From the combine...."When is that speed finally going to translate into production.....what did he have, one and a half sacks last year?" Ouch.
Yep.....Someone was worried about 40 times.... Hunter blows past the competition in the 40 Sonny Shipp - 4 hours ago Everyone expected Danielle Hunter to post impressive numbers at the NFL Combine as the 6-foot-5, 252-pounder has been labeled a “freak” by more than a few analysts. Hunter took the field on Sunday for the NFL Combine and showed off some of those freakish traits by posting a 4.57 time in the 40-yard dash on his first run. The next fastest time for a defensive lineman was 4.75. Hunter followed that up with a 4.58 on his second run and you can watch it in the video below. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combi...speed-in-the-40?campaign=Twitter_video_hunter
LSU cornerback Jalen Collins stayed with the theme of fast Tigers with an unofficial 4.48 clocking in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine Monday. See the video HERE. Collins, projected to be a first-round pick and among the top three corners in the draft had the third fastest time among cornerbacks in his group. Ronald Darby of Florida State ran the best time at 4.32 and Charles Gaines of Louisville had a 4.34. Collins improved on his time after running a 4.48 in his first try. See NFL.com.'s analysis bio of COllinsHERE. LSU linebacker Kwon Alexander streaked through the sprint in 4.55 seconds on Sunday, the same day former Tigers' defensive end Danielle Hunter blazed to a 4.57 clocking. Alexander had the second fastest time for linebackers at the Combine behind Vic Beasley of Clemson, who ran a 4.53. Hunter's time was the best among defensive linemen. Check back later withNOLA.com/lsu for updated Collins performances from Monday's Combine events. Get results of all Combine participants HERE.
I disagree as I thought he made tremendous strides last season and will continue to get better every year. He has a tremendous work ethic now and I believe he will learn how to use technique to improve. That was really all he ever lacked. I also believe Hunter will become a force in the NFL although I also believe it will take him two years or so to really emerge. This class is going to be a good one as far as representing LSU, very strong character guys with exceptional talent. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Ravens take Magee to replace the Rice as they both are very similar in size and style. Collins will be a starting guard or right tackle early in his career. Hilliard will go somewhere to showcase his running between the tackles and making the safety miss with deft moves. And will be surprised by another unheralded Tiger making his mark like Blue did last year.
Collins physical ability was never in question. His cover skills are. I saw no progress in his ability to cover elite receivers. Now he is going to have to go against the elite of the elite. He is a first round reach. Didn't say he should'nt go, but I wouldn't take him higher than 4th round.
Jalen was bumped out of a starting job, when RR was dismissed, Jalen never missed a beat. On the NFL Net, they were talking about 1 game that A. Cooper had, that caught their eye. The game against LSU, and who was covering him most of the game? The thing with CB, is memory, they have to forget the last play real fast, if not they won't be playing in the NFL for long. Long time till draft day, but most of the Tigers look to be doing well in the eyes of NFL teams and Draft Scouts. You look at Jalens numbers at the combine, not just the 40 time, overall with his size and speed. Like I always say, it only takes one team to like you. CB's are hard to find, real hard, same with LOT and Pass Rushers. If teams knew what OBJ was gonna do his first year in the NFL, how many teams would have taken him before the 12th pick?
Jalen Collins Ian WhartonFeb 22, 2015 NFL combine, school pro-day events and a chance to catch up on underclassmen film, players like LSU cornerback JalenCollins will shoot up draft boards. The focus after the season ended has been on underclassmen that entered the NFL draft pool early, and as exposure increases, the buzz follows. Collins is entering the NFL at the most opportune time; of the top 15cornerbacks graded by Pro Football Focus, 10 measured at least 5’11”. His official measurement of 6’1” and 203 pounds at the combine is impressive, but his 32" arm length is even more exciting. Coaches go crazy for his blend of size and speed because those measurements can help overcome other limitations. On the field, Collins’ lack of experience shows in his technique. But he also stands out because he can impact the game as a cornerback. Shutdown cornerbacksare as rare as franchise quarterbacks, so teams will take chances on players that flash the elite traits required to ascend into All-Pro-caliber players. Boasting some of the most impressive physical traits of the secondary class, Jalen Collins has the perceived upside of an elite cornerback. Can he reach that potential? Let’s take a look at Collins’ strengths and where he has room to improve. Collins’ Strengths As mentioned before, Collins measures extremely well when compared to other cornerbacks. According to Mockdraftable.com, the 488 cornerbacks that attended the combine from 2005 through 2014 had an average height of 5’11”, with a standard deviation of 1.65". To find where Collins lands on the bell curve, we just have to do some simple math. Standing two inches over the average, Collins is more than one sigma (standard deviation) away from the average. This is significant in difference, as he’s taller than about 95 percent of allcornerbacks measured at the combine. That’s an elite trait. His length isn’t quite as elite, but he still has more reach than about 68 percent of other cornerbacks. The average arm length for 184cornerbacks measured was 31.51”, and Collins sits at 32.125”. The resulting z-score is .615, which is solid and comfortably between average and the first sigma. On the field, Collins played a lot better as the season progressed. With only 10 career starts, it’s not surprising that his performance was a little bit like a roller coaster. But his natural movement skills and explosiveness often took over stretches of games, and opposing offenses weren’t willing to test him in coverage. YouTube In addition to having great size, Collins is a tremendous athlete. On quick slants and comebacks, he boasts quick feet that allow him to backpedal with efficiency and the hips to open up and attack the incoming pass. It’s normal for bigcornerbacks to struggle greatly with turning their hips and accelerating quickly on these routes, but Collins showed improvement at controlling his body as he saw more snaps. The example above shows a few things. Collins, at the top of the screen, does allow the completion, but he forced a very difficult play by the quarterback and receiver. He shows the excellent ability to transfer his weight and stick like glue to the receiver, which is something thatwasn’t happening with regularity earlier in the year. Still on the same play, Collins has the patience to force Amari Cooper to show his route. Cooper tries to get Collins off-balance at the line of scrimmage, but Collins was fully prepared for whichever direction Cooper would go. Don’t forget, Cooper is one of the best route-runners in college football and is projected to be an early first-round pick because of his own talent. One of the highest-valued talents as a cornerback is the ability to get into position to play the ball and then have the awareness to finish at the catch point. Whether grabbing the interception, pass deflection or by forcing an incompletion by bothering the receiver, the cornerback’s goal is best accomplished through positioning. YouTube This play above helps illustrate Collins’ ability to force a tight pass on a post route. Without any safety help immediately to the inside, Collins has a tough task on his plate. His ability to explode and catch up to the receiver on the route was tested, and although he didn’t end up in front of the receiver’s face, the quarterback failed to hit the small target window that Collins forced. The coverage wasn’t perfect, but with the combination of size, speed and length, Collins can afford to make small mistakes and still be in solid position. Of course, to become elite and realize his potential, his ball skills will be the key. Finding the ball early in turn-and-run situations is a rare skill that many quarterbacks seem to lack. Playing the ball buys the defender the benefit of the doubt when there’s contact, and it opens up turnover possibilities. But it requires twitch reactions, confidence and familiarity with receiver tendencies. YouTube Collins’ Weaknesses Starting just 10 games, there’s little surprise that many of Collins’ issues come back to technique. When critiquing technique, every prospect and many NFL players are inconsistent with how they play, so the key is to find what can reasonably be corrected and what cannot. YouTube For Collins, his biggest area of trouble is his footwork. At 6’1”, he struggles at times cutting inside because his hips are limited with flexibility and it’s hard or maybe impossible for him to drop his hips as well as a smaller cornerback. To compensate, he needs to have great feet that allow him to change directions easily. This example above is from LSU’s matchup with Notre Dame. Collins, on the bottom of the screen, loses this route and allows a modest gain. His backpedal is solid and he stays balanced until the receiver fakes outside, then cuts back to the numbers. That’s where Collins loses. Take a close look at the screenshotbelow to see what happened. YouTube Collins crosses his feet because he’s sold that the receiver is going up the sideline. His discipline will have to be on point in these situations, or else this can happen more often. He did show improvement as the season progressed, but his footwork has to become rock solid for him to fit man schemes that ask him to follow receivers horizontally. His ball skills, although flashing to be a positive, are largely a concern. He lacks consistency in looking up, finding the ball and taking it. Some interceptions just happen, but leaving too many on the field is an issue that separates average talents from the greats. YouTube On a pair of back-to-back plays against Cooper in 2014, Collins exhibited his inconsistencies finding the ball. The first play is above, and we can see that Collins’ eyes are nowhere near the ball. He was late to look back and it gave Cooper the chance to haul in a touchdown pass. Luckily for Collins, he couldn’t reel it in and finish the play. The very next play went right back toward Collins and Cooper on a fade route. As the ball arrives, Collins is attentive and plays the ball much more effectively, and Cooper’s chances on playing the ball are much lower. Although not a pass defensed or an interception, Collins forced a nearly impossible play because of his ball awareness. Now he has to become more reliable in coverage with that skill. YouTube Projection Seeing how Jalen Collins progressed through the 2014 season, his natural movement skills and combination of size and speed are worth investing in. His floor is relatively average, too, since he has the ability to play safety if he has to. A decent floor and very high ceiling are worth a late first-round pick in the 2015 class.
LSU Players Dominant at NFL Scouting Combine by Scotty Nola 2h ago LSU is able to put more players into the NFL than any other school because Les Miles has mastered every step of the process. He consistently recruits Top 10 classes that are loaded with 4 and 5 star prospects. He places them under coaches with a track record of preparing athletes for NFL success. The LSU training staff and facilities are the best in the business. Once these athletes are ready to play they go up against top competition in the SEC West, of course, and that is a decisive factor for most teams. Before they enter the draft they all have to go through a workout either at their pro day or at the NFL Scouting combine. This is where LSU’s tremendous training staff and infrastructure really pays off. LSU players regularly put on a show for scouts at the combine, and this year was no different. 6 LSU players were invited to this years combine: OL La’el Collins, RB Terrence Magee, RB Kenny Hilliard, DE Danielle Hunter, and LB Kwon Alexander. Jermauria Rasco will work out for scouts at LSU’s pro day on March 27. La’el Collins is expected to go in the first half of the first round, but questions remain over what position he will play in the pros. He may have answered them this weekend. He is a bit short for tackle, but his arm length measured out in NFL range, which means he could still project to play outside. Collins big number was his 5.12 second 40 yard dash. That is an elite time. His bench press and vertical weren’t off the charts but they were where they need to be, his shuttle and cone drills were excellent. Collins walked into the combine as a guy who would likely move inside to guard, he walks out as a superior athlete who can play inside or outside. This is a big boost for him and should lock up his first round status. Kwon Alexander put together a great combine workout. He has some issues on tape. LSU fans will know that in some games he looked like Ray Lewis and in others he looked like the invisible man. Add to that his lack of ideal size and he looked like a high risk prospect. That was before he ran a 4.55 second 40 at the combine. That’s very close to top WR and DB speed. It’s also every down LB who can pass protect and make plays sideline to sideline speed. It was exactly the kind of performance Alexander needed to catch everyone’s attention. Danielle Hunter may have helped himself more than anyone at the combine. His 40 time of 4.57 led all defensive linemen and he put up very good numbers in all the other categories. Hunter was one of the guys being talked about the most after the workouts, with the name Jason Pierre Paul being bandied about as the closest NFL comparison. He could have moved himself into contention for a Top 10 pick. Jalen Collins is going to be drafted early by some team in the corner hungry NFL, the only question is just how early he will go. Some thought he could vault himself up into the first round with a great workout at the combine. What he did was solidify an impression of him as a solid but not spectacular player who will help someone without becoming a star. Jalen was in the Top 10 of most workout categories. Of course 40 is the big one for corners, his 4.48 time is good but not the kind of eye popping number that talks a GM into gambling. He can still go in the first round based on game production, his numbers certainly didn’t hurt him. They didn’t make him jump off the page either, so unless something changes at his pro day he is as likely to slip to the 2nd as rise to the 1st. Terrence Magee and Kenny Hilliard probably needed the most help from their combine workouts and got the least. Magee looks more and more like an undrafted free agent prospect who will need to make something happen on special teams just to make a roster. Kenny Hilliard might be joining him in that category after failing to impress as a second option at RB for a team. Hilliard in particular had a disappointing stay in Indy. He made his reputation at LSU as a speed back and had plenty of long carries to prove the rep. His 4.83 40 time was really weak. He will have to improve at his pro day or he risks falling completely off the draft board. All in all it was a good weekend for LSU football. The numbers weren’t there like they were for last years unbelievable draft group, but the quality was. Kwon Alexander and Danielle Hunter both logged the fastest 40 times at their position, La’el Collins was close to the top in his group. All three helped their cause tremendously and it looks like LSU is sure to have multiple first round picks in this years draft. With Jalen Collins posting a solid workout and Kenny Hilliard leaving room to improve at his pro day it looks like LSU will be able to hold on to the title for having the most active players in the NFL.
I seem to remember Amare having a pretty nice day on Collins including a TD over the middle where Cooper put Jalen's helmet in the grass from a brutal "bitch get off me" stiff arm. That happened right in front of me and I still can see it plain as day. He got better, there is no doubt because 2 years ago he was a liability, and had to be put on special teams because he couldn't cover or tackle particularly well. I don't think his coverage skills improved but I do think his tackling ability has. I still wouldn't take him in the first round.
