2015 Gophers at NFL Combine Update Thread (Williams, Cobb, Wilson)

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People should remember that Maxx false started before his first run, so that could be why he didn't run as fast that first time.
 


Quick video:

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Go Gophers!!
 

gopher56 said:
Maxx looked really good into catch/run drill.
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Instruction for gauntlet drill were to run down the line. Maxx was the only one who did that perfectly. The kid has great hands and great awareness of where his feet are without having to blink away from the pass.

Hope this makes up for average 40 and lifting performances.

image.jpg
 


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Go Gophers!!
 

Johnob2 said:
Instruction for gauntlet drill were to run down the line. Maxx was the only one who did that perfectly. The kid has great hands and great awareness of where his feet are without having to blink away from the pass.

Hope this makes up for average 40 and lifting performances.
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When you finish 12th of 14 in lifting, that's not average. Also his 40 was below average historically for his size.
 

BleedGopher said:
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Go Gophers!!
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Bleed, is that your image in the video? Just curious.
 




Pretty sure everyone at the combine knew Maxx is not a blazer, but they have watched film to know what they are getting. Let me know when he has to bench press the football.
 

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4.77 isn't a bad time. It's not great, but plenty of TEs have gone in the 1st or 2nd rounds that run in the 4.7-4.8 range
 




MaxyJR1 said:
Pretty sure everyone at the combine knew Maxx is not a blazer, but they have watched film to know what they are getting. Let me know when he has to bench press the football.
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What do you mean? Are you saying bench press isn't important for a TE?
 


die hard gopher said:
What do you mean? Are you saying bench press isn't important for a TE?
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I think MaxyJR1 was just pointing out that how well a 20 year old kid does on the bench press in the combine has little bearing on how well he does in the NFL.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

die hard gopher said:
What do you mean? Are you saying bench press isn't important for a TE?
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Record for bench press reps was Orson Charles with 35 in 2012. Since then he's been cut once, started 6 games, and spent the most recent season on a practice squad. In 2011 - 2014 here were the top bench peformers at the TE position: Charles, Joe Don Duncan, Vance McDonald, Jace Amaro, Arthur Lynch. Not until you get to Dwayne Allen at 6 do you get a decent guy. In 2006 - 2010 here were the top performers: Daniel Coats, Clay Harbor, Travis Beckum, James Casey, Dennis Pitta. Real TE luminaries.

The record for OL was set in 2010 by a guy named Mitch Petrus who hasn't been in the league in 2 years.

So yeah, that's what I'm saying. There's no more worthless drill at the combine than bench press.
 

justthefacts said:
Record for bench press reps was Orson Charles with 35 in 2012. Since then he's been cut once, started 6 games, and spent the most recent season on a practice squad. In 2011 - 2014 here were the top bench peformers at the TE position: Charles, Joe Don Duncan, Vance McDonald, Jace Amaro, Arthur Lynch. Not until you get to Dwayne Allen at 6 do you get a decent guy. In 2006 - 2010 here were the top performers: Daniel Coats, Clay Harbor, Travis Beckum, James Casey, Dennis Pitta. Real TE luminaries.

The record for OL was set in 2010 by a guy named Mitch Petrus who hasn't been in the league in 2 years.

So yeah, that's what I'm saying. There's no more worthless drill at the combine than bench press.
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So? Being the highest in bench press doesn't guarantee success, that's pretty obvious. But having the third fewest number of reps in your whole position group will definitely raise red flags for scouts. He needs to be able to block 250 linebackers, if you're relatively weak, that's an issue.
 

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justthefacts said:
Record for bench press reps was Orson Charles with 35 in 2012. Since then he's been cut once, started 6 games, and spent the most recent season on a practice squad. In 2011 - 2014 here were the top bench peformers at the TE position: Charles, Joe Don Duncan, Vance McDonald, Jace Amaro, Arthur Lynch. Not until you get to Dwayne Allen at 6 do you get a decent guy. In 2006 - 2010 here were the top performers: Daniel Coats, Clay Harbor, Travis Beckum, James Casey, Dennis Pitta. Real TE luminaries.

The record for OL was set in 2010 by a guy named Mitch Petrus who hasn't been in the league in 2 years.

So yeah, that's what I'm saying. There's no more worthless drill at the combine than bench press.
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Maxx's bench/strength/blocking is the exact reason why he is a late first rounder and not a top 15 pick or considered a lock to start from day 1. It is very important for a TE. Just watch Brandon Lingen's hudl and tell me it doesn't matter. I'll say for QB, RB, safety and specialists it is worthless but TE? It will get better though and is easier to improve on than other areas.
 

die hard gopher said:
Maxx's bench/strength/blocking is the exact reason why he is a late first rounder and not a top 15 pick or considered a lock to start from day 1. It is very important for a TE. Just watch Brandon Lingen's hudl and tell me it doesn't matter. I'll say for QB, RB, safety and specialists it is worthless but TE? It will get better though and is easier to improve on than other areas.
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The bench press is a measure of endurance. Not blocking or strength.
 

JMWZ said:
So? Being the highest in bench press doesn't guarantee success, that's pretty obvious. But having the third fewest number of reps in your whole position group will definitely raise red flags for scouts. He needs to be able to block 250 linebackers, if you're relatively weak, that's an issue.
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You know who had the worst bench among TEs in 2011? Julius Thomas. You know who was tied for 5th with 2 other guys out of 9 in 2010? Rob Gronkowski. Tied for 8th was Jermaine Gresham.

Tyron Smith was a first team All Pro at LT this year. He and 5 other guys tied for 7th (or 13th) out of 15 guys in 2011. I could go on and on, but there's no quick way to compare bench press reps with players' careers. Feel free to present some examples of guys being in the top 3rd of bench press and having great careers though.

EDIT: OK, as I look through these, it appears not everyone is listed in the NFL's combine pages for any particular year. So those guys weren't as close to the bottom as I'd earlier thought. But they weren't right at the top either. And you know how I figured it out. By trying to look up Marshal Yanda, Travis Frederick, Josh Sitton, and Maurkice Pouncey, other All Pros who didn't even appear on those pages. So again, if you can show how lots of top notch blockers had high bench press rep totals, I'm all ears.
 

justthefacts said:
You know who had the worst bench among TEs in 2011? Julius Thomas. You know who was tied for 5th with 2 other guys out of 9 in 2010? Rob Gronkowski. Tied for 8th was Jermaine Gresham.

Tyron Smith was a first team All Pro at LT this year. He and 5 other guys tied for 7th (or 13th) out of 15 guys in 2011. I could go on and on, but there's no quick way to compare bench press reps with players' careers. Feel free to present some examples of guys being in the top 3rd of bench press and having great careers though.
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Vernon Davis finished as the top TE in 2006 with 33 reps. Greg Olson was 3rd in 2007. To name a couple TEs.

For OL, Jake Long was 1st in 2008.
 

For those stuck on benchpress, look up Anthony Barr's numbers...and tell me where he was picked.

Yeah...I know he's not a TE, which makes it even more shocking.
 

justthefacts said:
You know who had the worst bench among TEs in 2011? Julius Thomas. You know who was tied for 5th with 2 other guys out of 9 in 2010? Rob Gronkowski. Tied for 8th was Jermaine Gresham.

Tyron Smith was a first team All Pro at LT this year. He and 5 other guys tied for 7th (or 13th) out of 15 guys in 2011. I could go on and on, but there's no quick way to compare bench press reps with players' careers. Feel free to present some examples of guys being in the top 3rd of bench press and having great careers though.

EDIT: OK, as I look through these, it appears not everyone is listed in the NFL's combine pages for any particular year. So those guys weren't as close to the bottom as I'd earlier thought. But they weren't right at the top either. And you know how I figured it out. By trying to look up Marshal Yanda, Travis Frederick, Josh Sitton, and Maurkice Pouncey, other All Pros who didn't even appear on those pages. So again, if you can show how lots of top notch blockers had high bench press rep totals, I'm all ears.
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Thomas is considered a terrible blocker.
 

Unregistered User said:
For those stuck on benchpress, look up Anthony Barr's numbers...and tell me where he was picked.

Yeah...I know he's not a TE, which makes it even more shocking.
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Yep, significantly less important for a 6-5 edge rushing OLB than an in-line TE.
 

Okay guys, I think we've proven we can find examples to add credibility to either side. Once again, anecdotal evidence has failed us. Thanks a lot law of large numbers.
 

JMWZ said:
When you finish 12th of 14 in lifting, that's not average. Also his 40 was below average historically for his size.
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Don't want to get into one of these pedantic forum arguments but you need to compare apples with apples. If your using 12 out of 14 for TEs this year in lifting as evidence for being below average (fair point) you have to acknowledge that 3rd out of 12 for TEs this year over the 40 is above average.

Sentiment is probably shared though. - I was disappointed with his lift and his 40 and it left me thinking maybe the kid should have stayed in school another year and built himself up a little more before switching to the NFL.

I don't like calling players out, especially one like Maxx who always gave us everything he had, so I am never going to be too critical - just hoping his drills, interview (and a good pro day) will help him to get drafted on day 1 or very early on day 2.

I don't see Maxx as a Gronk or a Jimmy Graham type physical mismatch but I do think he could be a dependable Jason Witten type and have a very good and long NFL career.
 

Johnob2 said:
I don't like calling players out, especially one like Maxx who always gave us everything he had, so I am never going to be too critical - just hoping his drills, interview (and a good pro day) will help him to get drafted on day 1 or very early on day 2.
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I wish there were more examples to back it up, but my guess is that another year wouldn't have made a difference. I'm guessing that 3 years in the program was enough for Maxx to have built up his bench press numbers IF that was something the S&C coaches wanted. The fact that they didn't is telling. He's also a likely 1st or 2nd rounder still. Would 5 more reps in the bench have done much? Doubtful.
 

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