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By John Sarianides
Day 3 of the NFL Combine was the first day of on the field testing and drills.The running backs and offensive lineman were up first.
Several high profile prospects put up some impressive numbers. Here are my thoughts on today’s performances.
1. Leornard Fournette’s 4.51 forty time was impressive for his size but he did not impress me in the drills portion. Fournette looked stiff on his routes, ran high and double caught everything. He will go in the top ten but his overall skill set is limited.
2. Christian McCaffery had a tremendous all around performance on Friday. He tested well and looked smooth and fluid in drills. He has quick, quiet feet and opens his hips with ease. McCaffery is a terrific athlete who should be off the board with the first 25 picks.
3. Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara is the forgotten back in this year’s class but he had a good day and proved that he has first round talent. I like the fact that Kamara doesn’t have a ton of carries on his resume.
4. I really like San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey. The all time leading rusher in NCAA history tested well and did a good job in the run game portion of the drills but he left a lot to be desired in the receiving drills.
5. North Carolina running back T. J Logan ran the fastest forty time at 4.37. Logan doesn’t have a lot of carries on his resume so that and performance on Friday will appeal to general managers and coaches.
6. Conversely, Clemson’s Wayne Gallman looked stiff and unathletic and only ran a 4.6 forty. He will probably drop on some team’s boards as a result.
7. I might move Utah offensive tackle Garett Bolles to the top of my offensive tackle board. He ran a 4.95 forty and looked smooth and athletic in drills. Bolles has the length and athleticism to play left tackle.
8. Western Kentucky’s Forrest Lamp was also impressive and he’ll be the first guard off the board. He was throughly impressive. Lamp’s versatility will appeal to teams. He can play guard and tackle.
9. Temple’s Dion Dawkins had a good day. He ran 5.1 forty and bench pressed 225, 26 times. At 6-5 324, Dawkins has the size and athleticism to play either guard or tackle. He is climbing on teams draft boards.
10. I was very impressed with TCU’s Aviante Collins. He ran a 4.81 forty and threw up 34 reps of 225 on the bench. Collins is a physical freak. He played right tackle at TCU but at 6-6 285, Collins has the physical tools to play left tackle.