Trends from the NFL Combines

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times provides readers of the newspapers February 21st edition an evaluation of the most prominent trends which, in his opinion, have emerged over the last few years of his covering the annual NFL Combine in Indianapolis.

Among those that Farmer highlights in his piece are the following:

• First and foremost, Farmer maintains that though the Texas Longhorns are "boots deep in blue-chip players" year-after-year (some 35 draft picks since 2000), as a whole, the school has "routinely turned out NFL duds." He points to a handful of first-round selections -- Vince Young, Ricky Williams, Cedric Benson, Quentin Jammer, and Michael Huff -- whose college resumes spoke volumes about their ability to make a different at the professional level, yet to this point in time, haven't made the impact originally expected.
• When NFL teams are looking for a quality player at linebacker, Farmer believes recruiting staffs need to look no further than the Big Ten Conference -- especially if they're looking for a bargain outside of the first-round. In a fashion similar to that of Paul Posluszny, the Bills' defensive most valuable player for 2008 who was grabbed in the second round by Buffalo in the 2007 Draft, Farmer expects a similar situation to emerge with James Laurinaitis of Ohio State. Despite being, as Farmer describes, "smart [and possessing] terrific instincts and textbook fundamentals," NFL evaluators have mentioned concerns regarding his speed, with predictions that Laurinaitis could fall to the end of the first round or well into the second.
• Farmer suggests that "Nebraska is no longer the center of the universe" when it comes to producing quality offensive linemen that can play immediate at the professional level, citing the fact that of the seven tackles taken in the first round of last year's NFL Draft, none came from the Big XII Conference. (In fact, Farmer adds, the last time a player at tackle from the Big XII was taken in the first day of the draft was 2005, with New Orleans grabbing Jammal Brown.) Programs like Wisconsin, Michigan, Boston College, and schools from the SEC are now continuously providing phenomenal talent at offensive lineman, "pure athletes," the author states, "guys who no longer slim down to their playing weight, but build up to it." Individuals to watch in this April's draft? Virginia's Eugene Monroe, Alabama's Andre Smith, Mississippi's Michael Oher, and Baylor's Jason Smith.
• Percy Harvin may have one of the hottest reputations at the wide receiver position heading into the 2009 NFL Draft, but, by and large, wideouts from the University of Florida have fallen victim to a "shaky reputation" thanks to the lack of production seen in high-round acquisitions such as Chad Jackson, Reidel Anthony, and Jacquez Green. Farmer suggests that "Florida receivers are victims of their college success"; because they are so fast and athletic, and the Gators are so "innovative" on offense, defensive secondaries which UF wideouts are matched up against often choose not to press them at the line of scrimmage -- a circumstance which doesn't prepare them to be physical at the line or run across the middle of the field and make a catch while getting hit.
• The USC Trojans are often regarded as a collegiate factory for NFL stars, yet, says Farmer, "in recent years, it's been something of a bumpy transition for a lot of those players, many of whom haven't developed into reliable pros." For every Carson Palmer, LenDale White, and Steve Smith, he goes on to write, there have been major disappointments -- players like Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Matt Leinart, and, yes, even Reggie Bush.
• NFL teams looking for quality quarterbacks need, suggests Farmer, to stop overlooking players from the MAC. Given the current track record of passers such as Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich and Chad Pennington, the hype surrounding Nate Davis of Ball State appears to be real, and could provide an NFL coaching staff with plenty of incentive to risk a higher round pick on acquiring the 2008 MAC Offensive Player of the Year.