So for the four Hokies going to the combine that started this morning, here is where we should be looking for the results:
Logan Thomas, QB
February 20th - Medical pre-exam and X-rays, orientation, interviews.
February 21st - Measurements, medical exams, media, interviews, so hopefully the scouts are salivating after the measurements are made official.
February 22nd - Psychological testing, bench press, and additional interviews
February 23rd - On-field workout (timing, stations, skill drills).
Bleacher Report Combine Prediction
NFL.com Draft Profile
Mel Kiper has Logan as the #8 QB in this years draft right now
Thomas called the most polarizing figure in this years draft
Va Tech QB Logan Thomas on the strangest question he got from a team: How many things can you do w/ a brick? He named 6. Sorry, no details.— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) February 22, 2014
To amuse the Logan Thomas to TE group, his rounded measurements: 6'6/248. Hands of 10 7/8" and arm length of 34 1/4"— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) February 21, 2014
Players that impressed @ESPN_Future today.
1. Dri Archer
2. Derek Carr
3. Blake Bortles
4. Logan Thomas
5. Kevin Norwood
6. Mike Evans— Stephen M. Smith (@ESPN_Future) February 23, 2014
James Gayle, DL
February 21st - Medical pre-exam and X-rays, orientation, interviews.
February 22nd - Measurements, medical exams, media, interviews
February 23rd - Psychological testing, bench press, and additional interviews
February 24th - On-field workout (timing, stations, skill drills).
Bleacher Report Combine Prediction
NFL.com Draft Profile
AllMediaNY Summary on Gayle
RantSports saying Gayle is one of the most underrated Defensive Ends in this Draft
James Gayle measured in at 6'4" 259 lbs with 32 3/8" arm length & 9 5/8" hands— The Fighting Gobbler (@Fightin_Gobbler) February 22, 2014
VT's James Gayle said the Falcons asked him: "How many things can you do with a brick?" (He got 2, build a house, wall).— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) February 22, 2014
VT defensive end/OLB James Gayle says the #Chiefs have been very active with him. Good fit for KC in rotation with Hali/Houston— Patrick Obley (@Patrick_Obley) February 22, 2014
Probably best quote ever if Gayle really said this:
#Hokies DE James Gayle: Im big, Im fast, Im violent. I play hard, I play through the whistle and I play lunch-pail defense for VaTech— Patrick Obley (@Patrick_Obley) February 22, 2014
James Gayle, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jadaveon Clowney and Aaron Donald all turned in 1.60 or better 10 yard splits. Excellent "get off" burst.— Joe Marino (@TheJoeMarino) February 24, 2014
James Gayle was officially 4.7 in the 40 yard dash (7th out of 42), 7.19 in the 3 Cone Drill (6th), 37" in high jump (3rd), 122" in Broad Jump (7th), 26 reps of 225 (??)
Antone Exum, DB
Exum put up 225 17 times, official 40 at 4.59, 117 inch long jump, 35 inch vertical
Measured at 6'0", 213 Lbs
February 22nd - Medical pre-exam and X-rays, orientation, interviews.
February 23rd - Measurements, medical exams, media, interviews
February 24th - Psychological testing, bench press, and additional interviews
February 25th - On-field workout (timing, stations, skill drills)
Bleacher Report Combine Prediction
NFL.com Draft Profile
EDraft.com Summary on Exum
Bleacher Report Profile on Exum (Decent Read surprisingly)
Watching film on Antone Exum, the guy is just so physical and can lay the big hits but still form tackles beautifully— The Sports Guy (@_SportGuy) February 23, 2014
Kyle and Antone staying competitive every step of the way. Good to see
Antone Exum and Kyle Fuller have a bet going on who will get drafted first. Exum won't say what it is.— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) February 23, 2014
Exum taking a page from Sherman:
We got a Richard Sherman in the draft as Antone Exum from Virginia Tech says he's the best Corner in the game— #RoadToGreatness (@SportsTalkFeed) February 23, 2014
Apparently Exum and Gilbert wont be friends anytime soon
@billvoth: Told VT's Antone Exum labeled himself best DB here, OkSts Justin Gilbert responds, "I don't even know who that is. — Jamaal Wilkins (@chocolate_wilk) February 23, 2014
Former #Hokies DBs Antone Exum & Kyle Fuller run 40-yd. dash at NFL combine. Exum 4.51 & 4.5 secs in 2 attempts. Fuller 4.4 both attempts— Norm Wood (@normwood) February 25, 2014
At 215+ lbs MT @TMeltonScouting: Keep in mind... Antone Exum blew out his knee just barely over a year ago. And he just ran a 4.5— Justin Higdon (@afc2nfc) February 25, 2014
Kyle Fuller, DB
Fuller put up 225 12 times, official 40 of 4.49, long jump 128 inches (3rd), 38.5 vertical (6th)
Measured 5'11" 189 Lbs
February 22nd - Medical pre-exam and X-rays, orientation, interviews.
February 23rd - Measurements, medical exams, media, interviews
February 24th - Psychological testing, bench press, and additional interviews
February 25th - On-field workout (timing, stations, skill drills)
Bleacher Report Combine Prediction
NFL.com Draft Profile
Post regarding Fuller being predicted First Round
SBNation Mock Draft of Fuller going to Saints
VA Tech CB Kyle Fuller grew up competing w his brothers. Aiming to beat bro Corey's 40 time of 4.37 at combine.— Mike Jones (@MikeJonesWaPo) February 23, 2014
Kyle Fuller rounded measurements: 6'0/190 lbs. 32 7/8" arms and 9 3/8" hands.— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) February 23, 2014
Former #Hokies DBs Antone Exum & Kyle Fuller run 40-yd. dash at NFL combine. Exum 4.51 & 4.5 secs in 2 attempts. Fuller 4.4 both attempts— Norm Wood (@normwood) February 25, 2014
The Virginia Tech DB Kyle Fuller and Antone Exum doing well to attempt high-pointing the football. South Carolina's Victor Hampton, as well.— Dion Caputi (@nfldraftupdate) February 25, 2014
In other news, it was good to see that even though Derrick Hopkins didn't get invited to the Combine, he does have a draft profile on NFL.com
Glad that the Washington Post can count when it comes to Hokies, or maybe this is where they realized Derrick should have gotten an invite.
Here's hoping that everything goes well over the next week for these four players and they all improve their draft stock.
What are your thoughts on how each will likely fair? I was surprised to see nothing that indicated Exum would be limited so I hope that means he is 100% and ready to show his stuff.
Comments
Thanks for posting this, great info.
Off topic but i was going through the links and scrolled to far and got to this slideshow. It shows every team's best returning player. Poor Air Force...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1961012-every-college-football-teams-...
And ours...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1961012-every-college-football-teams-...
Wow, that's a sad, sad story. Now if it had been their punter, that would have been a totally different story #Punterswag
Check out Andy's answer almost immediately after I posted it about Exum
Not quite growing at Bucky Hodges levels...
Updated with some tweets so far during the combine.
Thomas was the 3rd fastest QB so far.
Ran a 4.57 40yd.
Nice time. I wonder if he's the biggest QB there. 248 lb.
4.57 is fast for a guy that size.
They have already said he was the tallest.
Official 40 time for LT is 4.61, fastest among QBs.
Logan officially ran the fastest 40 time for QBs at 4.61
The official 40 times were just released. Logan is "officially" the fastest QB in the draft.
LT3 is getting paid.
Refreshing to see Logan at the top of a list in a good way... where he belongs...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1970801-logan-thomas-impresses-as-an-...
GO HOKIES!
Did you read the actual article? What the hell is this idiot (the author, not you pajokie) talking about?
He thinks Logan doesn't want to become a great NFL player? Sure, his performance on the field doesn't necessarily inspire confidence that he'll come in and be the next great NFL player next year, but this guy is questioning his drive and desire.
Did he not see how, with very little around him, Logan gave everything he had to put the team on his back and win games? Sure, it wasn't always pretty, but any VT fan would agree Logan gave everything he had to help his team and win games.
What a fucking moron, and a disgrace to any and all reporters who actually try and do their jobs correctly and professionally.
Sorry for the rant, but I'm disgusted by that man's comments.
Turkey leg for saying what we're all thinking. But remember, this guy writes for the Bleacher Report for a reason...
To Bleacherreport and Maycock;
All BR articles come with a bucket of salt ... Logan's combine numbers prove his ability.
well, I think it proves his athleticism not his ability. most of us here believe in his ability, save for the Leal bus, but Logan will need time under a coaches wing to prove his ability.
Logan will go Day 2 to someone that is looking for a steal and has time behind an established QB. Like Indy for example.
I am thinking the saints, broncos, patriots, etc. Indy has too young a QB for a 2-3 project.
yep. saints and broncos are a good call
(Homer alert) Packers
For Thomas that would be good and bad, he would be behind one of the best modern QB's. The bad is he would be behind somebody that is probably going to play for 6-10 more years.
I could see the saints but the broncos have a young project already.
I think Arizona would be the ideal situation for him, Bruce Arians doesn't have a project QB now and Carson Palmer is probably the starter there for a few more years.
Forgot about Palmer. Other good possible choice.
Normally I would have said no way that the Giants would potentially even consider taking LT. Still have Eli, just drafted Nassib last year, but then I read this. Maybe I'm reading this through orange an maroon glasses but I feel like Reese is talking about LT.
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2014/02/jerry_reese_giants_not_afraid...
I certainly can see how you might think that.
They don't want somebody in the first round but they want a QB.
Eli is overrated enough they might need to be thinking about his replacement. I think only Flacco is more overrated.
I disagree.
One can have a game or two get lucky.
One cannot have an entire post season and a string of 3 very good seasons and be called overrated.
Flacco had some bad luck this year with his favorite targets all out for extended periods after the management traded away one of his best playmakers and his OL got beat all year.
We can agree to disagree. I think Flacco has benefited from a great running game and defense. I haven't seen or really heard of him putting the team on his shoulders and willing them to a win.
Their running game has been pretty bad the last two years. And I think a 11 TD, 0 int performance in the playoffs on the way to superbowl MVP could count as putting the team on his shoulders and willing them to the most important win.
RocketHokie13 has it.
11TDs 0 INT in playoffs, against the best teams - no way you can overrate that.
Flacco kills in playoff games where the rubber really hits the road.
If you really want to get into playoff stuff, Eli does have two Superbowl rings and two Superbowl MVP awards.
Flacc has 1 ring and 1MVP.
9th overall QB rating in Superbowl.
More playoffs road wins than any other QB in NFL history. Took him only 4 years to do it.
More wins by a QB in their fist 80 starts.
Most touchdowns in a single post season. And he did it without an INT.
First QB to have a passer rating of over 100 in a single post season.
First rookie QB to win 2 post season games.
Most consecutive playoff games with at least 3 passing touchdowns.
Now, you may say, " ah, these stats are due to one year." Remember that one year they had a mediocre running game at best so, the offense relied on the air game. The offensive line wasn't very good.
He's been one of the best QBs in the NFL for 5 years. Last year sucked because he was down to 1 reliable target and the offensive line still sucked so, no running game at all.
People aren't going to like Joe Flacco for one reason and one reason alone: he's dull.
And kinda douchey. Plus, he's occupying T-Mobile's rightful spot.
Gotta disagree about the douchy part. He's more family man than Ray Lewis type. it's true but, U. of Delaware is not snobby and a good engineering school to boot.
He's just quiet and a Dad type. I can see how he can be viewed that way. Let me paint a picture for you. Tom Brady could be seen as douchy, I mean, look at how he dresses. then realize he dresses like that because he doesn't care. It's because his hot wife likes to dress him that way and it's a small price to pay to make her happy and he's got the jingle to handle it.
So, Flacco, not douche, just quiet and chill. He's a serious QB from... University of Delaware? Whoda thunk it.
I read this article and got real upset too. The guy even says he doesn't know Logan, but then calls out his work ethic. It's almost like he wrote the article with no knowledge of the subject except for stats... Oh wait that's exactly what he did
That article was fine example of why I will continue to ignore Bleacher Report.
It's amazing that he would call out Logan's work ethic in an article that he put such little work into.
This
A non-BR article regarding LT3 at the combine
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/24/logan-thomas-puts-on-a-s...
And one about his time with Whitfield
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/bruce-feldman/24414995/l...
Also the announcers verbally confirmed Thomas is the largest of all the QBs.
That's an excellent time for a guy 6'6"+ and 248 lb.
Go, Logan, we're pulling for ya.
Most of us here knew Logan could really tear up the combine.
Watching the receiver drills, and other than the one bad underthrow to Marquise Lee, Logan is slingin it pretty well today. It doesn't hurt that Stephen Morris is making the rest of the field look like Aaron Rodgers. Haven't seen him hit a receiver in stride yet..
His footwork is bad but in the right system and coaching, I believe he will florish. I wish Loeffler would have had more time with him.
I was surprised that Logan ran a faster 40 than Manziel. Logan is 6'6'', so I wasn't expecting him to run the fastest.... still, good for him
Manziel definitely has more wiggle, but Logan ain't slow.
Oh I wasn't saying that. But isn't the 40 more about how fast you get up to speed, not necessarily how fast your top speed is?
True, but Manziel's real strength is is lateral quickness. Also, I think this says more about Logan's athleticism and explosiveness than it is a knock on Manziel. Watching Johnny get out of impossibly dangerous situations and make people miss in open space is nothing short of spectacular. He's not like Vick, who could get to the edge, turn on the jets and burn everyone down the field (Mountaineers, anyone?).
Partially, yes. This is also why you see a lot of the reporters talking about players 10 yard split time for James Gayle where they are looking for initial burst. Other positions, like RB, WR, CB, and Safety they use the 40 to guage their ability to break away and stay away or keep up with depending on the side of the ball they are on. It also gives them a better idea of endurance when looking at linemen and such, so while the time might not matter at 40 yards for a DT, what the player does immediately after finishing it is what the scouts may be watching.
Speaking of Gayle, here is a nice article that says he is Severely Underrated
http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/12/23/2014-nfl-draft-virginia-tech-de...
Looks like he had highest vertical and longest broad jump of QB's as well.
For those of you who aren't on the twitter:
Good for Logan!!!!!!!
So, to recap.
He's the largest QB, the fastest, can jump higher and jump farther than any other QB.
He throws very well but needs a little more time with a technique coach.
He's very durable, starting every game since he won the QB spot, was VTs best RB his 3rd year and holds all kinds of records at one of the nations best teams in the past 2 decades.
In my opinion, if he can get a coach and get under somebodies wing for 2 years before moving to a starting QB, he'll make some waves in the NFL.
Apparently Exum claimed he was the best CB in the draft and Justin Gilbert (OK State DB) said he didn't even know who Exum was. Gilbert said the same thing about Patriots DB Aqib Talib.
Dear Mr. Gilbert,
Results from other drills not listed:
Three-Cone Drill: 7.05 secs (4th, behind Lynch, Manziel, and a .01 sec behind Garoppolo)
Shuttle: 4.18 secs (2nd, behind Manziel)
Few new tweets added to the OP that came out today on Thomas and Fuller. Got to love that Kyle is gunning to beat Corey's 4.37 40 time.
Exum making a name for himself at the combine ala Richard Sherman, claiming he is the best overall CB in the draft.
logan is doing nothing but helping his draft stock. this is awesome. think about a 250 pound man barreling down on you at that speed and with legs that strong. ugh. somebody's gonna fall in love with all that athleticism and power and i wouldnt be surprised at all if he went 2nd or 3rd round.
We all knew Logan was a freak athlete, and this proves it. I watched the WR drills with Logan throwing, and he looked as good as anyone. The only thing that really stood out was Stephan Morris missing every other pass.
James Gayle put up 26 reps at the bench press. That's 5 more than Jadeveon Clowney, 1 less than Timmy Jernigan, and 9 less than Aaron Donald. The most was Kaleb Ramsey with 36 reps.
See OP for the latest tweet on Gayle. If he said it, its probably the best quote ever to define Virginia Tech defense.
A couple new tweets in the OP....Fuller's measureables and James Gayle getting himself up into the top four DE/OLB rush prospects with Clowney, Jeffcoat, and Aaron Donald with his speed off the edge
Not related to the Hokies, but some of you on twitter may have already seen this. Reactions?
Personally, I agree. Clowney has never really impressed me, and the more I see, the less I think he will impress at the next level.
Didn't you hear? He didn't even have to play last year to go #1 overall, why would he even think about doing drills at the combine? He's just "bored" of the college level and we shouldn't expect him to go full throttle until he is playing in the Super Bowl.
Agreed. The mainstream media hype machine is something else. You have Sports Center tweeting stuff like:
And I just don't get it. I'm not trying to belittle Clowney, obviously he's talented (and to his credit, he did run a good 40), but where are Aaron Donald's #beast tweets? (He had 35 reps)
I'd like to hear a little more about some of the other DLinemen who are also putting up impressive numbers with out being interru
I have never really seen why that play is so impressive to ESPN. Yeah, the hit was hard and knocked the helmet off and he recovered the fumble. It's more horrible blocking by Michigan than Clowney actually influencing the play. No one is even so much as looking at him and he runs straight through a hole and hits the back during the exchange. There has to be a better play that showcases his ability better than that if he's actually the best thing since sliced bread.
I 100% agree with all of the above. So far the only evidence I've seen towards him being a "physical specimen" is that he's fast. The bench press numbers, while they certainly don't say much about football ability, are most definitely not "BEAST."
I'd be a little less bothered if ESPN talked about how beastly he is and showed actual good plays, but instead they show that one blown play by Michigan, and put up combine numbers that are hardly impressive (again, except for the 40 time), if not downright embarrassing, and then say he's the greatest thing.
he has bust written all over him. he has the physical tools to prove me wrong, but if i was a GM, i wouldn't take the risk. if i could get the right offer to trade down, i'd take it all day.
his "want" is what makes me uneasy. where will his head/heart be when things don't come easy for him? the NFL will be a wakeup call, and i wouldn't be willing to gamble on what his response will be...
Or his "want" when he signs that first contract, probably for many millions of dollars. Will it show up then?
Because it didn't show up at all this year, in essentially what is his job interview.
With the new Rookie contract rules there is no big money at the start. Wow, did they need to make that change how many franchises were set back years with one mistake in the top 5 of the draft. Jamarcus Russel anybody?
No big money at the start? Sure, it's not 60 million dollars, but I'd say upwards of 12 million dollars isn't bad, especially considering most college graduates average salary is around 45 thousand dollars.
My point being, if you're in line to make 250+ times as much as someone your age, you should probably be willing to work your tail off to get it. I don't exactly see Clowney doing that.
The Next Coming of Albert "Flatonhisface" Haynesworth...
Miami's punter had more reps than him. So did Brady Quinn. I'm sure several of the DBs will end up with more reps.
Really? 21 is beast?
I think we se a little brolove here or something. 21 is completely unremarkable. It's below average.
What the heck is ESPN doing? Do they realize they're blowing it? They can actually be the authority they think they are, if they would step back and be as rational and unbiased as they were just a few years ago.
Gayle had 26 reps.
Kaleb Ramsey from BC had 36.
That, gentlemen, is Beast.
ESPN, especially Sportscenter, has been "blowing it" with regard to sports coverage for years now. An hour long show that plays all morning and they can't even manage to show game highlights longer than 30 seconds. Their coverage of sports is about as worthwhile as TMZ's coverage of actual news.
It's really strange that they tweeted that when this article on ESPN's frontpage talks about how subpar his bench press was and how a lot of gm's were unimpressed that he didn't compete in the cone drill and position specific drills. Sometimes you have to wonder what is going on over there.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10511222/jadeveon-clowney-do...
Additionally, did anyone else hear about ESPN's blunder regard the Daytona 500 yesterday? Fox Sports played a replay of last year's 500 during the rain delay and ESPN was reporting the positions of the drivers based on the replay and not the actual race. Apparently a lot of ppl thought that Jimmy Johnson won the race long before the rain delay was even over.
I did not hear that but, somehow, I am not surprised.
They need to fire a few bosses and crack some whips over there. It's getting lazy.
Updated the OP with Gayle's official stats
In other news... Zumwalt has the smallest hands of any linebacker at the combine which basically means he is a horrible person with little hands.
Updated OP with a couple new tweets on Exum and Fuller along with their 225 reps and 40 times.
Seeing conflicting comments about Kyle Fuller and his pedaling technique:
To be honest, I think he is right. Especially based on his size and weight.
Absolutely.
Can anyone explain to me this part of Kyle Fuller's NFL.com draft profile?
I always viewed open field tackling as something he excelled at.
Is that from the nfl bio? unbelievable. they need to watch him destroy GT. His tackling is probably the best on the team.
They probably looked at some of the shoulder tackles where he got hurt, those are about the only ones that slip off. Other than that he is about as solid as they come in tackling.
This doesn't make sense. Every time we watch Kyle Fuller in the open field, he makes the tackle. I'd say he's been one of (if not the) best tackler on the team in the past few years.
When his shoulders were dinged up he had issues. Understandable issues, but I'm sure it shows up on tape.
These kids are tough as heck. All these guys at the combine have played with significant pain and injury. Hats off to them for manning up. Hope they get their NFL payday for all the harm and risk they were exposed to.
Amen
Same reason Todd McShay wasaying Jayron had short arms a few years back - these guys have no idea what they're talking about. They're just filling air with blather and assuming the audience doesn't know enough about it to correct them.
Mike Mayock on Fuller during the combine.
Just going to leave this here
Aaaaaand retweet.
YES!! Maybe they'll try that for run 2?
Updated the OP with Fuller and Exum vertical's and long jump, along with their official 40 times.
Antone apparently was in some obvious pain out there today. Kam commented on it early but took it down after a bit. Several others also noted it, so hopefully whatever it is has a chance to improve and heal by Tech Pro Day to alleviate teams concern about the injury.
As long as one of our guys doesn't get drafted by the jets:
ESPN is talking about the jets as a possible location for Mike Vick.
Do the DB's run the 3 cone drill at the combine? Havent seen any mention of it or times if they do.
Yes, I watched earlier.
Exum looked a little stiff but Fuller looked great.
K I will keep my eye out to post the results.