Recapping The 2016 NFL Combine For OU
Posted on: February 29, 2016
Image via nfl.com
Just wanted to quickly throw something together recapping on Oklahoma’s seven participants performed at this past weekend’s 2016 NFL Combine. Some of this could certainly be old news for those of you, like myself, who may have spent more time than you’d care to admit watching what some affectionately refer to as the Underwear Olympics. Hopefully, though, for those of you who didn’t follow as closely as others this will have at least some value.
LB Dominique Alexander
Bench Press – 17 reps (Position best = 30 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – DNP
Vertical Jump – 28.5 inches (Position best = 40.0 inches)
Broad Jump – 8’6″ (Position best = 11’1″)
3 Cone Drill – DNP
20-Yard Shuttle – DNP
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: As you can see Alexander did not participate in a number of the workouts or take part in position drills. However for those in which Alexander did take part in, he finished at or near the bottom in each for his respective position group. At the time of this post, I’ve yet to hear/read anything with respect to Alexander dealing with some type of injury. So it’s a little bit of a surprise that he chose not to run considering he was already a guy coming in with some question marks. Maybe he, like another guy we’ll get to in a minute, just simply wanted to wait until OU’s Pro Day (Mar. 9) to run. Either way, what little he did do in Indy probably didn’t help his draft stock much.
LB Devante Bond
Bench Press – 21 reps (Position best = 30 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – 4.70 (Position best = 4.47)
Vertical Jump – 37.5 inches (Position best = 40.0 inches)
Broad Jump – 10’1″ (Position best = 11’1″)
3 Cone Drill – 7.07 (Position best = 6.73)
20-Yard Shuttle – 4.36 (Position best = 4.00)
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: I came away from the weekend feeling like Bond had a pretty good showing. Maybe not a ‘wow’ type performance or anything, but certainly helped his cause on a number of different fronts. His vertical, broad jump & 3-cone were Top 5 (or very close to it) for his position group, and while that 4.70 forty isn’t other-worldly, he had a more than respectable 1.64 10-yard split which is the more telling, for his position, of the two times. Bond isn’t going to be a first, or possibly even second, day pick, but given how he looked over the weekend — and whether or not he chooses to try and improve on any of those numbers at next week’s Pro Day — I’ll be fairly surprised if he doesn’t get drafted somewhere in like the 4-5 round range.
OG Nila Kasitati
Bench Press – 12 reps (Position best = 34 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – 5.32 (Position best = 4.94)
Vertical Jump – DNP
Broad Jump – 8’9″ (Position best = 9’6″)
3 Cone Drill – 8.30 (Position best = 7.31)
20-Yard Shuttle – 4.83 (Position best = 4.27)
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: Look, I would take absolutely no pleasure in sitting here and ripping a guy who seems like one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. So I’ll simply say I hope Kasitati can improve on a number of these numbers during OU’s Pro Day.
CB Zack Sanchez
Bench Press – 19 reps (Position best = 22 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – DNP
Vertical Jump – 35.5 inches (Position best = 41.5 inches)
Broad Jump – 9’6″ (Position best = 11’2″)
3 Cone Drill – DNP
20-Yard Shuttle – DNP
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: Identical to Alexander, in terms of what each chose to participate in. Based on what little we have to go on; vertical was respectable, broad jump was not. Evidently Sanchez is still dealing with the ankle injury that was bothering him late in the season, and he has already come out and said he has every intention of running at Pro Day. However, it’s hard not to consider this an opportunity at least somewhat missed. If for no other reason than the DB group he would have run with on Monday wasn’t a particularly fast one. So if he could have come out and ran a solid time, it could have made an impression in front of a lot of people. Many of whom won’t be at OU’s Pro Day. But if there’s one thing we all know Sanchez isn’t hurting for it’s confidence, so I suspect he believes he’ll be just fine in the end.
WR Sterling Shepard
Bench Press – 20 reps (Position best = 20 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – 4.48 (Position best = 4.32)
Vertical Jump – 41.0 inches (Position best = 41.0 inches)
Broad Jump – 10’2″ (Position best = 11’0″)
3 Cone Drill – 7.00 (Position best = 6.49)
20-Yard Shuttle – 4.35 (Position best = 4.07)
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: Shepard made himself some money. Maybe not sneak into the first round type of money — although there has been some talk that certainly is not out of the realm of possibility — but almost assuredly drafted no later than the second day type of money. 4.48 is a great time for him, someone who’s never really been considered a ‘burner’, and from watching both him time in high school and Norman that 41-inch vertical also doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Would have thought he’d do a little better in the agility drills like the 3-cone & 20-yard shuttle, but those times definitely aren’t terrible by any means. Have to believe Shepard leaves Indianapolis very happy with what he was able to do.
LB Eric Striker
Bench Press – 23 reps (Position best = 30 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – 4.80 (Position best = 4.47)
Vertical Jump – 30.0 inches (Position best = 40.0 inches)
Broad Jump – 9’7″ (Position best = 11’1″)
3 Cone Drill – 7.30 (Position best = 6.73)
20-Yard Shuttle – 4.46 (Position best = 4.00)
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: Unfortunately, Striker did not have the best of days on Sunday. He was already a guy many were questioning where exactly he fits in terms of an NFL defense, and while he has film for days that 4.80 forty did himself no favors. Granted, it’s not the worst time you’ll ever see for a LB but that comes with a bit of a qualifier. Which is Striker’s obviously an undersized guy, so he is expected to put up a better time than some of the guys that had 20 or 30 pounds on him. On top of that, for someone we’ve routinely look like he has the quickest first step you’ll ever see, his 1.69 10-yard split was among the worst for his position group. Again, really hoping he can improve on some of these numbers during Pro Day.
DE Charles Tapper
Bench Press – 23 reps (Position best = 33 reps)
Forty Yard Dash – 4.59 (Position best = 4.59)
Vertical Jump – 34.0 inches (Position best = 41.0 inches)
Broad Jump – 9’9″ (Position best = 10’6″)
3 Cone Drill – DNP
20-Yard Shuttle – DNP
60-Yard Shuttle – DNP
– Overall Thoughts: At 6’2″ 270+, that forty time is flat out ridiculous. As evidenced by the fact no other defensive lineman really came all that close to matching it. Now we can argue how much or little value to place on a forty time for any non-skill position player, but make no mistake that time opened up some eyes for Tapper. I can remember a couple years back Jerry Montgomery telling people Tapper was running a 4.65 in workouts, but you’re always somewhat skeptical of stuff like that because maybe it’s just a coach talking up his guy. Clearly it wasn’t just talk in this particular case. The Baltimore product very much helped his draft stock with some already saying he could now go as high as the third round.
58 Comments
Nice breakdown J. Just saw the highlight of Zach in the drills. Not too bad, looked quick and explosive.
http://www.soonersports.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?&db_oem_id=31000&id=5095990
Thanks for doing that J. Some of us had a hard time keeping up.
Sanchez gained weight.
Looks like it, I really hope he runs the same time as Sterling, that would obviously help him alot. I thought he looked pretty fast. Maybe not elite fast but not slow either.
He looked better than i thought he would 4.5 hope.
Should be a target of the Cowboys in rd 3 or so.
Oh lord no. Not my Cowboys. I mean, they could use some take away’s no doubt. But at what expense? No thanks.
well, I think some of these numbers just make me more optimistic about the future of OU. If we can make it to the CFB with a LB, OG, and CB with below average numbers like these, just imagine what we can do with some guys who have better physical tools. (Assuming our next wave of guys have better).
Folks – let’s keep things in perspective. These young men were invited to the combine. There were only 300 invited out of thousands of combine eligible players. While I would love to improve our talent, combine, and draft rankings, we have to be very proud of having these 7 high quality and committed former OU players doing their best to chase their dreams.
I think realizing that we had very average numbers out of half our combine invites compared to other big time schools is keeping things in perspective.
I was SHOCKED by Doms performance. There has to be something going on which we aren’t privy to. Those numbers are bottom of the barrel and he’s a much better athlete than that. Right?!?
Just watching Tapper again, the kid looked good. Maybe he can drop another 10 lbs and be a Von Miller type at the next level.
Tap was very impressive.Did you catch the one commentator saying he will be better than he was at OU?
Yeah Mayock liked him alot. He looked better in the LB drills than alot of LBs.
Catches like a tight end huh.
Thank you for putting this up. Exactly what I needed on this glorious Monday…
A few made money.. a few shot themselves in the foot.
Still have a Pro day to go.
metz out————-
See ya Metz – stay out of trouble so you can concentrate on Spring Ball.
Just like Mr. Esco, I spent WAY too much time this weekend watching NFL network. I did DVR most so I could blow past the other school guys and watch OUr guys and a few of the bigger “names” in the draft.
Sterling looked great and got a lot of positive remarks from Mayock to Michael Irvin. His catch ratio and route running were mentioned. His “high character” was also brought up.
Tapper was fast and looked good in the LB drill that some DLs took also.
OUr other former players were as Jordan expressed. I wish them well, but most will have to prove themselves at a team camp this summer.
Not surprised at Dominique’s numbers. Very surprised at Nila’s numbers.
Tapper and Shepard gon brang home that cheddar.
I agree with you ……….
Thanks, Stephen. Do you also agree that Oreo creme is the secretion of unicorn teats?
LOL! Very interesting question..
Well we all know where multi-colored ice cream comes from…….
That unicorn looks so surprised. He’s looking at you like, “Who gave this guy clearance?”
Seems like a couple guys might a should a stayed back. But who am I to say.
You’re spitting bull, that’s who!
If I’m Shep, I don’t do anything else unless asked to by a particular team. Dom would have helped himself by staying in school.
Yeah, and to be honest, while I’m disappointed for him, I’m not disappointed for OUr 2016 team. Pretty pumped to see true LBs again and not safety hybrids.
Hopefully Dom and Zack don’t go the way of Tony Jefferson and go undrafted. Tony even told guys they should stay the extra year after what happened to him.
But TJ became a starter as a rookie and is having a good career. He has more pro upside than either Dom or Zack. They should have stayed another year, borrow some money and improve their skills.
More like the way of the Edmond Santa Fe kid (Reggie Smith?). Another guy who made a mistake leaving early.
This is awesome. Thanks, JE! I sincerely hope all our guys get drafted, but I don’t know.
Was at a camp several years ago led by Rob Davis, at the time a ST coach for Green Bay. He talked about training, among other things. He said bench was overrated. “They don’t drag a bench out to midfield to see which team is best” but that it is still a valuable exercise and valid test of upper body strength as players at most positions are engaged in punching – pushing. Still, to have one of our DBs and WR # for # better than our LBs or OL is surprising and puzzling. Overall, seeing where some of our starters stand compared to other players, OU appears to be lagging. A good ‘team’ but in need of better athletes. Thankfully it looks like some of OUr underclassmen will be a significant upgrade. Pretty optimistic about the future.
Yeah every year there’s a debate about the standard old school exercises and their validity. To me it’s all valid because it’s a job interview, prepare for your job interview and you’ll get the job. I do agree that alot of the exercises aren’t practical when it comes to football, but they do show me how serious a kid is and most importantly his work ethic. And every year more and more kids wait until their pro-day to do certain test, I have mixed feelings about that. You’re never going to have ideal circumstances every time you test, put in the work regardless and perform when you’re asked to perform.
The bench press is such an over-rated test of strength. The shorter your arms, the better you are at it. Does not test core body strength whatsoever.
Agreed.
Makes me respect Stoops and his staff even more when you realize how competetive the team has been the last few years without as many of the elite athletes OU has had in the past. Looks like there is some superior athleticism coming in at OL and LB the next couple years, so the future is indeed bright.
Great Article!
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So in other words the only 2 that are good to go are Shep and Tap with Bond looking like he could play ball. While the others are not up to par.
Unfortunately. I think we all knew that Striker doesn’t have good top end speed, but he’s strong and relentless. Dom and Nila are solid. The NFL is not looking for solid college players.
Striker has Football speed and heart, skill and ability that trump combine stuf. That many times makes up for more than a poor or average performance in these silly combines that don’t mean much anyways.
I love Striker but think he’ll have a really hard time making a career in the NFL. He’s probably too small for LB and too slow for Safety, at that level.
Yeah, he’s ‘tweener,’ and it will be a challenge to find a spot for him, But I hope he can do it.
Seeing some of these numbers, we definitely over achieved this year. i was as average an athlete as you can be, and had a 1/2″ less vertical in high school than dom tested at. Ouch
Dom’s numbers indicate fatigue. He most likely over trained prior to the event. I suspect he will put up much better numbers across the board.
He was ~12 pounds heavier than he played at this year, and had a decent bench press. Hope you are right, or he had an slight injury or something, because those were really low.
Yep, he needed to gain weight fast and I’m sure he felt pressure from people telling him he should’ve waited, so he most likely over-trained and didn’t allow enough time for recovery.
Great job on this Jordan. Things could change for the better, but right now it’s starting to look like Dom should have listened to Ol’ Bob.
Nice job Jordan! Thank you for putting this together.
Jordan, this is not being critical, not at all. Just a comment. For not wanting to rip Nila you did a heck of a job doing it. That was a deep cut. 🙂
I can’t remember where I read it (maybe Landthieves) but I could have sworn I saw some scout notes regarding tapper’s technique and that it wasn’t very good at all… I mean I understand raw power is a selling point but I was just curious if anyone else had heard this?
Wonder if Sanchez and Alexander have the same agent giving them the same advice in what to do at the combine and what things to not participate in.
Watch 270+ lb. Tapper run down Bama WR Amari Cooper (2016 NFL Pro Bowl) FIFTY yards downfield in the Sooners 2014 Sugar Bowl win… The most underrated tackle in college football history!
It’s at the 20:36 mark on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhs2z9dwZU0