Football Talent Advisors

Margus Hunt (92) kick block - Photo credit: Alan H. Rose / The Daily Mustang

Last year I wrote a blog about the possible connection between offensive and defensive line play and throwing the shot put and discus.  Many of last year’s highly touted collegiate linemen had throwing backgrounds dating back to their high school days.  With so many high profile linemen throwing the shot and discus I thought ESPN college analsyt and blogger, Bruce Feldman, might be interested.  Fortunately he was and this topic received greater exposure and interest.   Over the past year I’ve received some feedback about the blog and questions about linemen and throwing so I’ve decided to give it a follow-up.          

What struck me this time is the revelation that high school participation in throwing is not regional.  Division I linemen from all over the country have backgrounds in throwing.  The percentages of high school linemen from Texas (seen as a track and field haven) may be a bit higher overall but throwing is nearly as popular in Midwestern high schools.  Even with high school spring football so prominent and popular down south a lot of current SEC linemen participated in high school throwing.  You’d think with so many top notch linemen possessing track backgrounds that it wouldn’t be overlooked or deemed irrelevant by college recruiters.  However most college coaches I’ve encountered don’t seem to know much about track or care to learn.  As you’ll see below it might have paid some recruiters big dividends to learn.                 

The bigger question, in my mind, is…does ability to throw the shot and discus have any correlation to playing line?  I say yes, in a pure physical sense.  Of course player size is the key correlating factor along with development of football skills but the ability to throw indicates a wide range of physical skills related directly to line play.  It is probably a stretch to claim that track participation alone can improve football skills.  However throwing does provide athletes a competitive outlet to improve footwork, functional strength and explosive ability.  Those are all physical attributes essential to excel at line play.  Again having a large frame is nearly essential for success at any line position but possessing and enhancing the physical abilities necessary to throw certainly don’t hurt either.            

Nearly every defensive and offensive linemen I included in last year’s blog were three-sport and four-sport athletes in high school.  A good argument could probably be made regarding a connection between multi-sport participation and line play.  But if  that were true why not say that linemen playing baseball or golf is just as good a physical measuring stick as throwing the shot or discus?  Not an easy answer as participation in any additional sport is a great way for football players to keep or improve their competitive edge. Unfortunately not every sport or activity is measurable or quantifiable in a pure physical sense.  Throwing performance is measurable, quantifiable, comparable and fairly objective unlike some other sports performances which are not measurable or objective.          

It is my belief and experience most high school linemen go out for track simply for something to do or because their friends are doing it BUT there’s something that goes on during all the practices and throwing movements that probably contributes to the physical development of linemen.  Of course this is an area of much debate and isn’t a scientific demonstration but I’ll supply quite a few player anecdotes below.  Amazingly several linemen mentioned weren’t just throwers but successful track sprinters.     

Current standout Division I Defensive Linemen that participated in high school track & field 

Margus Hunt international discus throw – Photo credit: spikesmag.com

Billy Winn – Boise State:  A three-star athlete coming out of Las Vegas HS, Nevada.  Winn was state runner-up in the discus with a best of (171’11) and qualified for state track meet in shot put with best of (53’01).  He is known as one of the leaders of Boise State’s defense and is second on the team with 5.5 TFLs.   

Brandon Bair – Oregon:  Great story, South Fremont HS grad in Idaho, in 2002.  He’s six-foot-seven and leads the Ducks with 12 TFLs…also won Idaho state championship throwing discus (168’00) and threw shot put and ran 400 meters.  

Cameron Jordan – California:  The senior defensive lineman has quietly registered three sacks and 4.5 TFLs this season.  Jordan had 20.5 TFLs the past two seasons and perhaps extra attention and double teams have impacted his numbers.  However no argument can be made about this guy’s explosive ability and as one might expect he was a state champion discus thrower (175’07) at Chandler HS (AZ).  He also qualified for state in the shot put.   

Cliff Matthews – South Carolina:  The Gamecocks have some really freaky athletic guys along the defensive line, might have to blog about later, but Matthews has been very consistent the past few seasons while playing in the SEC with 10 sacks and 15.5 TFLs.  While he only has one sack and 3.5 TFLs this season he’s been a steady player.  He also had an impressive athletic career at Cheraw HS, in South Carolina, winning the state shot put title (54’00) and qualifying for state twice in the discus with throws over (134’00) and even high jumped (6’04).      

Christian Ballard – Iowa:  Has great size and is listed on Mel Kiper’s list of top seniors at defensive tackle.  He has the speed to match…attended Lawrence Free State HS in Kansas.  Qualified for state track meet in the 400 relay (42.82) and 200 meters (22.97).  Perhaps most impressive he ran indoor (6.80) 55 meters dash in high school.   

Da’Quan Bowers – Clemson:  Attended Bamberg-Erhardt HS in South Carolina, leads NCAA with 14.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks.  Qualified for state meet in shot put (46’00) and ran a reported 11.5 in the 100 meters…impressive for a six-foot-four and 250lb high school athlete.   

 Dontay Moch – Nevada:  Known primarily for his great speed, attended Hamilton HS, in Nevada and was a state champion in the 100 meters (10.78), 400 relay (41.78) and 200 meters (21.84) as a junior.  Only rated two-star by Rivals but listed at 220 pounds as a high school senior his track times were incredible.  Currently tied for second nationally with 14 TFLs, may project as LB in pros.       

Drake Nevis – LSU:  Has really come on this season and leads team in sacks with five, 11.5 TFLs and third with 38 total tackles.  Threw shot put (50’09) qualifying for state meet and threw discus (147’04) at John Ehret HS in Louisiana.  

Ethan Johnson – Notre Dame:  Johnson has steadily improved the past few years with 10.5 TFLs and seven sacks.  This season he’s tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks and helped improve the team’s defense – okay they haven’t improved a whole lot - this year.  He attended Lincoln HS, in Portland, Oregon, and threw the shot put and javelin.  Finished fourth at the state meet in shot put with a best of (54’09) and threw the javelin (176’03).   

Guy Miller – Colorado State:  Set school and Mountain West Conference records with 4.5 sacks against UNLV.  Miller graduated from Scott City HS, in Kansas, and was a successful high school thrower qualifying for the state meet in the shot put (46’01) as a junior.   

Jabaal Sheard – Pittsburgh:  Really stepped up for Pitt after the injury to Greg Romeus by leading the team this year with 8 TFLs and is tied for team lead with five sacks.  Sheard went to Hollywood Hills HS (FL) and finished fourth at state meet in the shot put (53’00) and also threw the discus.     

Ja’Gared Davis – Southern Methodist:  Sort of cheating here as Davis is a linebacker and a bit undersized at that.  However Davis ranks second in Conference-USA in sacks with six and 11 TFLs.   He attended Crockett HS, in Texas, and qualified for the Texas State Meet (not easy to do) in the 300 hurdles (38.74)  and ran the 110 high hurdles (14.75), triple jumped (46’02), high jumped (5’10) and ran a leg on the regional qualifying 400 relay (43.37).  Not bad for a linebacker…his teammate defensive end, Margus Hunt, has been mentioned on this blog before could also appear on this list – he’s pictured above - as he’s blocked NINE kicks in 20 career games!   

Jared Crick – Nebraska:  Last year was Suh’s sidekick but certainly has his own identity now and was listed on virtually every preseason all-whatever teams this year.  He’s lived up to the hype and pressure by tying for team lead in TFLs with 4.5 and tackles by defensive lineman.  Crick has been mentioned on several FTA blogs for his background as a high school thrower at Cozad HS, in Nebraska, where he was state runner-up in the shot put and threw (61’03) at B5 district meet.  Yeah he was probably an easy one to find on the recruiting trail…  

Jarvis Jenkins – Clemson:  Another massive tackle that has accumulated some serious TFL numbers in the past few years.  He currently has five TFLs this season and while he’s not a sack master and has battled some injury issues he has been productive.  Jenkins attended D.W. Daniel HS (SC) was a very successful basketball player and a regional qualifier in the shot put (46’06) and discus.   

 Jeremy Beal – Oklahoma:  One of nation leaders in TFLs with 8.5 and six sacks.  According to Mel Kiper he’s one of the five best senior defensive ends in the eyes of NFL brass.  Probably not too much surprise Beal threw the discus at Carrollton Creekview HS (TX) and was quite successful throwing (163’02) at the District 10-5A Meet in 2006.     

J.J. Watt – Wisconsin:  Just off a completely dominant performance against Ohio State with two sacks and three TFLs…and his story how he got to Wisconsin is just awesome.  Clearly part of his success stems from his high school athletic career as a four-sport athlete.  Pewaukee HS (WI) grad and state champion shot putter (59’11) as a senior…he intially attended Central Michigan as a tight end and walked-on at Wisconsin.     

Kheeston Randall - Texas:  Instrumental in Texas defeating Nebraska last week and holding Taylor Martinez to just 21 yards on 13 carries.  Currently leads stingy Texas defense with nine TFLs…attended Monsignor Kelly HS (TX) and finished third at the TAPPS 6A State Meet in the shot put (46’04) with a best of  (48’07) in 2008.   

Marcel Dareus – Alabama:  One of this most highly regarded defensive linemen in college football and MVP of last year’s BCS game was suspended for several games but hasn’t missed a beat.    Dareus attended Hayes, East Lake and Huffman HS (AL).  He played basketball while in high school and threw the shot put (41’09) and discus as a senior.   

Markus White – Florida State:  Prepared for a breakout season this year…had 10.5 TFLs last year but like the entire defense last year looked lost at times.  This year he’s second with 3.5 sacks on a team that leads the nation with 30!  White a junior college transfer attended John Leonard HS (FL) and was a regional qualifier in the shot put (46’08) and threw the discus too.       

Mike Martin – Michigan:  This guy is built like Juggernaut from X-Men…but seriously he’s the backbone of Michigan’s d-line.  Martin is second on the team with 5.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks but more important than his stats is the ability to anchor.  He put his tremendous strength and build to good use while at Detroit Central Catholic HS, in Michigan, by winning the state heavyweight wrestling title, twice, and winning the state shot put two straight years. His best of (63’09) in the shot was just short the state record.  

Mike Daniels – Iowa:  Perhaps a lesser known name but no less productive as Daniels actually leads the Hawkeyes in TFLs with eight and sacks with three.  He’s even outshined his better known teammates like Adrian Clayborn and Karl Klug in the stats department thus far.  So he deserves to be named here.  Daniels graduated Highland Regional HS (NJ) was a three-year letterwinner in wrestling and state qualifier in the discus (143’06) and threw the shot put (58’09) at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.   

Sam Acho – Texas:  Senior defensive end is among the leaders for the Longhorns with 7.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks and an additional four quaterback hurries.  Acho and his brother, Emmanuel (Longhorn’s starting linebacker), attended St. Mark’s HS (TX).  Sam was TAPPS state champion in the shot put (57’09) and discus (163’05).   

Stephen Paea – Oregon State:  He’s been mentioned before as Paea has been a very good linemen for several years.  His three sacks and 3.5 TFLs might not be as impressive this year but his ability to anchor the line is very impressive.  Paea’s strength is well documented (think bench press) and was a thrower at Timpview HS, in Utah.  He was state runner-up in the shot put (52’08) and state qualifier in the discus with a best of (153’03).   

Tyrone Crawford – Boise State:  For the most part Boise State’s offense has received most of the hype and credit for their team’s success but players like Crawford and Billy Winn, mentioned above, deserve some for what they do on defense.  Crawford leads the team with 6.5 TFLs and has 2.5 sacks and 19 total tackles which is saying a bunch on a defense that leads the nation against the run.  He went to high school at Central Catholic in Windsor, Ontario and was a three-sport athlete.  He was a national-caliber shot put thrower leading the country in the junior nationals category and qualified for nationals in the discus.  His best in the shot put exceeded 56-feet and over 140-feet in the discus.     

Von Miller – Texas A&M:  Speed rush defensive end set the world on fire last year  with 21.5 TFLs and 16.5 sacks but has been a bit dinged up this year and maybe not quite as effective.  At least his numbers, 4.5 TFLs, 20 tackles and two sacks, aren’t nearly what they were the first half of last season.  Perhaps the schedule is tougher this season and no dobut Miller has faced constant double teams and schemes to stop him.  Certainly can’t argue with his athleticism and speed.  Miller was a very successful hurdler in high school (Desoto, TX) running a sub-14.5 in 110 hurdles and even triple jumping and throwing the javelin at the junior olympic meet in 2005.   

Okay enough of that…offensive linemen next time.     

Okay, I’ve reached the point where finding high school track data on certain football greats has become increasingly difficult.  I’ve got to resort to begging for help and track data online.  FTA’s proprietary track / football database currently has over 12,000 D1 and NFL players and growing.  The website says 7,500…I need to update.  Eventually I plan on releasing the entire database on the website for open access.   But I need some help.

Anyway I’ll share a few collegiate and NFL greats each week, perhaps some or all of these track facts are common knowledge but I find them interesting. 

Tedy Bruschi – Arizona Wildcat linebacker and New England Patriot attended Roseville High School in California and was the San Joaquin Section (SAC) Champion in the shot put (58’10) and discus (175’11) in 1991. 

Eric Swann – Did not attend a Division I college but was a first round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals (1991) and was a two-time NFL Pro Bowler at defensive tackle.   Swann was state runner-up in shot put (54’02) and discus ( 152’06) North Carolina while attending W. Harnett High School.   

Lynn Swann – University of Southern California wide receiver and NFL Hall-of-Fame Pittsburgh Steeler attended Serra High School in California and was a two-time state champion long jumper (1969-1970) with best of 24’10 and best of 9.8 in the 100 yard dash. 

Julius Peppers – University of North Carolina defensive end and current Chicago Bear attended Southern Nash High School in North Carolina and was state runner-up in the triple jump (46’10) and state champion 1600 relay member (3:23.10).  Rumor has it Peppers high jumped in the neighborhood of 6’08.  Yes, Peppers is known more for his skills on the basketball court than his track exploits but he was a terrific high school athlete. 

Now I need some help with high school track data on the following players…any legitimate data would be appreciated but please include the meet, year and specific event.  Relay events are welcome data too.

Any high school track data on the following players?  Please let me know! 

Michael Irvin:  St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Florida – University of Miami-FL and Dallas Cowboy wide receiver 

Marshall Faulk:  G.W. Carver High School, Louisiana – San Diego State University and St. Louis Ram running back

Mike Rozier: Woodrow Wilson High School, New Jersey – University of Nebraska (Heisman Trophy) and Houston Oiler running back

Andy Katzenmoyer: Westerfield South High School, Ohio – (The) Ohio State University and New England Patriot linebacker

Please contact me if you have an legit data and want to contribute - mark@footballtalentadvisors.com

Posted by Mark Branstad

FTA has completed a breakdown of each NFL draft pick and their high school athletic background.  After totaling the number of draftees with multi-sport high school backgrounds the results are amazingly consistent with the data we’ve been collecting since 2002.  Regardless of the sports specialization craze that has swept through our high schools in the past decade  it doesn’t appear to have caught on with NFL prospects. 

Here’s a pretty cool article about defensive lineman and NFL draft pick, Sean Lissemore, of William & Mary.  Sort of brings this multi-sport thing into perspective. 

To the good stuff: 

Track and field appeared to be the most popular “second” sport with nearly 60% of all players (255 total) having participated in high school.  Approximately 50% participated in high school basketball and nearly one in four participated in both basketball, track and field and of course football. 

The track and field events most popular with NFL draftees, probably not surprising, was the 100 meters, 4×100 relay, long  jump and the shot put. 

The average Rivals star rating for the first round (32 players) was approximately 3.5 stars.  That average fell to approximately 3.0 stars for the first 100 draft picks and was 2.7 star average for the entire draft, 255 players.  This is not an indictment on Rivals rankings but rather look at the average as dictated by the draft.

Just the numbers: 

First Round (32 players)

* 19 participated in high school track and field

* 30 participated in at least one high school sport other than football

Top 100 draft picks

* 61 participated in high school track and field

* 88 participated in at least one high school sport other than football

Rounds 1-7 (255 players)

* 152 participated in high school track and field

* 219 participated in at least one high school sport other than football

FTA’ s NFL Draft spreadsheet:

It is a little too much trouble to plug that up here but if you’d like a copy of FTA’s breakdown of each draft pick’s high school background, including specific high school track and field performance data…email me at:

mark@footballtalentadvisors.com

I’d be glad to send, free of course.

Posted by Mark Branstad – Football Talent Advisors

After Usain Bolt’s super human performance of 9.58 100 meter dash at the World Championships there’s been buzz all over about what he might be able to do in the NFL.  There’s no question he’s the fastest person ever and perhaps more appropriately he’s 6’05.  He’s got an unprecedented combination of speed and size NFL executives and coaches covet at the wide receiver position. 

There’s a major oversight with this intriguing scenario though…Bolt’s never played football.  And by never I mean not little league, not high school and forget college.  Never played.  Bolt claims soccer is his team sport of preference.  That isn’t exactly a shining endorsement for transitioning to the NFL gridiron. 

I looked into what Bolt’s prospects might be if he decided to put professional track on the back burner for a while and give the NFL a shot.  And I discovered Bolt would have almost zero examples of successful crossover attempts by professional track athletes (with no prior football experience) to lean on.  Everyone likes to use Renaldo Nehemiah as the crossover example…and he wasn’t exactly successful.  Renaldo stuck in the NFL for three seasons and had moderate success as a receiver.  He was primarily a downfield decoy.

Nehemiah had little to no football experience and zero above the high school level.  Reminder: Usain Bolt has never played football.  Again, there are virtually no other examples of Olympic / professional track athletes to play in the NFL with no prior football playing experience.  On top of this Nehemiah played in the early 80′s when the NFL game was much less complex, the passing game much less refined and defenses were not geared to applying max pressure on quarterbacks.  Bolt would have to be much more technically sound at running routes and blocking than Nehemiah to meet the demands of an NFL team today. 

Bolt is physically much larger than Nehemiah (6’01 175) so that would be in his favor but there’s little else.  There are a ton of newspaper articles and websites that list players that ran great 100 meter times and played in the NFL.  Nearly all those players had extensive football backgrounds prior to playing in the NFL.  

A few receivers come to mind that had solid collegiate track careers and recent success in the NFL.  Eddie Kennison was a solid sprinter at LSU, winning an NCAA Outdoor 400 relay title in 1994, and had multiple 1,000 yard receiving seasons in the NFL.  Kennison is much smaller than Bolt and of course didn’t possess Bolt’s straight-line speed.  Marcus Robinson is another recent example of a successful NFL receiver (in 1999 Robinson caught 84 passes for 1,400yds and nine TDs) with a solid collegiate track career.  Robinson ran a 20.60 / 200 and 10.21 /100 at University of South Carolina.  Robinson’s not in the same league as Bolt in terms of speed but had similar size (6’03 215lbs).    

Former Olympians dot the NFL over the years with guys like Ollie Matson (RB – Rams), Bo Roberson (RB – Raiders), Michael Bates (RB / KR – Panthers), Willie Gault (WR – Bears), Sam Graddy (WR – Rams), James Jett (WR – Raiders), Ron Brown (CB / WR – Rams), James Trapp (CB – Ravens) and we could go on.  But the difference is ALL these guys had collegiate football experience prior to the NFL.  Yes, their tremendous speed and athleticism helped them in the NFL  but they had playing experience too.  I’m not even including the other obvious example Bob Hayes because he had extensive football experience prior to the NFL and most considered him a football player first and track athlete second. 

This name dropping could go on and on with other very successful current and former NFL players with solid collegiate track backgrounds like Champ Bailey, Robert Smith (RB Vikings), Herman Moore (WR Lions), Alvin Harper (WR Cowboys), O.J. Simpson, Curtis Conway, Qadry Ismail, Michael Carter, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Vance Johnson, Mark Duper, Ray Clayborn, Eugene Profit, Rod Woodson, Darrell Green even Deion Sanders ran in a few meets at Florida State. 

But I’ll end it here as even Willie Gault, who knows a bit about the Olympic track / NFL crossover, says without prior football experience it is too difficult to make the transition.  And we shouldn’t forget Justin Gatlin, mentioned in a prior blog, a former 9.85 Olympic sprinter had multiple NFL tryouts and couldn’t get signed by a team in 2007.  Gatlin played some football while at Woodham High School in Florida.

Posted by Mark Branstad – Football Talent Advisors

Pretty cool development with the Pittsburgh Steelers to start the NFL season.  Stefan Logan a CFL veteran and University of South Dakota grad made the Steelers 53 man roster.  What is special about Logan is he’s got a kick returning style similar to the Chicago Bears’ Devin Hester.  Logan hasn’t played a regular season NFL game, he certainly won’t contribute at another position for some time and he’s physically smaller than Hester so I’ll stop the comparison here. 

However upon further examination their athletic skills (speed) do have some similarity.  Devin Hester was quite a track athlete in high school and as a freshman at U. of Miami.  Hester won the long jump at Big East Conference Indoor Championships in 2004 and finished third in the 60 meter dash.  Logan had a collegiate personal best in the 60 meter dash of 6.75, slightly ahead of Hester’s 6.77. 

An interesting fact:  Stefan Logan actually ran against current New York Jet, running back, Danny Woodhead.  The two squared off a few times running the 60 meter dash during the 2006 Division II collegiate indoor season.   Woodhead along with Logan ran at the ’06 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships too. Translation?  The 60 meter dash isn’t a bad barometer of football related speed.  But both of these guys were cut by NFL teams before for being too small and perhaps perceived too slow?  No one probably believes the latter about either player anymore.     

Anyway it’ll be interesting to see if Logan can go from supplying the Steelers some preseason excitement to being a regular season contributor.  He’s a long way from running track at South Dakota and returning kicks in the CFL.

Posted by Mark Branstad – Football Talent Advisors

Interesting interview piece here with John Capel, former Florida Gator receiver and 2003 World Champion 200 meter sprinter.  Capel talks openly about how tough it was/is to play big time collegiate football and be an elite track sprinter.  He also talks about the tough decisions ahead for current Florida Gator Jeff Demps. 

What I found most fascinating was Capel’s opinion that Florida’s players today are stronger, bigger, AND faster than when he was there.  He was also talking about today’s high school players too.  That is scary! 

Speaking of professional track and football – there’s been so much talk about Usain Bolt and the NFL I guess it’d be fun to really research this topic.  My next blog I’ll take a close look at this. 

My opinion right now, which isn’t worth much, is Bolt would have little incentive to give the NFL a try.  He’d be jeopardizing millions of dollars and risking injury threatening his future track career.  I believe he’d struggle like other professional track athletes that have tried to crossover with zero football background.  People often point to Justin Gatlin and how he failed to get signed after multiple tryouts with NFL teams.  We should keep in mind that Gatlin at least played football in high school and supposedly flirted around with joining the football team while at the University of Tennessee.  That’s the real key right there; Bolt has NO football background.  I’m sure Bolt could be coached as a decoy and fly pattern receiver but he’d likely never be a complete player. 

Before I end this it should be noted that John Capel’s personal problems (mentioned in the article interview) likely had as much to do with his failure to play in the NFL as his football performance or skill.  I don’t personally believe in the “track guy” label.  Being a good track athlete or sprinter in no way indicates or is linked to poor football performance or skill.  Many football commentators and gurus use the “track guy” label to conveniently write-off players with elite track backgrounds, even when the athlete in question has an extensive football resume.  Clearly the label is cliche and fairly baseless.  Again I’ll dive head first into this topic soon…

Posted by Mark Branstad – Football Talent Advisors

I’ve been unhappy lately with the amount of internet and published press attention given to players that perform well at the NFL combine / campus workouts and then ”bust” in the league.  Heck it would almost seem, if one believed everything published out there, that doing well at the combine is almost a negative.  Makes me wonder sometimes…have any workout wonders gone on to successful NFL careers? 

Actually if more journalists, writers and bloggers would do some research they’d discover the majority of players that perform well during individual workouts and combines do okay in the NFL.  I mean football IS an athletic activity so possessing quantifiable athletic ability IS a positive…though some experts seem to believe the contrary. 

Charlie Bernstein (Scout.com) posted an article spotlighting 10 recent combine success stories.  Some of these players have only been in the league for one season but were immediately successful.  Here they are in order listed in the article - and yup most of them have extensive high school track and field / multi-sport backgrounds. 

1) Mario Williams (DE – Texans) Threw shot put, was state runner-up 52’05

2) Chris Johnson (RB – Titans) State runner-up 10.66 / 100 and 21.30 / 200 , state champion 4×100 41.11

3) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (CB – Cardinals) Triple-Jumped over 46’00, 22’08 long jump, 10.85 / 100 – also long jumped over 25’00 in college. 

4) Antonio Cromartie (CB – Chargers) Triple-Jumped 46’01, 22.05 / 200, 38.50 / 300 hurdles, 14.43 / 110 hurdles, ran 46.39 / 400 meter dash in college. 

5) Greg Jennings (WR – Packers) 22’07 long jump, state champion 4×100 42.20, 4×200 relay 1:28.50

6) Maurice Jones-Drew (RB – Jaguars) 10.80 / 100, 4×100 42.20 state meet qualifier, 22.19 / 200

7) Ronnie Brown (RB – Dolphins) Baseball player in HS, drafted by MLB out of HS

8) Nick Collins (S – Packers) Track & Field, Baskeball and Baseball letterman at Dixie Hollins HS, FL.

9) Joseph Addai (RB – Colts) 22.1 / 200, 10.7 / 100 (hand-held high school times)

10) Shawne Merriman (LB – Chargers) Three-year Basketball letterman

Notice in the first paragraph of his article Bernstein runs through a brief list of NFL players that went bust after great combine workouts.  Now he’ll get no argument from me with the list except mentioning Mike Mamula.  First, Mike Mamula was NOT a bust (mentioned in a previous blog).  He had an injury shortened NFL career but still managed 31 sacks in 5 seasons, additionally he had 29 sacks his last two years of college play.  He was a very solid player that just happened to workout well.  Second, Akili Smith was not as solid a college player as Mamula.  Tony Mandarich and Matt Jones both had drug-related issues during their careers…Mamula never had any that I know of while playing. 

Bernstein forgot to show the offensive lineman much love in his article…so I’m going to take the liberty.  My two offensive lineman picks would be Ryan Clady (Denver Broncos) and Michael Roos (Tennessee Titans).  Clady was a first round pick (# 12) and barring injury will be a cornerstone for Denver for a decade or more.  Clady, by the way, threw 52’00 in the shot put and 152’00 in the discus as a 6’06 high schooler.  Roos, was a three-year basketball letterman and was a javelin thrower (over 180’00) as a 6’07 high schooler.  These two guys certainly fit the profile of big-time NFL offensive tackles from an early age.

Posted by Mark Branstad - Football Talent Advisors

The FootballOutsiders indicate 40 yard dash times matter to NFL performance by running backs (it isn’t of course a perfect measure).  Their work indicates the vertical jump is not as correlated to football performance…as for the other combine drills?  Well, for running backs anyway, they’re not very useful for predictive purposes. 

‘Vertical jump is a slightly less useful predictor: While backs aren’t often asked to leap players, the vertical jump is apparently the best indicator of a player’s athletic ability outside of 40 times. It has a .29 correlation with DPAR, and a .28 correlation with yards and carries. Jerry Azumah (a halfback in college) holds the combine record for running backs in the vertical jump with a 43½-inch leap, while players like LaDainian Tomlinson and Buckhalter also have shown off impressive hops.’  – Football Outsiders -

The vertical apparently isn’t as strong a correlation as the 40-to-size (weight) ratio.  However, the vert has it’s place as a measurable. 

What I want to focus on are the best verticals recorded at the NFL combine and the players that performed them.  Guess what?  Most had track backgrounds, indicating to me the vertical might be predictable.  It doesn’t take a genius to figure the long jump, triple jump and high jump would translate to vertical…but I seldom hear the guru analysts talking about it.  Most of them seem to chatter about basketball backgrounds (those are prevalent too on the lists) but they don’t offer any statistical data.   

So lets look at the best vertical jumps at the NFL Combine.  Combine data compiled by Frank Cooney and NFLDraftScout.com. 

Highest Vertical Jump (NFL Combine 2001-2008)
* Track and Field data compiled and organized by Football Talent Advisors
46 – Gerald Sensabaugh, (FS), North Carolina, 2005 – 46’11 Triple Jump (state champ) & 23’08 Long Jump
45 1/2 – Derek Wake, (OLB), Penn State, 2005 – N / A
45 – Chris McKenzie, (CB), Arizona State, 2005 – N / A
45 – Chris Chambers, (WR), Wisconsin, 2001 – 47.19 / 400 (state champ) & 21.40 / 200
43 1/2 – Dustin Fox, (FS), Ohio State, 2005 – 22-02 Long Jump & 10.83 / 100 & 41.86 / 400 Relay
43 1/2 – Kevin Kasper, (WR), Iowa, 2001 – N / A
43 – Scott Starks, (CB), Wisconsin, 2005 – 21.81 / 200 & 48.34 / 400 (state champ)
43 – Cedric James, (WR), TCU, 2001 – N / A
42 1/2 – Nate Burleson, (WR), Nevada, 2003 – 38.70 / 300 hurdles (state champ)
42 1/2 – Jonathan Carter, (WR), Troy, 2001 – 10.48, 21.29, 6.31 (college)
42 1/2 – Brock Williams, (CB), Notre Dame, 2001 – 10.9 / 100 (hand-held)
42 – Boss Bailey, (OLB), Georgia, 2003 – 14.28 / 110 hurdles (state champ)
42 – Kerry Rhodes, (FS), Louisville, 2005 – N / A
42 – Ellis Hobbs, (CB), Iowa State, 2005 – 10.62 / 100 & 41.06 / 400 Relay
42 – *William Green, (RB), Boston College, 2002 – N / A
42 – Santana Moss, (WR), Miami, 2001 – 48’06 / Triple Jump (state champ)
42 – Rashad Holman, (CB), Louisville, 2001 – N / A
42 – Scott Fujita, (OLB), California, 2002 – N / A
42 – Raonall Smith, (OLB), Washington State, 2002 – N / A
42 – *Vernon Davis, (TE), Maryland, 2006 – 10.92 / 100 & 6.66 / 55 & 6’02 High Jump
42 – Mark Anderson, (DE), Alabama, 2006 – N / A
41 1/2 – Karl Paymah, (CB), Washington State, 2005 – 10.77 / 100 & 21.97 /200
41 1/2 – Reche* Caldwell, (WR), Florida, 2002 – N / A
41 1/2 – Bob Sanders, (SS), Iowa, 2004 – 21’03 Long Jump & 42.83 / 400 Relay
41 1/2 – Tony Fisher, (RB), Notre Dame, 2002 – 22’04 Long Jump
2009 NFL Combine 40’ Vert Club:
45 – Donald Washington, (CB), Ohio State –  23’04 Long Jump (state champ) & 6’04 High Jump
43 – Darius Butler, (CB), Connecticut – 21’06 Long Jump & 22.98 / 200
42.5 – Jarrett Dillard, (WR), Rice –  21’02 Long Jump & 42’11 Triple Jump & 39.68 / 300 hurdles & 42.93 / 400 Relay
41.5 – Donald Brown, (RB), Connecticut – 22’10 Long Jump
41.5 – Tiquan Underwood, (WR), Rutgers – 23’10 Long Jump & 49’04 Triple Jump (state champ) & 14.46 / 110 hurdles
41.5 – David Bruton, (FS), Notre Dame – 48.48 / 400 & 22.12 /200 & 21’11 Long Jump
41.5 – C.J. Spillman, (FS), Marshall –  11.10 / 100
40.5 – Mike Thomas, (WR), Arizona – 10.61 / 100 & 41.20 / 400 Relay & 1:25.66 / 800 Relay (state champ)
40.5 – Connor Barwin, (DE), Cinncinnati – N / A (Basketball)
40 – Mike Wallace, (WR), Mississippi – 41.81 / 400 Relay (state champ)
40 – Cedric Peerman, (RB), Virginia Tech – 10.67 / 100 (state champ) & 22.03 / 200 (state champ) & 22’07 Long Jump / 43’09 Triple Jump

As one can see there’s a track connection here too.  Now the next question does the vertical jump translate to football performance? It is a mixed bag.  See what ESPN had to say.  There’s a few solid names above, Bob Sanders, Ellis Hobbs, Santana Moss and Chris Chambers.  But there’s even more names that made little impact in the NFL.   

Please…please put the Mike Mamula “draft bust” pick to rest.  Mike Mamula WAS a solid NFL player!  Injuries robbed him of a lengthy career, 31.5 sacks in 5 seasons isn’t BAD.

Posted by Mark Branstad – Football Talent Advisors

I was intrigued by a recent article, panel discussion to be more accurate, on CFN.com about whether the 40 yard dash really matters?  Now don’t get me wrong this is not a cutting-edge debate.  This is not a new topic by any means and certainly buzz about the 40 isn’t going to go away anytime soon.  But I was amazed by the drastic variance of opinions about this rather simple ”test of speed”.  For clarity though I do tend to agree with Pete Fiutak’s point-of-view, which basically states that players that time slow better have all the intagibles to make it right on the field.

So I’ll ask, does the 40 really matter?  Answer – Well it depends on what player runs it and how the test is administered.  Maybe a more important question to understand this whole thing is finding out which players have run the fastest ”official” 40?  Answer – Well again it depends on what information source you care to believe. 

Here are a few of the mythical times I’ve seen in print and heard from the NFL Combine over the years…Darrell Green (4.09), Bo Jackson (4.12), Deion Sanders (anywhere from 4.19-4.28), Rod Woodson (low 4.2s) and Dante Hall (low 4.2s).  Did any of those players really run that fast?  I doubt it and according to Frank Cooney of NFLDraftScout.com the timing methods and testing environments at the NFL Combine have undergone several changes over the years. 

And of course there’s always the conventional argument stating the 40 is a bogus “test of speed” for football because most players seldom if ever run that far at one time during the course of a game.  The vaildity argument has been challenged recently by TheFootballOutsiders.com and it is a strong challenge to say the least.  They’ve shown for running backs, at the very least, the 40 does provide a direct correlation to success in the NFL.  

I wanted to take a closer look at whether there’s any crossover high school track data that might indicate a player’s ability to run a ”fast” 40.  Let’s look at this in a way only FTA would care to…crunch some track stats!  Now for sure we’re not going to waste time looking at 40 dash times of lineman and try to correlate between throwing the shot put and running the 40 (there’s no stat manipulation that will make it work). 

Let’s look at the fastest 40 times run at the NFL Combine since 2000, as compiled by Frank Cooney and  www.NFLDraftScout.com, and the corresponding high school track statistics of the players. I can already tell you…the 100 meter dash and 40 are correlated.  Players that run 11.5 in the 100 can’t  legitimately run 4.4, 4.5, or even 4.6 in the 40…the recruiting sites should learn this!

Fastest 40-Yard Dash Times (NFL Combine 2000-2008)
*High School stats gathered and compiled by Football Talent Advisors
*FAT = Fully Automatic Timing
Player    40 Time Year HS 100  HS 200  HS 4X100 & 4X200 HS 55 
Chris Johnson (RB)  4.24  2008 10.66 FAT 21.30 FAT 41.11 FAT
Stanford Routt (CB)  4.27  2005 10.56 FAT 20.74 FAT      
Jerome Mathis (WR) 4.28  2005 10.87 FAT 21.68 FAT    6.42 FAT  
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (CB) 4.29  2008 10.75 FAT       
Fabian Washington (CB) 4.29  2005 10.90 FAT
Darrent Williams (CB) 4.30  2005     40.39 FAT / 1:25.99 FAT
Yamon Figurs (WR)  4.30  2007 11.01 FAT 22.18 FAT 
Justin King (CB)  4.31  2008 10.96 FAT 22.49 FAT
Tyvon Branch (CB)  4.31  2008 10.61 FAT 21.37 FAT    6.82 FAT (60)
Michael Waddell (CB) 4.31  2004 10.80 FAT
Aaron Lockett (WR)  4.31  2002 10.57 FAT   41.21 FAT
Santana Moss (WR) 4.31  2001 N / A – (Triple Jump & Long Jump & 4X400 State Champion)
Johnathan Joesph (CB) 4.31  2006     43.40 FAT
Tim Carter (WR)  4.32  2002 N / A – (300 hurdles State Champion)
Orlando Scandrick (CB) 4.32  2008 N / A
Chris McKenzie (CB) 4.32  2005 N / A
Kevin Garrett (CB)  4.32  2003 10.55 FAT
Jason Hill (WR)  4.32  2007 N / A
Chris Houston (CB)  4.32  2005 N / A
Troy Williamson (WR) 4.32  2005 10.35 FAT 21.48 FAT
Chad Jackson (WR)  4.32  2006 11.01 FAT   43.01 FAT
Tim Jennings (CB)  4.32  2006 10.87 FAT 22.43 FAT 42.50 FAT  6.41 FAT
Carlos Francis (WR) 4.33  2004 10.44 FAT 21.30 FAT
Darren McFadden (RB) 4.33  2008 10.80 (Hand-held)
Chris Chambers (WR) 4.33  2001   21.40 FAT

Clearly there’s a correlation between the 40 yard to 100 meter distance and maybe even the 200.  Keep in mind too that Champ Bailey ran 4.28 in 1999…he long jumped 25-10 in college and over 24-00 in high school and 6-09 as a high jumper.   

* What about the guy that ran 4.24 at the Combine in 1999 Rondel Menedez WR (Eastern Kentucky)?  He ran 10.99 /100 - 21.94 / 200 - 48.86 / 400 in high school, he never played a down in the NFL, but was a 7th Round pick by the Atlanta Falcons.  Hey nothing wrong with taking a 7th Round “risk” on a guy that runs 4.24…maybe he would have stuck in the NFL if he played corner or returned kicks? 

We’ll continue next by looking at the vertical jump…

Posted by Mark Branstad – Football Talent Advisors

Here are several of the defensive lineman and linebackers taken in Rounds 1-2 during this year’s NFL Draft with high school backgrounds in track and field, particularly the shot put, discus and 100 meters. 

Pick # 4- Aaron Curry LB (Seahawks / Wake Forest) – Long Jump, High Jump, Triple Jump / E.E. Smith HS /NC

Pick # 11- Aaron Maybin DE  (Bills / Penn St) – 46’06 Shot Put , Discus, 100 meters / Mt. Hebron HS / MD

Pick # 18 – Robert Ayers LB (Broncos / Tennessee) – 100 meters, 4×100 relay / Marlboro County HS / SC

Pick #  32- Ziggy Hood DT (Steelers / Missouri) – 50’07 Shot Put , 165’07 Discus / Palo Duro HS / TX

Pick # 40 – Ron Brace DT (Patriots / Boston College) – 54’10 Shot Put / Burncoat HS / MA

Pick # 43 – Everette Brown DE (Panthers / FSU) – 100 meters, 200 meters, High Jump / South Stokes HS / NC

Pick # 53 – David Veikune DE (Browns / Hawaii) – Shot Put, Discus / Campbell HS/ HI