The on-field work at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine began Friday, with offensive linemen, tight ends and kickers taking to the field at Lucas Oil Stadium. Those evaluation drills highlighted Day 4 of the event in Indianapolis.
How much stock teams place on combine work likely varies. At the very least, it's a chance for prospects to get front offices to look at their game tape again. Dave Schroeder of WBAY provided thoughts from Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson about the showcase and, particularly, interviews.
"I think all of this is important. All of this can be helpful. I think you're always looking for a sparkle in somebody's eye, a twinkle that you don't see out of everybody else," Thompson said. "And it's difficult to do that sometimes during the interview process because these guys are going from 6 o'clock at night until 11 o'clock at night, one after another, trying to do interviews and impress teams, and it's not that easy."
The on-field action opened up with the offensive linemen running the 40-yard dash. Only one player from the group was able to break the five-second mark. It's a name most fans probably haven't heard during the draft process so far: Ali Marpet from Hobart and William Smith.
Here were the top finishers:
| 1 | Ali Marpet | 4.98 |
| 2 | Jake Fisher | 5.01 |
| 3 | Laurence Gibson | 5.04 |
| 4 | Brandon Scherff | 5.05 |
| 5 | Terry Poole | 5.09 |
NFL.com
The NFL Network provided a nice mashup featuring some of the top names:
Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel believes the Division III standout is on the rise after his terrific all-around combine showing:
Brandon Scherff, who could be the first offensive lineman off the board on draft day, also had a solid effort in the running portion. Unfortunately, he suffered a hamstring injury during another drill, as noted by Mike Jones of The Washington Post:
The Iowa star was accelerating at the end of an agility drill and came up lame. He tried to walk it off before deciding to shut it down for the day.
Perhaps the most impressive lineman was La'el Collins from LSU. He finished just outside that top group in the 40 (5.12) and then excelled in everything after that. Former NFL coach and current NFL Network analyst Brian Billick was impressed:
Bryan Fischer of NFL.com notes his pre-combine workouts paid off:
Andrus Peat is another top prospect who performed well Friday. Gerard Martinez of Scout thinks he may be best served playing on the interior over the long haul, though:
One player who's generated some buzz in recent weeks is Miami's Ereck Flowers. He certainly looks the part, with a powerful frame, but his showing was nothing special. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller is still waiting to see him back up the hype:
After the two groups of offensive linemen moved through, it was time for the tight ends.
It's one of the weaker positions in the class, with nobody a lock to go in Round 1. Maxx Williams from Minnesota and Clive Walford from Miami are likely to come off the board first.
They both finished among the top five in the 40-yard dash:
| 1 | MyCole Pruitt | 4.58 |
| 2 | Wes Saxton | 4.65 |
| 3 | Maxx Williams | 4.78 |
| 4 | Clive Walford | 4.79 |
| 5 | Blake Bell | 4.80 |
NFL.com
Here's a closer look at some of the work Williams did:
Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network liked what he witnessed in terms of how smooth the Minnesota star worked through the catching drills:
Bleacher Report's Ty Schalter was also impressed:
Chris Trapasso of NFL.com believes both top tight ends could be targets for the Buffalo Bills:
Shane Hallam of DraftTV highlighted one of the other top performers, MyCole Pruitt:
There were also a couple of off-field headlines Friday.
Todd Gurley, who's battling Melvin Gordon for the No. 1 spot among running backs, opted against having his knee examined. Michael Silver of NFL.com passed along an update on the decision, which was advised by Dr. James Andrews:
Meanwhile, potential first overall pick Jameis Winston spoke with the media.
He quickly shot down any concerns about his shoulder, as noted by CollegeFootball 24/7:
Around The NFL pointed out that he confirmed plans to throw during the combine:
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports highlighted Winston's comments about changing his public image:
Finally, the NFL Network showcased his sky-high hopes for next season:
All told, it was a very active day around Lucas Oil Stadium. Nothing happened that would radically change the outlook for the draft, though. The top offensive linemen and tight ends performed well, while some off-the-radar guys like Marpet and Pruitt may have earned themselves another look.
Saturday will bring about the event's spotlight day. The quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers will be in action. Perhaps the results from those drills will have a bigger impact on the draft outlook than an interesting, yet rather mundane, Friday.
All workout numbers courtesy of NFL.com's combine tracker unless otherwise noted.
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