http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft05/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2000680 4.72 and 4.82 40 times...no way he gets drafted first day, probably goes undrafted, even. He had a whole freaking year to train for the workouts...hope Mike Williams does better. Unbelievable.
If Williams runs a 4.45, he'll be going in the first 5-7 picks(I still see him as a legitimate 10-12 pick).I know he's been training hard and I heard he's really ready for the combine.But I really thought the book on him was 4.6 - 4.65 w/great hands and nice size.Even so,he should be great as a possession receiver and a major Red Zone theat.Williams will break some big plays too,but IMO not those 65-75 yard TD's...not a field stretcher. On Clarett,he looked to be in great shape,but to get back where he was after so much time is asking a lot.Still,I would have thought his forty times would be much better.The guy had legendary work ethic and I'd like to think that's not past tense. Like I said,bodywise,he looks to be in shape,but I don't know about his knee and his head.
That must be really disappointing for Clarett. What busted effort. On the flip side, Ronnie Brown ran a 4.32 and 4.40. Pretty impressive.
Ronnie Brown won't last past pick 7 or 8. Scouts may be higher on him than Cadillac Williams, who got most of the carries at Auburn last year. If you look at the teams drafting in the top ten you have Miami, Cleveland, TB, and Oakland, all of whom need a RB desperately. Meanwhile, it's looking more and more like Benson to Miami at #2. Measured in at 5'11, 222 yesterday. Clarett screwed himself at the combine. Mike Williams might clock in at around 4.5 since he's running his own workout, and not doing the combine deal.
What's sad is that I ran faster than that in 7th grade. 4.6 something. What's even sadder is that is I've gotten slower every year ever since.
Clarett will not get drafted now, and it couldn't have happened to a better guy. I think it is hilarious how before the combine people were complimenting Clarett on how hard he was working while he wasn't playing football. LOL. Good luck Clarett, and I hope you enjoy your future job in pan-handling.
Matt Jones, who was constantly underestimated in the speed department, clocked in a 4.41 at the New jersey school of speed this week. I'll be interested to see how he runs today (i think?). If he drops a 4.4ish time, you'll probably see him go on day one. 6'6" and about 245lbs of speed sounds like a starter kit for a receiving tight end. I'm kind of hoping the cowboys take a chance on him and drop him in at that H back slot.
I watch a lot of Ohio State football because I was brought up as a fan of them (father is an alum) and I never thought Clarett was all that fast anyway, but I still think he is faster than a 4.7-4.8 - he probably just had a bad day for whatever reason. The back that he reminds me of a lot is Corey Dillon - he isn't exactly a power runner and isn't exactly a speed/elusive runner, but a good blend of a little bit of both. He's good running between the tackles, can break a few tackles, and bounce it outside. Plus he is a tough runner bottom line - he doesn't end his runs early. A lot of credit for Clarett's great freshman season should go to the OSU O-line though. If you look at the team stats for that year every running back they ran was effective. Lydell Ross (who was supposed to start before Clarett impressed coaches) started in the games that Clarett was injured and he put up great numbers, not to mention, throughout the season he got a good number of carries and still put up very good numbers. I do think if a team takes a chance on him that he can pan out to be a good RB. He lives a breathes football and if given a chance he would work his butt off. Just my 2 cents.
Some more info re: Matt Jones He ran his two 40's at the NFL combine today. According to the NFL network his unofficial times were 4.43 and 4.37!!! Ummm, does that register to anyone else as freakish? Compare that to Ronnie Brown's unofficial times of 4.4 and 4.32 and that's amazing. The reason i think Jones would make a good receiver is pretty easy. He played there at the Senior Bowl and stole the show. This is a C&P from a recap of the announcers talking about him: The announcers also said he stole the show at the Sr. Bowl, and later showed highlights from Sr. Bowl practices where Matt abused the DBs. Fake out, cut in, ton of separation. Against press coverage, throws the DB aside and is wide open on the slant. Going deep he jumps up and snags the ball w/ one hand, with the announcers labelling it "the million dollar catch", saying they've got to see it again.
I can also vouch that Matt Jones is legitimate. Being a hardcore fan of my college football team (FL Gators) my friends and I watch just about any SEC game that is on. We had Arkansas at home this year (he is the leading rusher for Arkansas and it's not necessarily because they directly ran him a lot of running-type plays) and we had seen a bunch of games on TV. He is straight-up a freak. He is 6'6, fast, and I saw him pull of fakes and jukes that most 6'0 football players wish they could pull off. While working out for coaches and at the senior bowl they utilized him a lot catching the ball. Scouts say he has very big, very soft hands. Coaches and scouts also say that he is a decent blocker just off of natural talent (probably from knowing his O-line's blocking schemes as a QB). Those two things combined with his speed and elusiveness I believe could lead to a good TE. However, regardless of where they stick him in the roster he will be a good pick-up. His athleticism and on-field intelligence will lead him to succeed at whatever position they put him.
Matt Jones is a damn good athlete that practically carried the Hogs' offense the last couple of years. He doesn't look that fast when he runs because he takes such huge strides. But he's got great open field moves, and is hard to tackle. He only got into trouble at Arkansas when he tried to do too much. Look at the Texas game where he was running around the backfield holding the ball like a loaf of bread, then got stripped by Dibbles.
