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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_aa9a8e77-dff9-59b3-a502-489cf4daa28a.html
NFL combine: Little-known RB creates a buzz
By Jim Thomas jthomas@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8197
INDIANAPOLIS • Sunday, as always, is “Money Day” at the NFL scouting combine. That’s the day the glamour positions – quarterback, wide receiver, and running back – strut their stuff.
As much as NFL coaches, scouts and team executives insist they value production in college over stopwatch times, there’s money to be made with a fast 40 time.
With that in mind, we bring you Dri Archer of Kent State. Not exactly a household name in the world of college football, but Archer created the buzz of the day with his time of 4.26 seconds in the 40-yard dash. That was just off the combine record of 4.24 seconds posted by current Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.
Although listed as a running back, Archer did much more in college, also playing wide receiver and returning kicks. He had a dazzling junior season in 2012, rushing for 1,429 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging a whopping 9.0 yards per carry.
But he also caught 39 passes for 456 yards with four TDs, and was devastating on kickoff returns with a 36.9-yard average and TDs of 98 (twice) and 99 yards.
Because of an ankle injury, he appeared in only 10 games in 2013, and his production was down: 527 yards rushing, a 7.8-yard average, and six TDs; 327 yards receiving and four TDs; and a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD.
Archer’s sizzling 40 time put him back on the football map. Durability could be a concern because of his size (5-foot-8, 173), but he has the potential to be an explosive jack-of-all-trades type in the NFL.
The second-fastest 40 time at running back also came from a prospect from a non-power conference school. Jerick McKinnon of Georgia Southern was timed in 4.41 in the 40. He led all running backs in the bench press with 32 repetitions of 225 pounds.
McKinnon also played quarterback at Georgia Southern, a run-oriented member of the Football Championship Subdivision.
COMBINE BITS
It’s no secret that the Rams are looking for help in the secondary both at safety and cornerback. So it’s no surprise that several prospects are meeting with the team.
Safeties Calvin Pryor of Louisville and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix of Alabama, and cornerbacks Justin Gilbert of Oklahoma State and Jason Verrett of TCU all said they had formal interviews with the Rams or had formal interviews scheduled. The formal interviews take place in a team suite, and clubs are limited to only 60 such interviews.
Pryor, Clinton-Dix and Gilbert all are projected as first-round picks.
Mizzou cornerback E.J. Gaines said he had an informal visit with the Rams. Because of a groin injury suffered in training, Gaines said he will not work out for NFL teams until the Tigers’ pro day.
NFL combine: Little-known RB creates a buzz
By Jim Thomas jthomas@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8197
INDIANAPOLIS • Sunday, as always, is “Money Day” at the NFL scouting combine. That’s the day the glamour positions – quarterback, wide receiver, and running back – strut their stuff.
As much as NFL coaches, scouts and team executives insist they value production in college over stopwatch times, there’s money to be made with a fast 40 time.
With that in mind, we bring you Dri Archer of Kent State. Not exactly a household name in the world of college football, but Archer created the buzz of the day with his time of 4.26 seconds in the 40-yard dash. That was just off the combine record of 4.24 seconds posted by current Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.
Although listed as a running back, Archer did much more in college, also playing wide receiver and returning kicks. He had a dazzling junior season in 2012, rushing for 1,429 yards and 16 touchdowns while averaging a whopping 9.0 yards per carry.
But he also caught 39 passes for 456 yards with four TDs, and was devastating on kickoff returns with a 36.9-yard average and TDs of 98 (twice) and 99 yards.
Because of an ankle injury, he appeared in only 10 games in 2013, and his production was down: 527 yards rushing, a 7.8-yard average, and six TDs; 327 yards receiving and four TDs; and a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD.
Archer’s sizzling 40 time put him back on the football map. Durability could be a concern because of his size (5-foot-8, 173), but he has the potential to be an explosive jack-of-all-trades type in the NFL.
The second-fastest 40 time at running back also came from a prospect from a non-power conference school. Jerick McKinnon of Georgia Southern was timed in 4.41 in the 40. He led all running backs in the bench press with 32 repetitions of 225 pounds.
McKinnon also played quarterback at Georgia Southern, a run-oriented member of the Football Championship Subdivision.
COMBINE BITS
It’s no secret that the Rams are looking for help in the secondary both at safety and cornerback. So it’s no surprise that several prospects are meeting with the team.
Safeties Calvin Pryor of Louisville and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix of Alabama, and cornerbacks Justin Gilbert of Oklahoma State and Jason Verrett of TCU all said they had formal interviews with the Rams or had formal interviews scheduled. The formal interviews take place in a team suite, and clubs are limited to only 60 such interviews.
Pryor, Clinton-Dix and Gilbert all are projected as first-round picks.
Mizzou cornerback E.J. Gaines said he had an informal visit with the Rams. Because of a groin injury suffered in training, Gaines said he will not work out for NFL teams until the Tigers’ pro day.
