bag and come down really quickly, that it was extremely serious," Mary Fran said. "I knew from the tone of his voice. That was my Groundhog Day drive. I kept driving and driving and wasn't getting any closer."

 

To see Mike Kudla now, with his massive arms and sculpted 6-foot-3, 265-pound frame, one would never know.

 

To watch Kudla play this season, bulling through offensive linemen, blasting quarterbacks, chasing down running backs, one would never know.

 

The NFL team he plays for next season will never know.

 

Only he, his doctors and his mother know exactly what he went through nearly three years ago. Only they can truly understand that the body that now is the picture of robust athleticism has been through hell and back.

 

'A lot of prayers'

 

They called him "Iron Mike" as a teen, both for his love of lifting weights and for his natural strength, derived from heaving thousands of bales of hay on his buddy's farm.

 

He grew up as the middle child of Paul and Mary Fran's five children, all with diverse interests and all instilled with faith and a strong work ethic.

 

Kudla played significantly as a freshman on OSU's national-title team -- no small feat on a defensive line featuring four future NFL players.

 

Toward the end of the season, he began feeling run down and eventually was diagnosed with a mild case of mononucleosis. He skipped most of the Fiesta Bowl practices but played in the game.

 

Days after returning to Columbus, he took a turn for the worse. Kudla was admitted to OSU Medical Center under the care of Lombardo, then the Buckeyes' team doctor.

 

Kudla's condition deteriorated. He had lesions in his throat, a rash that caused his skin to slide off, and he began bleeding from his ears, eyes and nose.

 

He was diagnosed with Johnson-Stevens syndrome, an immune-system condition in which the body attacks its own mucous membranes. Secondary infections soon set in, and that's when Mary Fran arrived.

 

"There was a body on the table with a sheet over the middle of it, but it didn't look human," she said. "He was in rough shape."

 

She was no stranger to tragedy, having lost four children in infancy.

 

"I've crossed that bridge, but they were babies, not someone I had raised for 18 years," she said. "Boy, there were a lot of prayers."

 

A priest was summoned and he gave Kudla the last blessing.

 

Lombardo said about 10 percent of Johnson-Stevens syndrome patients don't make it "if they have extensive involvement, and he did."

 

Mary Fran did not leave Mike's side for 10 days as doctors mixed and matched a drug treatment that would slowly bring him back from the edge.

 

Mike doesn't remember much from those days.

 

"I can recall stuff from it," he said, "but as sick as I was and the amount of medication I was on, it was one of those situations you just don't want to remember it. They pretty much had me knocked out. It was bad, it was painful."

 

Finally, he was discharged and sent home, to remain out of school and under his mother's care for the rest of winter quarter. He had lost 52 pounds.

 

Making adjustments

 

His life spared, Kudla set about rebuilding himself, like a modern-day bionic man. The effort was an outlet for his boundless determination and focus.

 

Mary Fran brought him back to Columbus that spring.

 

"That was a tough day," she said. "He may be a big guy, but he's still my baby."

 

Though his coaches had been kept up to date on Mike's condition, his appearance was still a shock.

 

"When he first showed up at the office, he had lost a lot of weight and was not real good looking," defensive line coach Jim Heacock said.

 

Soon, the body was back. Kudla set team bench-press records, but it didn't translate to success on the field.

 

He showed flashes of big-play ability, but injuries kept holding him back. A neck stinger and a painful torn labrum hampered him through much of 2004, his junior season.

 

Coming into this season, he knew how his career was viewed.

 

"Kind of underachieving," he said. "I was hurt a lot and didn't make as many plays as I probably should have early on."

 

Defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock said he thought Kudla "always had it in him, (but) we felt he was a little cautious at times."

 

That changed last summer, when Kudla threw himself into a revamped off-season workout program. He added flexibility and speed training, and coincidentally or not, he stayed healthy this season.

 

It showed. Kudla became an important force off the edge for OSU, leading the team's defensive linemen in tackles for loss (8 1/2 ) and sacks (6 1/2 ).

 

Among his tackles was a memorable stop on Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney on fourth-and-2, when Kudla used a burst of speed and his strength to grab Maroney with one arm and drag him down short of the marker.

 

"He is an explosive guy, he's a high-motor guy," coach Jim Tressel said. "He plays hard, and all the pro scouts that come through, I keep telling them, 'Don't forget about this guy.' He's special."

 

Kudla was named first-team All-Big Ten.

 

Change in outlook

 

Meanwhile, off the field, Kudla underwent a more subtle transformation. Anyone who dodges death is never quite the same.

 

He began to appreciate the little things, he said, "like putting on my cleats and running out to practice." He takes more time to help people now.

 

Mary Fran said Mike went to the school where she works this past off-season "and signed 500 autographs without complaining for a minute, then gave (the kids) an encouraging speech."

 

He enjoys fishing with his friends. One day, he picked up a guitar and began teaching himself how to play.

 

Two years later, it has become "a massive hobby," he said.

 

"I love playing guitar, I play every day," said Kudla, who strums mainly rock and country songs. "Once I start playing, I block out everything. You can only think about football so much and it consumes you. For me, that's my release."

 

He'll likely take his guitar to an NFL city in the spring, and that thrills him because playing in the NFL was a childhood dream.

 

But though it seems like a long time ago now and he doesn't talk about it often, his illness will always remain a part of him. Maybe it really is true, that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

 

"It definitely does," Kudla said. "You've been to the darkest stages of wherever you could go, and it makes you appreciate everything, all the little things you never really think about, you kind of savor a little more. It put life in perspective."

Some unofficial 40 times from today (I will update when the official ones come out later):

 

tOSU LB AJ Hawk did nothing to hurt his stock by running a solid 4.62.

 

UTP OLB Thomas Howard showed off his tremendous atheticism at 6'2'', 239 by running a 4.42.

 

Stanford OLB Jon Alston ran a blazing 4.40 flat and really raised his stock even though he is a little undersized.

 

UM's once hyped recruit Leon Williams ran a 4.54 while FSU's Ernie Sims continued to raise his stock by running a 4.50 flat.

http://www.atlantafalcons.com/team/article.jsp?id=11113

 

interview of Lawson with the falcons that I read and saw over on finsheaven

 

Good read about the kid, I could easily see him as miami's pick or perhaps Clevelands (and us getting greenway).

 

any word on bobby carpenter? I cant watch it today my live feed from home isnt working here at work

 

I just read that Chad Greenway for bench only put up 225 16 times

 

that is 7 less then Cutler even. Think that will drop him far all? This class seems so ungodly deep compared to last year.

Some unofficial 40 times from today (I will update when the official ones come out later):

 

tOSU LB AJ Hawk did nothing to hurt his stock by running a solid 4.62.

 

UTP OLB Thomas Howard showed off his tremendous atheticism at 6'2'', 239 by running a 4.42.

 

Stanford OLB Jon Alston ran a blazing 4.40 flat and really raised his stock even though he is a little undersized.

 

UM's once hyped recruit Leon Williams ran a 4.54 while FSU's Ernie Sims continued to raise his stock by running a 4.50 flat.

 

 

I think AJ is to level that he's going when he goes, nothing he can do aside from murder or getting in a car crash and turning into a parapalegic (sp?) is going to hurt him at this point.

CB Devin Hester turned in a 4.45 unofficially. Guess he is more quick than fast. For a player whose game is based on speed, this can't help his stock. This is another one to file away for the game speed vs track speed argument.

 

CB Kelly Jennings 4.37, 2nd fastest Cane to Sinorce and the time means his stock continues to rise.

 

DB Michael Huff 4.34 which solidifies his top 10 status.

 

Clemson CB Tye Hill keeps showing why his stock has been on the rise and could be a real possibility at 16 by running a 4.30