Obviously, we’ve had some mitigating circumstances impacting our coverage from the National Scouting Combine today. We’ve been continuing to gather video of linebackers and defensive backs that you will be able to watch on DenverBroncos.com as we tackle one position per week between the end of this week and draft weekend on April 28 and 29, but I haven’t been able to sit in on too many interviews.

On the field, the story du jour was Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who blasted through the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds. Two in his group logged better times — Kansas State’s Yamon Figurs (4.30 seconds) and Washington State’s Jason Hill (4.32 seconds). However, when you consider Johnson’s massive, tight end-like dimensions — 239 pounds on a 6-foot-5 frame — it’s easy to see why the former Georgia Tech standout left some jaws slacked.

Another notable performance came from Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson, who was unofficially timed at 4.38 seconds for his 40-yard dash.

Below are some other superlatives that were announced this afternoon. All are official times and measurements; the ones used during the NFL Network’s broadcast as the drills progress are unofficial.

WIDE RECEIVERS: 40-YARD DASH

Group 4
1. Yamon Figurs, Kansas State: 4.30 seconds
2. Jason Hill, Washington State: 4.32 seconds
3. Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech: 4.35 seconds
4. David Clowney, Virginia Tech: 4.36 seconds
5. Aundrae Allison, East Carolina: 4.39 seconds
6. Steve Breaston, Michigan: 4.41 seconds
7. Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio State: 4.44 seconds
8. Jonathan Holland, Louisiana Tech: 4.45 seconds
9. Craig Davis, LSU: 4.46 seconds
10. Johnnie Lee Higgins, UTEP: 4.48 seconds

Group 5
1. Mike Walker, Central Florida: 4.35 seconds
2. Laurent Robinson, Illinois State: 4.38 seconds
3. Robert Meachem, Tennessee: 4.39 seconds
4. Mike Mason, Tennessee State: 4.40 seconds
5. Legedu Naanee, Boise State: 4.41 seconds
6. Chandler Williams, Florida International: 4.42 seconds
7. Steve Smith, USC: 4.44 seconds
8. Paul Williams, Fresno State: 4.45 seconds
9. Ryne Robinson, Miami University: 4.47 seconds
10. Courtney Taylor, Auburn: 4.50 seconds

QUARTERBACKS: BALL SPEED

Group 4
1. Toby Korrodi, Central Missouri State: 63 miles per hour
2. John Beck, Brigham Young: 61.1 mph
3t. Kevin Kolb, Houston: 55.2 mph
3t. Trent Edwards, Stanford: 55.2 mph
5. James Pinkney, East Carolina: 53.9 mph

Group 5
1. Troy Smith, Ohio State: 58.5 mph
2. Jeff Rowe, Nevada: 57.0 mph
3. Drew Stanton, Michigan State: 55.7 mph
4. Jared Zabransky, Boise State: 55.2 mph
5. Paul Thompson, Oklahoma: 54.8 mph

More results: Saturday | Sunday

Bon giorno from the Indiana Convention Center, where the National Scouting Combine, a gymnastics competition and a road race on a juxtaposed city street have collectively awakened what would have otherwise been a snoozer of a Saturday in this chilly city.

Today, the focus in the media room turns to the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, while tight ends and offensive linemen go through their workouts at the RCA Dome.

Throughout the day, we’ll provide notes on some of the players who enter the room.

GAINES ADAMS, CLEMSON

The touted, athletic defensive lineman plans to do the full range of on-field drills when he hits the RCA Dome turf Monday. But he will bypass the bench-pressing at 225 pounds, saying he just wants to take some more time and work on his strength.

Adams intends to do the bench press at Clemson’s Pro Day on March 13.

TANK TYLER, N.C. STATE:

The defensive tackle measured at 305 pounds and says that he may not be able to run on Monday because of a slight hamstring injury.

Tyler also said that “a couple of teams” are looking at him as a nose tackle, although he lined up as a three-technique defensive tackle at State.

BRANDON SILER, FLORIDA

Measuring at 6-foot-2 and 241 pounds, the former Gators linebacker plans to run the 40-yard dash and take part in the on-field drills, but will bypass the bench press.

“I just felt it would be better when I do it at Pro Day,” Siler said.

Of the University of Florida players that opted to bypass their senior seasons, Siler surmises that he was “the closest” to deciding to opt out of his senior campaign.

“We talked about it every now and then. Even a couple of guys that stayed in school talked about it,” Siler said. “You talk about it because the media brings it up all the time. We didn’t pay a lot of attention, but we talked about it on a couple occasions and saw where the guys were going. I think I was the closest one to going back into school.”

Defensive end Jarvis Moss, safety Reggie Nelson and cornerback Ryan Smith joined Siler in the early exodus from Gainesville.

JON ABBATE, WAKE FOREST

To me, at least, this linebacker’s decision to turn pro seemed a little curious; his rise and that of the Demon Deacons last year seemed so inexorably intertwined that going back to Winston-Salem for a final season would be a given.

But when it came time to make the decision, Abbate turned away from his fiery, emotional on-field persona and instead became a pragmatist.

“Unless someone could promise me if I went back I could grow three inches, the decision was pretty easy.” said Abbate, who measured at 5-foot-9-and-six-tenths and 231 pounds. “I could have gone back and been productive again and had 100-plus tackles. But I would have been in the same situation with the knock on my height.

“I felt as a team and an individual we and I accomplished all the goals on the collegiate level that I wanted to.”

11:42 A.M. EST: Offensive linemen are on the turf inside the RCA Dome a few hundred yards from our perch, and so far the fastest 40-yard dash time belongs to Missouri Southern’s Allen Barbre, at 4.86 seconds (unofficial). Following him are Texas Tech’s Gabe Hall (4.89 seconds) and Akron’s Andy Alleman and USC’s Ryan Kalil, both of whom checked in at 4.96 seconds.

12:07 P.M. EST: Virginia Tech’s Nick Leeson was the only long snapper who didn’t run, NFL.com’s Gil Brandt told the media at the Indiana Convention Center …

… Of the 34 offensive linemen in the first group of players at the position, 31 of them ran the 40-yard dash. The only ones who didn’t sat out, according to Brandt, were for medical reasons and, in one case, the flu.

4:26 P.M. EST: These are the official times for the leaders in the 40-yard dash, as announced by the NFL this afternoon.

GROUP 1 (OFFENSIVE LINEMEN):

1. Allen Barbre, Missouri Southern: 4.84 seconds
2. Andy Alleman, Akron: 5.07 seconds
3. Brandon Frye, Virginia Tech: 5.08 seconds
4. Justin Blalock, Texas: 5.10 seconds
5. Doug Datish, Ohio State: 5.13 seconds

GROUP 2 (OFFENSIVE LINEMEN):

1. Gabe Hall, Texas Tech: 4.91 seconds
2. Joe Thomas, Wisconsin: 4.92 seconds
3. Ryan Kalil, USC: 4.96 seconds
4. Tony Ugoh, Arkansas: 5.06 seconds
5t. James Marten, Boston College: 5.08 seconds
5t. Adam Koets, Oregon State: 5.08 seconds
7. Ryan Harris, Notre Dame: 5.09 seconds
8. Mario Henderson, Florida State: 5.11 seconds
9. Kasey Studdard, Texas: 5.18 seconds
10. Herbert Taylor, TCU: 5.19 seconds

GROUP 3 (TIGHT ENDS)

1. Greg Olsen, Miami (Fla.): 4.51 seconds
2t. Michael Allan, Whitworth (Wash.): 4.71 seconds
2t. Gijon Robinson, Missouri Western: 4.71 seconds
4. Ben Patrick, Delaware: 4.74 seconds
5. Derek Schouman, Boise State: 4.74 seconds
6. Dante Rosario, Oregon: 4.76 seconds
7. Kevin Boss, Western Oregon: 4.78 seconds
8. Scott Chandler, Iowa: 4.78 seconds

When our site first came to the Combine in 2003, there were only two or three cameras chronicling the event — aside from any Colts press conferences, which drew the local media from central Indiana, who left forthwith as soon as Tony Dungy and Bill Polian concluded their comments.

As I speak now, there are 20 cameras poised in the center of the room to chronicle the assorted press conferences scheduled for throughout the day — particularly the ones conducted by numerous coaches and general managers from around the league. The lengthy roster of scheduled press gatherings does not include any Broncos officials, but with quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs scheduled to go under a scrutinous electron microscope of media coverage here, there’ll be plenty of subjects to chronicle as the day meanders forward.

Now, it’s back to the hallway to stake out any passers-by. More later …

Random early-afternoon notes:

… Offensive linemen took the stage in the last hour: Notre Dame’s Ryan Harris, Texas’ Justin Blalock, Auburn’s Ben Grubbs and USC’s Ryan Kalil, among others …

… Former Cowboys scouting director Gil Brandt — the crown prince of the Combine’s rise as a media event — introduced Kalil as “the next Tom Nalen.” Sounds good, but let’s just say I’d like to see Kalil play a decade at a Pro Bowl level as the common thread among 11 1,000-yard individual rushing seasons before I proclaim him on the same level as Denver’s No. 66 …

… UC-Davis’ Elliot Vallejo has arguably the most fascinating story among those with whom we’ve talked so far today; he spends time putting together trucks, dreams of working on a racing crew that runs in Baja circuits and he transferred from UCLA to UC-Davis for reasons that had nothing to do with football, but because he wanted to pursue a material engineering degree …

… Former Broncos assistant general manager Rick Smith, now with the Texans, could not answer any questions about Denver quarterback Jake Plummer, saying only that he was the quarterback of the Broncos …

… The largest crowd of the day so far was for Ohio State wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr., who will not work out here in Indianapolis but has mostly recovered from the injury he suffered just after scoring on the opening kickoff of the national-championship game on Jan. 8 …

… Another large crowd surrounds Central Michigan offensive tackle Joe Staley, who became one of the standouts of Senior Bowl week last month after a rough opening practice.

More to come later as players continue to stream into the room.

One of the laws that governs coverage of the Combine is that for every hour of relative tranquility, there is another that oozes chaos. There are lengthy periods in which no players enter the room — and we are in the throes of such a state now, allowing us to quietly munch upon victuals consisting of a ham-and-cheese hoagie, an oatmeal raisin cookie and a Coke.

Invariably, this will be counterbalanced by a period when four or five players hold simultaneous press gatherings, leaving us hard-pressed to cover all of them.

It’s not a matter of poor planning, however. The players are beholden to their schedules, which today consist of medical examinations, interviews with teams and, of course, the infamous Wonderlic test. This leaves us to converse amongst ourselves. Among the discussion topics …

… Basketball, basketball and more basketball, almost entirely of the college variety …

… The need to arrive earlier tomorrow, because the overflow of media has many reporters stationed in auxiliary rooms from which they must file their reports. Fortunately, we are in a coveted spot, in the middle of the room, with our cameras and tripods set up for the afternoon’s press conferences …

… The proliferation of league media here; both Sirius NFL Radio and the NFL Network have makeshift studios established just outside the media room …

… Where to go for dinner. The Bosphorus Istanbul Cafe is the most intriguing option; DenverBroncos.com’s own Kyle Sonneman developed a taste for Turkish food during his stint with the Berlin Thunder of what was once called NFL Europe (better Turkish food than Turkish prisons, I guess).

We also catch up with the Web representatives from the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons, among others. Some of the other team sites on hand include those from the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.

So we continue to anticipate an avalanche of offensive linemen and tight ends as the day continues, but for now, we wait, we write, we crop a few photos, we catch up with our compatriots and we dine.

More to come … sometime.

UCLA placekicker Justin Medlock was the first player in the room, sitting down with several media types — including the Dallas Morning News‘ Rick Gosselin, ESPN’s John Clayton, The (Colorado Springs) Gazette‘s Frank Schwab, and one Kyle Sonneman from this here site. The topic? Medlock’s winning performance in a postseason all-star skills competition held at the Orange Bowl.

Colorado placekicker Mason Crosby — easily the most notable product of the Centennial State’s universities here among the rookies-to-be — is at one of the lecterns now.

When Crosby was asked if he had a preference on where he’d like to end up, his reply was succinct: “Whoever needs a kicker.”

He also told media that he uses golf to help him work on his kicking motion, as there are some commonalities between the swing of a golf club and that of a kicking leg, something that Broncos kicker Jason Elam has noted over the years.

Crosby also checked in with a height of 6-foot-1 and 3/8 and a weight of 212 pounds.

It’s mid-morning here in central Indiana, the Scouting Combine is under way, and as Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin discusses the nuances of his first Combine as a head coach with several dozen reporters, my mind is a melange of numbers.

Three-hundred and twenty-seven: Number of players here at the National Scouting Combine.

Well over 200: Media representatives here, including myself and Kyle Sonneman from DenverBroncos.com.

One: Long, hectic weekend.

Greetings from the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, where for the next four days we’ll bring you the soundbites, anecdotes, measurables and other tidbits from the league’s annual pre-draft convention.

For the next few days, we’ll be your eyes and ears. So if you can’t get to a television with NFL Network, click back over here for updates.