The Daily Score: Combine Corner
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A few observations from spending four days monitoring the NFL Network's coverage of the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Who belongs at the top of the 1st round?
Winston smokes the competition. Expect the controversial Florida State quarterback to be drafted number one overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Lovie Smith might be the perfect head coach for Winston. Those who watched him in person on Saturday in Indy say he aced the on field test, and former NFL head coach Steve Mariucci says Winston was more astute than any draft prospect he's ever put "on the board" talking strategy and concepts.
Flying the Coop. Underwear Olympic champion Kevin White of West Virginia may have passed Alabama's Amari Cooper as the top rated wide receiver in this class on some scout's boards. But give me the ultra-smooth Cooper as a top 10 pick and the first wideout off the board.
The next Jamaal Charles. Will we see a running back drafted in the first round? We might have two. It would be a tossup between Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and Georgia's Todd Gurley if not for Gurley's knee injury. Gordon gets the nod here. He looks like Texas-ex Jamaal Charles (a 3rd round pick in 2008), although Gordon doesn't have the same speed and quickness as the former Texas high school state hurdles champ.
Gordon: 4.52 forty/1.63 10 yard split/7.04 cone drill
Charles: 4.38 forty/1.46 10 yard split/6.86 cone drill
Local Yokels
Best 4-3 linebacker is from Baylor? Bryce Hager opened some eyes in Indy. Admittedly, I wasn't there and only saw the workouts that the NFL Network chose to put on TV. However, the son of former Philadelphia Eagle LB Brit Hager stood out to me. Not to mention the fact he flashed 4.6 speed, he also looked much more instinctive in drills than the other 4-3 LB prospects I saw. In Hager's junior year at Baylor, the Bears started the year 9-0. Then Hager got hurt, and BU went 2-2 its final four games. Coincidence? I think not.
Try, try again. TCU's Pro Day will be huge for LB Paul Dawson and FS Chris Hackett. They were both playmakers on the Frogs' Big 12 co-champion defense, to the point that many draft experts pegged them as 2nd round draft prospects. But after Dawson clocked a 4.93 forty and 28 vertical jump, and Hackett posted a 4.81 forty and 32 vertical, expect their stock to plummet. They can make up for it by improving their showings on their home turf at TCU and in individual workouts. Doesn't mean they won't get drafted, but it's tough for an NFL scout to stand on a table convincing his boss to spend a 2nd round draft pick on a player when he doesn't have tangible evidence that said player is athletic enough to compete at this level. Not saying that's the right way to do it, but that's how the NFL conducts draft business.
Give me Liberty or give me Belldozer. When no Texas D1 college wanted Jay Ajayi, we did! He was featured as a Landry Award finalist on TXA 21 his senior year at Frisco Liberty High School. However, he had to go away to school at Boise State and now he just might be a 2nd round draft pick. Give me Ajayi as DeMarco Murray's running mate (see you later Joseph Randle)! And, as a late round pick, I'd take a flyer on The Belldozer. The former Oklahoma quarterback made the conversion to tight end his senior season and has some potential as a developmental practice squad tight end. Love to see what Cowboys tight ends coach Mike Pope can do with him.