Reports are not good: Ali Highsmith, LSU: Highsmith dealt a serious blow to his draft grade during his workout. He weighed just 230 pounds then was unable to run faster then five seconds in the forty. Highsmith performed poorly during drills and his lack of speed was apparent. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/02/25/lb.risers.sliders/
Bad ankle, we all know the guy is faster than this. You cant run a 4.9 and play linebacker in the sec and be as good as he is.
That is correct. Players need to be physically and mentally prepared to participate. The combine results are easily overrated in favor of actual skill on the field but they still do matter. TE Fred Davis is another example of making a bad decision. He intially had said he wasn't going to do drills, or run. He got to Indy, changed his mind (easy to understand when surrounded by all that competition) and then ran a bad 40 and dropped more than a few balls in the pass catch drills.
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008...ts-draft-stock-dropping-but-he-thinks-god-ha/ Doucet left Senior Bowl week early after suffering a hamstring injury in practices, which got his 2008 off to a similar start to his 2007, which was also plagued by injuries. But Doucet says he's not too worried about the hamstring forcing him to miss out on Combine workouts. Looks like Early may not be participting.
According to this site 4.58 http://blogs.rotoworld.com/Fantasy_Football/2008/02/defensive_back_times.php#more I've read one analysis suggesting he might be better off as a safety because of his lack of speed: Compares To: GARY BAXTER-Cleveland...Baxter has been out of action the last two years due to injuries, but few cornerbacks with 4.6 have experienced the success Baxter did, mostly in Baltimore. Jackson might be wise to bulk up and shift to free safety, as he is good at rerouting receivers and can handle short-to-intermediate action with no problems. He is very aggressive in run support, making that another reason to consider a position change. The greatest issue, however, is Jackson's lack of deep speed. If a receiver gets behind him, he does not have the quickness or recovery speed needed to catch up. http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/chevis-jackson?id=1296
