Combine Day 4 Recap

Story of the Day
Former LSU CB Tyrann Mathieu. There may have been players coming in with higher grades today but there's no one I wanted to see more than the honeybadger. How would he look after a year off? Would he test poorly as expected? These questions were answered for me as he looked to be in great shape and turned in an overall solid day at the combine. The biggest concerns scouts have, outside of his off the field troubles, are his size and speed but he helped alleviate some of those issues today by posting an okay 4.50 40 time. On top of that, he looked very smooth in his backpedal and in transition, and he displayed the natural ball skills that made him such a playmaker at LSU. He had one of the best overall workouts in the drills portion and may have improved his stock today more than anyone else. If he interviewed well with teams this week, I could see him being a Day 2 pick which is great for him considering where he was a few months ago.
(Photo Credit: Ben Liebenberg/NFL)

Others that Impressed

• Syracuse S Shamarko Thomas. He was a top performer in the 40 yard dash and the bench press. He's very built at 5'9" and 213 lbs. and looks like a running back. He was a big hitter with speed in college and that translated to the stopwatch today with his 4.42 40. Currently a Day 2 prospect.
• Washington CB Desmond Trufant. He kept his Senior Bowl momentum rolling today at the combine. He ran a top time in the 40 (4.38) and looked good in drills. Should be a Day 2 pick as well.
• Day 3 prospects Steve Williams (California) and Darius Slay (Mississippi St.). Williams posted a solid 4.42 40 time and was a top performer in vertical and broad jump. Slay ran the fastest 40 of the day with a 4.36 and turned some heads with his speed.

Disappointments

• Top CB prospect Dee Milliner (Alabama). People will say that this workout  didn't matter and they're right, he looked good on film all year where it counts and will still almost certainly be a top 10 pick. But the bottom line is that he didn't look very good today. He was very sloppy in his backpedal and dropped way too many balls. Posted a great 40 time (4.37) but had an overall poor day after that.
• Possible first round CB Johnthan Banks (Mississippi St.). An overall unimpressive showing. He started the day by running a disappointing 4.61 and didn't really do anything to improve his day from there. Mediocre work out and not something you'd expect from a first round pick.