 Player Profile |
D2 Prospects Impress at NFL Combine By Josh Buchanan Josh@footballdialogue.com Every year the media writes about Ohio State, Miami, USC, and all of the other BCS players who impress at Indy. How can they forget the small schoolers? This year you had the fastest offensive linemen and strongest arm at the annual scouting event come from a D2 program. These players might not win Rookie of the Year honors very often but they do put up huge rookie seasons. Last year's top D2 performers all showed that they could be long time starters in the NFL. New Orleans Saints OG Jahri Evans (Bloomsburg) started during their playoff run, Chicago Bears S Danieal Manning (Abilene Christian) started and was among the team leaders in tackles during their Super Bowl run, and Denver Broncos OG Chris Kuper (North Dakota) impressed as a possible starter down the line. This year, all five players invited to the combine from D2 showed that they could easily be listed as quality late round picks as well. After talking with all five men I decided that they are even better young men. All of them are focused, smart, and work very hard. I got to talk with them about their combine experience and their future goals. Here is what they had to say: What was the experience like and how did it feel to be there with the best players in the nation? Allen Barbre: It was real good. It was a great experience and something that not many guys get to experience. Being around guys like that it was kind of cool. I realized I belonged with those guys. Kevin Boss: It was exciting. It was definitely something that I had been hoping I could do to show teams what I can do. It was definitely an honor to be invited. It was a stressful week but at the same time I tried to enjoy the whole process because it is not everyday you get to be surrounded by this time of talent and all of the NFL personnel. Jacoby Jones: To me it was a good experience to have all the coaches and GMs present. They are athletes just like I am. They are cool guys though. Toby Korrodi: It felt good just knowing that somebody was there looking at my talents and give me an opportunity to showcase my talents. I was glad I given that chance to showcase my talents with guys like Brady Quinn and Chris Leak. Gijon Robinson: It was a great experience to be around those great athletes and the honorable coaches you are around. Overall it was a great experience to be in the presence of all those people. Talk a little bit about what was not shown on TV such as the medical exams and questionnaires for teams, as well as the wonderlic. Allen Barbre: They don't show all the doctors doing those exams on you. Every team examines you once and they don't show that. It is a crazy experience. That makes for a long day right there. Kevin Boss: The medical exams are definitely real thorough. It is an investment they are putting into some of these guys so they want to know everything about their body and what not. That was probably the most surprising thing to me at how thorough they were with exams and getting x-rays on every body part possible. If you broke your pinky finger in high school they wanted to get an x-ray on it. The physicals were definitely a grueling day. It was a long process. All that mental tests were done in one afternoon but it took 3 or 4 hours to get through. It seems funny that you are taking all of these tests at a football tryout and most of these have nothing to do with football. It just goes back to teams wanting to know everything about the players they are going to invest millions of dollars in. It was a different experience. Jacoby Jones: The tests are crazy. Some test will be 400 questions long. I have taken the wonderlic so much I could tell you every question. The medical thing is crazy. There are 8 different rooms and they pick you apart. Toby Korrodi: I thought we would just go and do the wonderlic tests but they hit us up with all types of testing. I guess guys who did not go to bowl games had to make up all of those tests. I think I had like four or five I had to do. Just doing them for five hours straight just drains you out mentally. I was not prepared for them and it was quite an experience. The one I got that I remember gave you four different scenes with a family where they are at a picnic dinner and there were different people there. You have to look at every one of them and they give you 30 seconds to look at it. Then they turn it over and describe exactly where each person was at. You just had to remember all of that. It wasn't too bad but after you do it four or five times it gets your mind thinking. Gijon Robinson: The day we did bench press we did them. The tests were draining. It was very draining and stressful. I talked to the coaches and they asked me the same questions but the tests had off the wall questions. Many of them had types like sequences of numbers and complete the patterns. It is stressful because you realize that those answers will help determine the future of your life. Who was the most impressive player you saw while there? Allen Barbre: There were a bunch of athletic guys; I didn't really see one guy who I thought was way more impressive than anyone else. Kevin Boss: I was pretty impressed by Brady Quinn. He didn't do everything in the workout but just his physique was well built. He showed it on the bench press for a quarterback to rep 225 24 times caught a lot of people's eye. Also, working out with Calvin Johnson every day, he was at the same facility as me, was impressive. He is a genetic freak. He did some things that were real impressive. I have never seen anyone as athletic and as big as he is. Jacoby Jones: The most impressive guy I saw to me is Calvin Johnson. He is a man child, 6'5, 239, 4.3 40. I mean that is pretty impressive. Toby Korrodi: The most impressive that I enjoyed being around was John Beck of BYU. He didn't have the look of a quarterback but he threw the ball so hard and was accurate. I enjoyed working next to him. Gijon Robinson: I would say Schouman from Boise State. He is 6'2 and he ran really fast. He was very strong and had a great personality. I liked the way he handled it. It was really good being around him. How do you feel about your performance? Allen Barbre: I felt I could have done a few things a little better. I would have liked to have a faster time on my shuttle and L-drill. I was pretty pleased overall. Kevin Boss: I was happy. I was a little bit disappointed with my 40 time. I went in knowing that I could run a 4.6. Going into it everyone told me not to expect to run my best time at the combine. Other than that I was real pleased with all of the other drills. I have been getting some good feedback so I was real happy with how things ended up. Jacoby Jones: I think I put the nail in the coffin with mine. I caught every ball, ran a good 40, and ran good routes. Toby Korrodi: Not too good because of the fact I pulled my hamstring at the combine. I pulled my hamstring so it prevented me from doing the drills to the best of my ability. I felt I did horrible in the vertical, broad jump, etc. As far as velocity throw and throwing to receivers I felt I did well. Gijon Robinson: I think I did okay. I wish I could have done better than what I did. God has us do what we do for a reason but I felt I could have done a lot better. What will you be doing between now and your pro day? Allen Barbre: I am just training every day and preparing for drills. My pro day is the 23rd of March. Kevin Boss: My pro day is March 16th at 11 AM at Western Oregon. We are doing it the same day as Oregon State's so hopefully there will be more scouts around. Right now I am up in Portland, Oregon training with this guy I trained with before my senior year at a place called Performance Training Center. I will be driving down to spend a day with my parents before that. I am just staying busy with workouts. Jacoby Jones: I just had my pro day but I still have individual workouts. I have two individual workouts next and two the week after next. I have one with the Bengals, Titans, Eagles, and Patriots. Toby Korrodi: My pro day is going to be on the 22nd here in San Antonio. Koy Detmer is going to be hosting it for me. I will be here until draft day. I have five personal workouts with Kansas City, Dallas, NY Giants, Philadelphia, and St. Louis before my pro day. St. Louis has shown the most interest so far. I talked to their scouts pretty much every day. Even after the combine they have given me a call twice to see how I am doing. Gijon Robinson: My pro day is March 21st. For right now I will be training and working out. Nothing unusual. I have a private workout with the Bengals on the 28th. Who is the best returning NFL prospect on your team? Allen Barbre: I am not sure on that. Kevin Boss: I would probably say our offensive tackle Paul Wright. He is going to be a senior next year. I would say to keep an eye on Isaiah Smith our receiver who is a junior this coming year. He is real talented. Jacoby Jones: Edward Williams. He is 6'5, 210 and he is hungry. Toby Korrodi: It would probably be Kendall Ricketts. Gijon Robinson: I would say the next one is Roger Allen. What are your future goals such as expected draft position, what do you want to accomplish while you are playing, and what you want to do after you are done playing? Allen Barbre: I would love to be a first day pick but wherever I go I will work hard and give it everything I got. I don't expect but anything but I will make the best of what I get. I would love to be a starter in the NFL and maybe make the pro bowl. I want to get on a great team and maybe win a Super Bowl. Planning for afterwards I want to do some training with people trying to prepare for the NFL. I am not totally sure you know. I might use my degree. Kevin Boss: In terms of where I want to go I really don't care. I just want to get into camp somewhere and show people I can play at this level. When my career is over I am just hoping that it opens some doors for me to get into something that involves football. I got my degree in physical education so I would like to be a strength and conditioning coach somewhere and just get into coaching somewhere. Jacoby Jones: I come from Lane College a D2 football program. I don't care where I go. I just want to play. I will do anything to make the 53 man roster. Of course I am going to be one of the best receivers and return men to play the game. That is my goal. I want to invest in something and build some apartments. I want to get into real-estate or something like that. Toby Korrodi: My goal is to just get drafted and try to play within my second year in the league. You are pretty much starting over just learning the system and then I want to play the following season. I want to be in the league a good ten years. When it is all said and done everybody's dream is to win the Super Bowl and I want to do that. I want to get my degree because I am just a semester shy of that. I want to have something to fall back on. Gijon Robinson: I don't know. Of course everyone wants to get drafted high. I am not going to sit here and worry myself about this. I feel like God will take care of this. I want to be in the NFL for as long as I can and be a great athlete. I think if I train hard and keep my body in shape I can be there a long time. I just want to be a franchise player. My main goal is to own my own business and support my family. Toby, you threw the fastest ball of anyone else at the combine. Did you expect that? Toby Korrodi: It felt good. When we were warming up I was just looking at the type of release and form other guys had. I wanted to see how I would match up but I am glad I played baseball back in the day. I think it helped me. As soon as they clocked me at 63 and I heard I was the strongest in my group I felt good. It helped me out tremendously and it got my name out there. I am glad for that. Allen, what was it like for you to run the fastest 40 time of your position? Allen Barbre: I actually expected to be the fastest. I expected to be the fastest so it wasn't that big of a deal but it did feel good to find out I was. I still expected it though. Allen, do you feel you will run even faster at your pro day? Allen Barbre: I doubt I will run again since I got the fastest time at the combine. I will still run the pro shuttle more than likely. Gijon, do you embrace the move to FB or do you really want to stay at TE or do you have a preference? Gijon: I liked the chance to play FB at the all-star game I went to and I think it will be a great transition for me. Here is how the draft board stacks up as of today: UPDATED D2 DRAFT BOARD (combine size/speed numbers used) Here are my updated top 10 D2 NFL prospects after the combine. Rank, Pos., Name, School, Height, Weight, 40 time, Proj. Round 1. OG/OT Allen Barbre, Missouri Southern State, 6'4 (6040), 300lbs, 4.84/4.86, 4th-5th Barbre is an athletic freak who can play either tackle or guard. He ran the fastest of any lineman at the combine and shows the potential to be great once he works on his upper body strength and technique. Expect him to be a future starter in the NFL. 2. TE Kevin Boss, Western Oregon, 6'7 (6064), 252lbs, 4.74/4.78, 5th-6th Boss is finally healthy and looks like a mid round prospect once again. His size/speed combo is something to be noticed. His production and soft hands have teams drooling at the chance to work with him. 3. WR Jacoby Jones, Lane College, 6'3 (6025), 210lbs, 4.45/4.52, 5th-6th Jones can return kicks, punts, and shows the ability to be a future starter at receiver. His size/speed combo and big play ability have teams licking their lips at the idea of getting to develop this small school stud. 4. QB Toby Korrodi, Central Missouri State, 6'4 (6034), 234lbs, 5.20/5.29, 6th-7th Korrodi's size, arm strength, and accuracy make him an ideal developmental prospect. Most have him in the late rounds as of now but if he proves to be healthy at his pro day he could climb into the 5th round range. 5. RB Germaine Race, Pittsburg State, 5'10 (5095), 218lbs, 4.53/4.70 7th Race is considered slower than you would like to be, lacks the side to side movement, and burst that you look for. However, he has been highly productive, he is smart, and he is very coachable. Expect someone to take this sleeper in the late rounds and develop him. 6. FB/H-Back Gijon Robinson, Missouri Western State, 6'1 (6006), 255lbs, 4.71/4.75, 7th-PFA Robinson lacks the ideal height to play his college position (TE); however, his hands, blocking ability and toughness are what teams love. He will be a future starter at h-back once he gets more experience. He has the upside to become a very productive pro. 7. TE Zac Herold, Nebraska-Omaha, 6'5 (6046), 265lbs, 4.85/4.95, 7th-PFA His expected speed of 4.8/4.9 is one thing keeping him from being higher on the board. He will need to run in the 4.7 range to expect a draft grade from most. His talent is undeniable and his size is something that could easily be worked with. Expect someone to bring him in as a developmental prospect for the practice squad as a rookie. 8. WR Tymere Zimmerman, Newberry, 6'2 (6016), 208, 4.49/4.64, 7th-PFA Zimmerman has been 1st team All-SAC in each year of his career, showing that this former Clemson signee is consistent enough to deserve a shot at the next level. He does not stand out at one single thing on film but shows the overall skill to warrant a look in the late rounds. 9. CB David Jones, Wingate, 6'0 (5117), 195lbs, 4.42/4.58, PFA Jones is a lockdown cover corner who can run very well. He has solid size and the production to warrant a look in the late rounds. I expect him to be undrafted but feel he will make a roster if given a legit chance. 10. WR Eric Fowler, Grand Valley State, 6'3 (6024), 215lbs, 4.48/4.58, PFA Fowler showed the big play ability, hands, and route running to be a prime NFL prospect during the year. He is actually a 5th-6th round grade on my personal board but is considered just a free agent by most at this point. He could be a major steal if he goes undrafted. Just outside of the rankings: OT Jason Capizzi, Indiana PA; CB Fletcher Terrell, Washburn; DT Trey Lewis, Washburn; DE/FB Adam Wolff, North Dakota; RB Stefan Logan, South Dakota; DE/FB Michael McFadden, Grand Valley State; QB Dalton Bell, West Texas A&M. DRAFT 2008 UPDATE Newberry OT Heath Benedict is continuing his impressive run at the top spot on the 2007 preseason rankings. He is continually running in the sub 5.0 range at over 330 pounds. His size, speed, and raw talent would have gotten him drafted this past year. Since he is coming back he will get to show he can be more consistent and possibly land in the 3rd-5th round range next April. The Jaguars and Buccaneers are two teams showing heavy interest already. You can email Josh at Josh@footballdialogue.com any questions, comments or reactions to this piece. |
