Pure Steel
Doc's Combine Notes
By James Santelli

The times in the forty-yard dash this year were considerably on the slow side. While 54 players ran a sub-4.50 second forty in the combine's final year at the RCA Dome in 2008, this year's combine at the new Lucas Oil Stadium saw only 26 athletes with such times. The venue change between the two Indianapolis stadiums may have been the cause of the slower speeds, despite the fact that players ran on FieldTurf surfaces at both venues.

Despite the expectation that he will have to move to wide receiver in the pros, Pat White of West Virginia decided to only take part in quarterback drills. White looked quite good in the workouts though, and ran the fastest forty time of any QB, at 4.57 seconds.

The departure of OT Andre Smith was one of the biggest stories out of Indy. The former Alabama player left suddenly on the Saturday of the combine and skip his drills. Smith quickly fell from his top-five position on draft boards after admitting he was out of shape and not prepared for workouts.

On the other end of the spectrum, Maryland WR Darrius Heyward-Bey has substantially raised his draft stock in the pre-draft workout season. Despite only totaling only 609 receiving yards in his 2008 season, Heyward-Bey may have cemented a place in the first round with a 4.30 forty-yard dash, the fastest of anyone at the Combine.

Penn State may have to say goodbye to the title of Linebacker U. Southern Cal may see three of its linebackers taken in the draft's first round. OLB Clay Matthews may have moved into the top 32 with his solid workouts, and OLB Brian Cushing did little to hurt his stock, but inside 'backer Rey Maualuga did suffer a hamstring injury that could see him fall down boards on Draft Day.

The one linebacker who will be chosen ahead of the USC three is Wake Forest's Aaron Curry. The likely top-five pick gave no reason for teams to doubt him during his workouts, running a 4.56 forty and benching a solid twenty-five reps at 225 pounds.

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez took a huge risk in throwing at the combine, something rarely seen from a quarterback expected to go in the top 16 picks. He struggled a bit, but is still expected to be the second QB taken after Georgia's Matthew Stafford.

Pitt's top prospect, RB LeSean McCoy, did not work out due to the flu. It may have been a missed opportunity to stand out in an otherwise weak for running back field, with no backs finishing with a sub-4.45 forty time.

Another familiar running back name for Pitt fans did perform well in Indianapolis, though. Rashad Jennings transferred from the Panthers to FCS school Liberty University after his freshman season, and is now a mid-round prospect in this year's draft. Jennings had the most 225-pound bench press reps of any running back at the combine, with twenty-nine.