| INDIANAPOLIS — Saturday was QB day here at the NFL Scouting Combine,
with Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick drawing the most attention from reporters.
Though Vick left school with two years of eligibility remaining, many believe he will be
the first player taken in April’s draft. The QB-desperate Chargers own the No. 1
selection. But that doesn’t mean they’ll keep the pick. Rumors have been
circulating that another team in need of a quarterback, the Falcons, will try to trade up
from the fifth spot in order to take the former Hokie No. 1. Vick said he isn’t
letting the speculation about his future bother him.
"The only thing I can continue to do is move forward and play it by ear,"
Vick said. "I’m not going to be worried about where I’m going to go because
once you start to do that, you’re going to bring a lot of distractions, and you can
also bring disappointment."
As of his Saturday-afternoon press conference, Vick had interviewed with only two
teams, the Seahawks and Bears. He was to meet with both the Chargers and Falcons on
Saturday night. But Vick isn’t playing favorites. He’s just fulfilling a
lifelong dream.
"Through my entire life, I always wanted to make it to the NFL." Vick said.
"I never said I wanted to be the first pick in the first round. All I wanted was a
chance. Now I’m sitting here with the opportunity to be in the top five. So I feel
very blessed, and I’m going to try to make the most of my opportunity."
If he were to be selected by San Diego, it would mark the second time in the last four
drafts that the team took a quarterback in the first round. The other quarterback was Ryan
Leaf, and he hasn’t come close to panning out. What would Vick do to prevent
himself from becoming another Leaf?
"I would just go in there and try to do the right thing," Vick said.
"That’s what I’ve been doing my entire career, ever since I’ve been in
high school and at Virginia Tech. I’m a disciplined person, and I believe success
comes with discipline."
Virginia Tech coaches have made similar comments about Vick. They view him as an
unselfish player with tremendous poise, a mature personality and a desire to succeed.
But it’s Vick’s athletic ability that everyone talks about. Entering the
Combine, Vick had a vertical jump of 41 inches and a 40-time of 4.25 seconds. He also had
bench-pressed 340 pounds and squatted 515 pounds.
Vick said he’s aware "a couple" of teams have expressed an interest in
trading up to select him, but he added that he doesn’t have an early read on what
could transpire on Draft Day.
Another quarterback without an early read is Purdue’s Drew Brees, who ranks
second behind Vick on many evaluators’ grade scales.
"It’s so hard because I’m going to end up probably meeting with just
about every team," Brees said. "Every team has a quarterback, but some teams
don’t have them, so those are the obvious ones. Seattle is obviously in the market
for one. Atlanta is obviously in the market, and then there are some other teams.
"But then you’ve got teams like the Patriots, the Jaguars, the Chiefs, all
having free-agent guys this year or next year, and they don’t know if they’re
going to be able to keep them, they don’t know if they’re going to leave. So
they’re kind of in the middle there. They don’t know whether to draft a guy or
not. They’re still evaluating."
Unlike Vick, Brees participated in all aspects of the Combine workout.
"I would be disappointed walking away from here not having done stuff. It’s
like, what have I worked all this time for? You know, there are some guys who have
workouts four days from now, and I don’t understand why they don’t work out
because, after this, you kind of get sore from them yanking on your shoulders and your
knees and everything else."
One of the biggest criticisms of Brees is that he is a product of Purdue’s spread
offense. Statistically, that might be the case. This past season Brees completed
286-of-473 passes for 3,393 yards and 24 touchdowns. Vick completed 87-of-161 passes for
1,234 yards and eight touchdowns. Yet, their passer ratings were only about five points
apart (Brees 132.39, Vick 127.36).
"I think those people don’t know exactly what it takes to run a spread
offense," Brees said. "It’s very complicated. You have to know where
you’re going with the football, and you have to be an accurate passer. You have to
have good arm strength. There’s a lot of things you have to have. I think people just
think that it’s there and it’s just given to you. Well, it’s not. It’s
reading and reacting. Obviously, those reactions have to be good decisions."
It wasn’t just the impressive size and stature of this year’s highly regarded
DT crop that dropped a lot of jaws in Saturday interview sessions with the national media.
When 6-4 1/2, 320-pound Shaun Rogers entered the interview room in a wheelchair,
sporting a cast on his right ankle, most reporters were stunned. It turns out the NFL
community has known for the last five weeks about the extent of an injury that has
bothered the University of Texas standout most of his senior season.
Late Saturday afternoon, though, it became common knowledge in a hurry, and Rogers had
a hard time dealing with that fact, repeatedly refusing to get into the specifics of his
condition.
"I’m not here to talk about the ankle," said Rogers, who initially
suffered the high-ankle sprain when he was illegally chop-blocked in a late-September game
vs. Houston. "You have to talk to my doctors about it. It’s really not that bad.
Right now I’m just using protective measures."
Rogers sat out 2 1/2 games but then resumed playing the balance of his senior season.
"I started playing again because I’m a competitor," he said. "It
happened, and the rest is history.
"At first I was upset about the whole issue, but it happened for a reason. I feel
I’m still the same Shaun Rogers who played at Texas in ’99 and 2000. This is not
a negative in my book."
But on NFL talent evaluators’ notepads, there’s no denying the big question
marks now appearing next to his name.
"They know what’s going on," said Rogers, who has been projected by PFW
draft expert Joel Buchsbaum as one of six defensive tackles who could be selected in this
year’s first round. "They have all the reference material (on the injuries), and
they know what kind of player I am. As far as I’m concerned, the sky is still the
limit."
And just what kind of a player is Shaun Rogers?
"My biggest contribution, with my combination of size and speed, is my ability to
clog up the middle and contain the run, but at the same time to have the quickness and
strength to rush the passer," said Rogers. "I just need to get more consistent
in the things I can do."
Rogers expects to be walking within a week. He was scheduled to participate in a
special Pro Day at the University of Texas March 21 with other draft-eligible teammates,
including fellow DT Casey Hampton, who also is projected as a probable first-round
selection. He now plans to hold his own personal workout at a later date.
Rogers couldn’t say enough about Hampton.
"I couldn’t ask for a better partner in crime," Rogers said. "He
took me under his wing and helped me learn to be a better player. I owe him a lot of props
for making me the player I am. We complemented each other really well. He’s known as
a more consistent guy, and I’m more of a sporadic big-play kind of guy. We’re
both equally talented."
The other four extremely talented defensive tackles with first-round potential are
Georgia teammates Marcus Stroud and Richard Seymour, Gerard Warren of
Florida and Damoine Lewis of Miami (Fla.). All of them pass the eyeball test with
flying colors, especially Stroud, who is so big (6-6, 321) that he automatically ducks
whenever he enters a room — even when he doesn’t have to, which was the case
Saturday at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
Stroud’s stock has skyrocketed in the wake of an impressive Senior Bowl
performance.
"I feel I’m just as good as anybody," Stroud said. "I will give
whatever team drafts me an explosive player who goes 100 percent on every play. I’m
going to run to the ball, make plays and free up linebackers so they can make plays."
Here are some rumblings on who has looked impressive in workouts so far:
Kansas FB Moran Norris was a surprising early co-leader in the 225-pound rep
drills on Friday with 37, tying him with Texas A&M-Kingsville C Robert Garza
and Arizona State ORT Victor Levya.
RBs Michael Bennett of Wisconsin and Travis Henry of Tennessee made their
decision to participate in all the workouts at the Combine pay off with impressive
40-times on Saturday. Bennett, who says his personal best in the 40 is 4.29, ran under
4.4, while Henry registered a 4.34.
South Florida OT Kenyatta Jones, ranked 17th among tackles by
Buchsbaum, raised plenty of eyebrows with a 4.8 40. In Buchsbaum’s most recent
printout, Jones’ estimated 40-time was 5.11.
Many players participated in pre-Combine workouts to prepare for the event’s
intense physical testing. SFX hosted a training session for its clientele that spanned
four weeks. Players worked out at a facility in Pittsburgh with a world-renowned
orthopedic surgeon on hand.
RB Deuce McAllister (Mississippi), S Jarrod Cooper (Kansas State), DE Fred
Wakefield (Illinois), WR Chris Chambers (Wisconsin) and DE Justin Smith
(Missouri) were among the many pro prospects in attendance. Players were at the complex
training from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"We’d get over there and start a run and do agilities with warmups,"
Smith said. "(We’d do) the whole workout, do our abdominals after that. About
that time, it’d be 11 o’clock. We’d shower, go eat, come back, lift from
usually about 1 to 3. Then we’d go watch film on the Combine or NFL film until
5."
Oregon State WR Chad Johnson hopes his stock will continue to rise after a
strong showing at the Senior Bowl. To his advantage, Johnson has two cousins to turn to
for advice — Buccaneers WR Keyshawn Johnson and Titans CB Samari Rolle.
Keyshawn works with Chad on developing his skills as a receiver. The two have worked on
route-running and beating the jam at the line of scrimmage, among other aspects of pass
catching. Chad plans on practicing with Rolle in a couple of months.
NFL people have inundated Indianapolis, but it was surprising to find a sizable
contingent of Kansas City Chiefs coaches and personnel people staying at the same Comfort
Inn as PFW’s cost-conscious editors in attendance at the Combine.
It appears those well-documented K.C. salary-cap problems must really be taking their
toll.
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