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Area scout Todd Brunner continues his blog with updates from Indianapolis, site of the 2007 Scouting Combine. Check out his Monday entry which covers today's workouts with the defensive linemen and linebackers.**
Monday, Indianapolis – Today began as usual – a 7:30 breakfast here at the hotel with a brisk walk over to the Dome for the start of the 40's for the first defensive linemen group. Clemson's Gaines Adams ran a great time, which coming out of our draft meetings the last few weeks in Santa Clara, was what we had expected. He also had a great workout.
Brian Robison from Texas also worked out very well and had a solid 40. Adam Carriker out of Nebraska runs very low and shows very good body control. He definitely has the athleticism that everyone has talked about and that showed in his workout. For Alvin Branch's size, he ran an impressive 40 and performed up to his billing.
One of my guys, Jay Alford, out of Penn State also had a good workout I thought. From what I heard people were impressed with him and he made a good mark for himself. Jarvin Moss out of Florida also ran very well and helped himself.
I've obviously continued with my timing at the 20 but when they finish their two reps, I head up into the bleachers and usually sit with Ethan Waugh. We're pretty routine in our seating assignments as all week Scot McCloughan has set up their timing a few rows in front of Ethan with Green Bay Packers General Manager Ted Thompson and usually Coach Nolan and Coach McCarthy. I like to sit up there with them while the groups are doing their field drills.
Several of the defensive linemen were also put through some coverage drills because teams who run the 3-4 feel like certain players fit that scheme and want to see what they can do. Anthony Spencer from Purdue looked very good in these drills and could be a 3-4 backer. Our own Jason Tarver was down their running the drop drills and he gets after them and I expect he will have some solid feedback for us from being down on the field with the players. He also got some serious air time on the NFL Network.
After the first two groups of defensive linemen finished up, we ate lunch – again delivered by Ethan, and then I headed back down to time the linebackers.
One thing that has been a staple for every year since I've come to the Combine has been the trifecta of Jerry Jones, Bill Parcells and Al Davis sitting at the starting line of the 40. Jerry is here, but Parcells and Al aren't and so for the first time ever you look up and they aren't in their usual spots. That's been a little different.
Anyway, on to the linebackers. Quite a few of them ran very well, some in the 4.4's. Many people were surprised by how fan Quincy Morgan out of New Mexico ran. We knew he had some athletic ability but I don't think people realized how fast he could run. Tim Shaw out of Penn State also took some people by surprise. He took a back seat this year to Paul Posluszny, but he actually ran a faster 40 than Paul.
Two more guys from my area – Justin Durant and Zak Deossie ran well – ranging in the 4.5's. That was especially good to see for Zak who is a 250lb player, but with his pedigree as I've talked about with his dad a former player, Deossie is drawing some interest.
Tonight in the scheduled interviews with Coach Nolan and Scot, four of my guys came through. Two of them are from smaller schools and two are from larger programs. The interviews were productive. I got some of the questions answered that I had, and I think the same was true for the rest of our stuff. I feel good about where we've got those guys stacked on our board.
Tomorrow is the last day of the Combine with the defensive backs working out and then we'll all be heading home.
