It’s been a long week of interviews here at the combine, and we finish them out today. Defensive backs will meet the media, along with notable holdovers like defensive tackle Nick Fairley.
We’ll keep you up-to-date as the players roll into the media room. As I type this, wide receivers are running the 40-yard dash.
9:43 a.m. EST: Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich just mentioned going against Eddie Royal in college as one of the reasons he knows he’s ready to make the jump to the pros.
The cancer survivor declared himself 100 percent and said battling through the disease has helped him stay positive and motivated when games come down to the wire.
“It’s not a conscious motivation,” he said. “I don’t sit there in the fourth quarter and think, ‘Well, I beat cancer, I can do this.’ It’s just you get trained throughout your life, whether you go through something like this or something else, you train yourself to push through tough times. Throughout the year that I went through chemotherapy and radition, those were tough times — as tough as it’s going to get. So in the fourth quarter, it’s tough, but at the end of the day you’re playing football. I’m doing something I love. So take every minute, and don’t waste it.”
10:14 a.m. EST: Denver native Pierre Allen, who played defensive end at Nebraska, just spoke about the importance of the CU-Nebraska rivalry games.
“They meant a lot,” he smiled. “Sometimes I got to go back home and play in front of all my friends and family, and of course, beat Colorado, one of our biggest rivals.”
He said the combine thus far has been a bit stressful, but an enjoyable time as well.
“It’s definitely a nerve-wracking process, but it’s fun at the same time,” he said. “You get to meet a lot of coaches, a lot of great players all over the country. Just hopefully I test out well. They like what I put on film the last four years in college, and hopefully it works out for me.”
Allen said he has heard he could get drafted anywhere from the third to fifth round.
11:52a.m. EST: The defensive backs are now starting to make their way through the media room. Two from the state of Florida started things off, Miami’s Brandon Harris (left) and University of Florida’s Will Hill (right).
To say that Harris is proud of his affiliation with the Hurricanes, would be a gross understatement. The vast majority of the questions and his answers dealt with his time at the U.
“We understand that once you are at Miami, you represent the U,” Harris said. “Once you depart and head to the NFL, we hold our self to a higher standard because we understand the importance of University of Miami football players in the NFL. People don’t look at us as another guy coming out of college. You represent the U and what the U brings to the NFL is a lot. And we take it personal, we embrace that kind of vision people have for us. We respect it and we can’t wait to get to the next level to show everyone that we are successful, we make a lot of plays.”
Also in case you were interested, NFL Network is showing the workouts for quarterbacks and wide receivers. Even if you are not near your TV, you can check it out online. So far, the buzz of the workouts has surrounded Cam Newton and Jake Locker. Newton in the standing broad jump, measuring 10’6′ and Locker unofficially ran a 4.52 in the 40.
1:08 p.m. EST: Nick Fairley just stepped off the podium. He said he’s prepared to be one of the top picks in the draft and take on all the responsibilities that come with it.
“Any team that picks me, I’ll be happy with it,” Fairley said. “I can’t wait to get there and just hopefully bring success to the team right away and joy to the community.”
He was asked to compare himself to some of the other top linemen in this year’s draft class, Alabama’s Marcell Dareus and Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers.
“Those are great guys,” he said. “Really what’s going to separate us is probably what we do here at the combine. Hopefully things go good for me and I put up great numbers. I wish those guys the best.”
The lineman said he weighed in at 291 pounds, and he hopes to maintain a playing weight between 295 and 300 pounds at the next level. In the meantime, he smiled and said he’ll run faster due to the pounds he shed working out.
As for people who say he sometimes plays the game dirty, he had this response:
“Everybody is entitled to their opinion,” he said. “A lot of folks out there say I play the game the way it should be played. All I do is hit a light switch when I hit the field, and don’t turn it off until I leave.”
We’ll have more from Fairley in this evening’s notebook top story, and Broncos TV will post his full interview shortly.
3:55 p.m. EST: Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea earned a big group of reporters around his podium, as he had set a new combine record with 49 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press a few minutes earlier.
“Last year I did 44 reps in the spring last year,” he said. “Coming into the combine, I didn’t even know the record until they made a big deal out of it that it’s 45. I felt like if I did 44 after a workout, I felt like I could add five more reps. I’m blessed today.”
Paea, whose family originally lived in Tonga, said playing rugby helped him transition to football when his family moved to the U.S. Specifically, it taught him about leverage and keeping up with his conditioning.
4:17 p.m. EST: As we rolled into the afternoon hours on Sunday the media center was pretty quiet. But in the matter of 30 minutes, three of the top corners took time in the media room.
First up was LSU’s Patrick Peterson. Widely considered the top defensive back in the draft, Peterson was polished and confident. He said he hoped to run the 40 in the 4.2s or low 4.3s.
Some analysts have said that Peterson may end up playing safety. While Peterson is open to the change, he feels he is best suited at cornerback.
“I feel my best game is at cornerback,” Peterson said. “If an NFL team needs me to play the safety position, I’m definitely more than willing to transition my game to the safety position.”
Right after Peterson walked out the door, Nebraska corner Prince Amukamara (left) walked to the podium.
Amukamara played running back in high school and hoped to do the same for the Cornhuskers. But coach Bo Pelini told him that corner was the position he was best suited for.
“It definitely wasn’t my decision,” Amukamara said. “I went to Nebraska and was told I was going to play running back. I ended up playing DB and I wanted to switch back to running back, but I trusted Coach Pelini and he said DB would be the best fit for me and I just trusted him.”
And that trust has paid off for him as he is predicted to go in the top half of round one.
Colorado’s Jimmy Smith concluded the run. At 6-foot-2 and 211 pounds, Smith is one of the largest corners in the draft and also one of the most confident.
“I am a big, athletic physical corner,” Smith said with a smile on his face. “I love to press. I have great speed, size and ball skills. I am a shutdown corner.”
5:15 p.m. EST: NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock just wrapped up the media portion of the combine. He had some very interesting things to say about several of the top prospects. Chris Hall is working on the video and he will have it up on DenverBroncos.com shortly.
That will do it for us from the combine, but our draft coverage is just starting. Each week leading up to the draft we will preview a position group. First up on the docket, quarterbacks. Thanks for your questions and for taking time out of your day to follow along with us.
– Gray Caldwell & Kyle Sonneman
Tags: NFL Scouting Combine
I`m glad to see Mark Herzlich in the mix. Someone is going to pick him up. I`d be happy to draft him with our 7th rounder.
strandoftds – From the sounds of things around here, no way he makes it past the third round. But that all could change based on his workouts.
I hope Mark doe`s. He`s 100% cleared now. God bless the young man. I hope he comes out with fire in his eyes and gets a sack his first game. That would be a cool story.
Great job gents! Enjoyed everything you two have contributed. I (as well as others I’m sure) would love to know what or who has made the biggest impression since your arrival in Indy?
Ditto on the congrats to the blog for reporting to us from Indy. Job well done!
How about Roy Helu Jr. Talked about him a while back… The Nebraska Corn Huskers. 6ft 220 and ran with 4.43 speed. Very impressiv speed and he is equally as fast ingame. And well sized with good durability. and slated for 7th rd/FA altho anything can change. IF i had my way, we would get him late. Also like John Clay but I like Helu alot. Humble guy too..TRB out
sndvl – Probably Cam Newton, and that is just because he had the biggest buzz before coming in here and his press session lived up to the hype. I haven’t seen much of his workouts, but I heard his numbers are impressive but struggled throwing. Very impressed with Patrick Peterson. He just left the press center and was very polished.
Also very impressed by the number of highly rated guys who are doing everything in the workouts. I don’t think you have anything to lose by doing them, but then again I am not staring multi-millions in the face with every move scrutinized.
not sure if im watching it live…might have already ended earlier this morning. but…
Apparently Paea DT Oregon is the new benching champ. With 49. WOW. Late first rounder early second rounder….like him alot as well. Over 300 but his phisique doesnt look like it….and that strength translates in game cuz he plays with Power. He is one of the few reason I wouldnt be mad at Peterson or Bowers in the first round, if we can gaurantee him. I think he has Ngata and Holi type potential. TRB out…
Altho Dareus AND Paea would be fantasic lol
I’m back on the Peterson bandwagon. What if Champ goes down with injury, where does that leave us? You really need two solid CB’s. What’s Goodmans deal? Is he coming back? We can get a solid DT in round 2. You never know how these guys are going to turn out anyway, so why not take a phenom in round 1? The Sapps and Suh’s are few and far between.
I like everything that Fairley said! I wouldn’t mind us taking him or Dareus or even maybe Peterson!
I do know that with how great the draft is on defensive players, I want a STRONG combination of at least two players at the same position!! Meaning:
Fairley or Dareus and Paea
or
Bailey and Peterson!!
You always hear teams like the Steelers, Ravens, or Colts talked about so much with either their duo of DL or LB!
I really want, and anyone object if they do not agree:
Fairley/Dareus
Paea
Jones/Wilson
Matthews/Sands
FB from Stanford, Ojerick or w/e his name is
We don’t have great pass rushing or coverage LBs. That’s why I want Von Miller and Akeem Ayers. They would really put pressure on the opposing QBs. A great DT would be a bonus, but we have Williams and Thomas. Maybe a 3rd round DT would do. Peterson looks like a total stud. If only we could have him as well. Glad the selection process is up to Elway and Fox. Make the right choices, guys!!!
For what it’s worth, teams that have interviewed Cam Newton at the Combine include the Dolphins, Titans, 49ers, Seahawks and Cowboys. The Cowboys are all of a sudden a bit uneasy about Romo? LOL, never thought he could win the big games, the bigger the moment the smaller the man with Romo…
Washington’s Jake Locker ran one of the fastest 40 times any QB at the combine ever has, an unofficial 4.52 seconds.
But Tom Brady ran a 5.23 at his Combine. LMAO @ those numbers, like:
Julio Jones is out of control. Ran a 4.39 in 40 (on two scouts’ watches) and just jumped a ridiculous 11’3″ broad jump.
or, Cam Newton going 10’6′ in standing broad jump is elite. Tim Tebow did 9’7″ last year, so Newton was almost a foot longer.
Like I said at the beginning of the combine, the most important part of this exercise is the 15 minute players’ interviews with the teams and we don’t get to see any of that, just them doing all kind of activities that in no way are fully translatable into what kind of football players they are. Oh well, at least I didn’t waste my time watching any of it and I liked reading Gray and Kyle’s reports much better anyway.
The combine rates just about right up there with the Pro Bowl to me, haha.
Would love to be a fly on the wall on all those Broncos’ players’ interviews though… I bet that would make me change my mind on a couple of our picks, but the combine’s #’s certainly won’t, just saying.
When it comes down to the interviews between Nick Fairley and Marcell Dareus it probably all comes down to character and how each player represents himself. Dareus may be on the Broncos radar as of the start and end of the combine process. He just might be #1 on our list.
Yesterday I said my top 2 choices were:
1. Fairley
2. Peterson
Well after doing a lot of video watching on youtube and listening to the interviews on the broncos website I am going to have to say that my top two has changed. It now looks something like this:
1. Patrick Peterson
2. Marcel Dareus
If we get either Peterson or Dareus I would be extatic!!!!! Both of those guys are solid at their positions and they are both class acts!!!!! Come on BRONCOS BRASS and get one of theses 2 guys PLEASE!!!!!!!
Broncosfreak30, The FB from Standford is Owen Marecic. Not only doe`s Marecic play FB but he also plays LB on their defense. Kind of ironic huh?
Or shall I say he played LB also for Stanford. LOL
The Dareus bandwagon is filling up by the minute!
He says he doesn’t like to play LB though, he wants to be a FB.
its a good think Denver has the second pick…so lets not screw it up haha…NIck Fairley…a possible one year wonder in the fact that before this, his dominant year, he only tallied 28 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss…barley a blip on the college football radar.
Da’Quan Bowers has been more productive in his 3 years at Clemson. His first two years were average and he rounded it off by a great third year.
Marcell Dareus has made a good impact since joining the crimson tide being a three year starter and dominant for the most part.
Patrick Peterson has been a dominant 2 year starter for the LSU tigers. Not only has he proved himself a great player, but he did it against some of the best receivers in college football like Julio jones and A.J. Green. His 4.2 speed makes him one of the most appealing CB’s coming out of the draft.
if I had to decide I would take either Dareus or Peterson, both of them have made an impact at their school and more importantly they have been constant about it…If we took peterson with our #2 pick we could grab paea with our early 2nd round pick…I figure if we can grab those two it would put us in an amazing position to move forward as a defense. I might be alone, but I don’t have much faith in the “one year wonder” Fairley.
I’m sure bay will have something to say about this
, but I’m still high on Peterson. He looks really good. And this draft is loaded at DL.
Oh I know he will maniac haha…I just think Peterson is the guy to take, smart, quick, and just all around a great football player. In picking him I feel we can grab a guy that can fill Baileys shoes when he leaves. And we can probably get paea in the 2nd and I feel he will make a solid D lineman!
I’ll only say one more thing about Peterson:
He did not impress me AT ALL in his Bowl game.
And you guys have at it all you want about Peterson, it doesn’t bother me at all since I don’t think we will draft him.
Is it possible to trade our two second round picks to get Peterson and Dareus? I know it’s highly improbable, and laughable, but it’s an intriguing prospect none the less!
Sndvl … that suggestion possibly just gave me a football climax if it were possible lol.
I doubt it is, we would have to trade back to the top 5. Only possibility is. We trade down to 6th or something. Get a 2nd round pick in the process. Trade 2 second round picks and a 3rd round pick to move into 7th. Pick up Darues with the 6th and Peterson with the 7th or something like that. Hefty price to pay but worth it if any team is dumb enough to make the trade lol.
But I would however settle for Dareus and Paea or Peterson and Paea. I like Bowers and Paea as well but we have no need for Bowers. Either way, if we get Dareus or Peterson, I hope we can trade down a bit and snag another pick like a 3rd round at least. And if we do trade Orton we may have a crap load of 2nd rounders
TRB out…
Lmbo @ football climax!
Honestly, Peterson is a luxury. Even though he’s my top choice! Anything on the D-line would make many happy. I sure wouldn’t be disappointed. Now we wait, on Carolina. And a CBA!
However it goes down, I’m confident in the triumvirate. Something I lacked with the last….ahem….staff!!!!!
DEFENSE in 2011, GO BRONCOS
I know this draft is loaded at DL, but our D-lines have been so downright horrible for over a decade. So shouldn’t we take the best DL possible with our highest pick? It just doesn’t seem wise to get a player like Peterson when CB is our deepest position on the roster and hope that we find a DL in a later round that will turn out to be something. I for one am tired of hoping a mid-round guy turns out to be something only to find out he’s nothing. It’s time we get that DL that will make an impact from day one.
Just my thoughts on it anyway. The Peterson lovers don’t have to agree with me, that’s fair enough. It just really seems like bad business to ignore our weakest spot on the roster in the first round by instead adding to our strongest spot on the roster.
88, I think for the most part we all agree bro … just wouldnt be heart broken if peterson was chosen but like sndvl said and I would agree (and so would you) He is more of a luxury than a neccesity. I wouldnt call a second round DT like Paea a midround guy we pray to pan out. I think he is pretty solid. But he isnt gauranteed in second round either and why not take the best like you say….what can I say, like every draft …. just want em all lol. TRB out…
I prefer Peterson, but honestly I just want someone who can come in and be dominant from day one! I just haven’t seen any D linemen come out in the top 5, other than Suh, that have made a difference…I just figure we can grab good talent in the 2nd so why not grab the rare talent in the first?….I have faith in Dareus and Da’quan but I don’t want Fairley. In my mind, the guy has bust written all over him..but thats just my oppinion
Some analysts have said that Peterson may end up playing safety as is posted in this blog. I know some of the ‘Peterson faithful’ are asking why change his position from corner to safety?
Among the most perturbing inabilities that can be associated with a cornerback is being “stiff,” the incapability of a defensive back to fluidly flip his hips, run and cover a wideout. Which draft analyst Mike Mayock (considered to many, as one of the best in the business) used when referring to Peterson in a discussion on Thursday’s NFL Network conference call with the media. As reported by NBC sports’ Evan Silva.
“He’s got a little bit of stiffness to him” said Mayock which is why Peterson is “Most comfortable playing in press-man (coverage).”
Peterson said he is 6-foot even and weighed in at 219 adding “I don’t want to kill myself and try to lose more weight because I feel good where i’m at. plus I have very little body fat.” He was listed at 6-foot/222 which is a weight I think he’ll return to. Mayock is not the only analyst to suggest a position switch for the oversized cornerback.
Mike Mayock explained that Peterson “might be best served as a safety.”
“He Might be an All-Pro Safety.”
Mayock even went on to compare Peterson to Antrel Rolle, whom was a bust at corner for the Cardinals early in his career before resurrecting his career at safety.
There is obviously more value placed on a true shut down corner but if moved to the safety position Peterson could flourish and anybody could see the value of a talented ball hawking safety.
The ‘Peterson faithful’ would be remiss if we were to pick up Peterson at cornerback with our top pick and later have to move him to safety because of a bust. Costing us the highest pick on the Defensive Line.
We could use a new safety… I just hope not at the cost of some top Defensive Lineman. IMO
-Royalty
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