One quarterback who looked good, though he did not throw the ball, was
California's Kyle Boller. Weighing in at 234-pounds, Bollers body fat was less
than 10% and he quickly moved his lean frame across the RCA Dome, timing a pair
of forties in the 4.6-range, faster then most of the receivers!
Except for the injured Byron Leftwich, all the top passers took part in Sunday's
workout and none were as effective as Dave Ragone. Coming off a terrible senior
campaign at Louisville, this was the big lefty's last opportunity to make a
statement and he did just that. Except for one poor throw, all his passes were
right on the mark as Ragone displayed excellent timing and accuracy throughout
the entire session. His placement of the all-important deep out was dead on
target and Ragone leaves Indianapolis knowing he greatly improved his draft
stock.
Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer showed well and did nothing to hurt his
status as potentially the draft's initial choice. Chris Simms threw accurate
passes in the short field but sprayed his throws outside of the 15-yard mark.
Likewise Ken Dorsey's lack of arm strength was apparent and he had great
difficulty getting the ball deep.
Lastly, Rex Grossman was inconsistent throughout practice and though he
displayed skills in the deep passing game, this was not the workout the Florida
junior needed to vault him into the middle of the initial frame.
No single receiver stood out at any time today nor were scouts ogling over the
numbers they saw on their stopwatches. The fastest receiver was Middle
Tennessee's Tyrone Calico, who ran a pair of forties in the high 4.3-range.
While this came as no surprise to scouts neither did Calico's inconsistency
catching the ball or his struggle afterwards in drills. Calico easily passes the
eyeball test but his game needs a lot of work.
The best performances of the day came from small-school prospects. Capitalizing
on a solid week at the Senior Bowl, Kevin Curtis again showed well for scouts.
After running better than expected (4.48-forties) the Utah State product caught
everything thrown in his direction prompting one prominent general manager to
state he feels Curtis is "All Pro material."
Little known Ryan Hoag of Gustavus Adolphus ran fast then showed he has the
hands to play at the next level while East Tennessee State's Cecil Moore also
impressed with his pass catching skills. Harvard's Carl Morris ran better then
expected and made the catch of the day, grabbing an errant pass out of bounds
with one hand.
Stanford junior Teyo Johnson had a terrific pass catching session after not
running the forty. Weighing in at 247-pounds, Johnson big body sticks out on the
field, as does his lack of speed and quickness.
Several tight ends stood out during the afternoon. Rutgers product L.J. Smith
displayed top athleticism, moving his 258-pound frame across turf faster then
anyone else at his position. After turning in a pair of times under 4.7, Smith
then went one to have one of the best pass catching workouts of the day.
Auburn junior Robert Johnson ran poorly (5.00-forty) but caught the ball well
and displays a lot of potential for the next level. Another pair of
underclassmen who impressed with their pass catching skills were Jason Witten of
Tennessee and Oregon's George Wrighster.
Several players did not fare as well on Sunday. Florida State's Anquan Boldin
ran poorly (4.7-forty) then had trouble catching the ball. San Diego State's
pass catching duo of JR Tolver and Kaseem Osgood, two players who combined for
more than 220 receptions last season, also had a rough go of it. Each was slow
on the turf (Tolver clocked a 4.8 and Osgood had trouble breaking 4.7) then had
inconsistent sessions catching the ball.
There is only one day left in the 2003 version of the NFL combine and tomorrow
the linebackers, along with the defensive backs will try to enhance individual
draft grades as they take to the turf in Indianapolis.