Colbert: We Didn’t Interview Jarvis Jones At The Combine Last Year

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Steelers GM Kevin Colbert made his rounds addressing the media at the Combine today. During one of his appearances, he made an interesting revelation. “We didn’t even interview Jarvis down here [at last year’s combine],” said Colbert. “We didn’t think we had a realistic chance of him being there when we picked at 15.”

While this isn’t exactly earth shattering news, it does reinforce a couple ideas- don’t put too much stock into who teams interview at the combine, and as much as you’d like to think the draft is a science- it’s not.

The Steelers first round pick last year ran a slower than expected 40, which contributed to his slipping on other teams’ draft boards. Running back Le’Veon Bell was a similar case, in that the team didn’t benefit from the combine as much as one might think.

“We attended both [Jones’ and Bell’s] Pro Days,” said Colbert. “We got more information from those Pro Days than we had got from this process.”

Colbert went on to add that they did work out Bell, and had a follow up meeting with him. I recall that they took him out to dinner after visiting his pro day last year. While knowing who the team meets with does have some value, don’t focus on these meetings too heavily.

2014 NFL Combine Official Measurements And Results

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Now that the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine is underway, and prospects are getting weighed, measured, poked and prodded, it’s time to start collecting and analyzing the measurement data as it becomes available. Below you’ll see links to tables for each group of prospects as they become available. I’ll be updating them as results come out, starting with the TE and OL groups.

 2014 NFL Combine Results- Tight Ends

2014 NFL Combine Results- Offensive Linemen

2014 NFL Combine Results- Wide Receivers

2014 NFL Combine Results- Running Backs

2014 NFL Combine Results- Defensive Linemen

2014 NFL Combine Results- Linebackers

2014 NFL Combine Results- Defensive Backs

2014 NFL Salary Cap Now Expected To Increase To $130 Million

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The 2014 NFL Salary Cap is expected to increase to roughly $130 Mil according to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter. This is a much larger increase than the $126.3 estimate that was being reported in December. This would be a 5.69% increase from last year’s salary cap of $123 Mil.

If this is indeed true, the Steelers would only need to trim down roughly $9 Mil in cap space to be in compliance by the March 11th deadline. $6.25 Mil of that is easily cleared by the release of OT Levi Brown. So, getting under the cap, while not terribly difficult for the team to do before, is obviously much easier now.

Think about the list of Steelers free agents. Now think about the impact that an extra $3.7 Mil has on that list.

Preparing For The Combine- Some Scouting Terminology

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Now that NFL teams are converging on Indianapolis for the NFL Combine, I thought it would be a good idea to write up a glossary of sorts, explaining common phrases you might hear during the course of the next week. I’ll start off with offensive line oriented terms, as that’s what I know best.

Waist Bender– Being a ‘waist bender’ is a negative. It refers to an offensive linemen’s stance (usually a tackle) during pass protection. You want to see an OT having good knee bend, and keeping good center of balance. An OT who tends to bend at the waist is likely to be easily pushed off his block.

Kick Slide– Technique used by tackles to block the edge. Having a slow or clumsy kick slide is bad. Having a quick and steady one is good.

Good Anchor– Basically like it sounds. Refers to the ability to be a good anchor and not get pushed off a block.

Heavy hands– Usually refers to an offensive linemen’s hands. Having heavy hands means the lineman has a strong initial punch, which slows down the defender.

Road Grader– Refers to an offensive lineman who has a very large body, who is also usually a powerful blocker.

Gets Separation– Seems obvious, but it’s a phrase pertaining to the receiver’s ability to get space between himself and the defender.

Avoids The Trash– Usually refers to a defender’s ability to avoid other blocked players so he can make a play.

Pile Inspector– A player who doesn’t like to get involved in a scrum, or commit his body to the pile.

Body Catcher– A receiver who doesn’t attack the ball with his hands, but rather uses his body to make the catch.

Playing Speed vs 40 Time– Often a player will be said to have a faster playing speed than 40 time, or vice versa.

Plays Sideline to Sideline– Indicates that a player is agile enough to make plays all over the field ie- from one sideline to the other.

Fluid Hips Or Quick In The Hips– Refers to the ability for a player to turn his hips quickly and change direction.

I’d be surprised if you didn’t hear a few of these terms at least a couple times throughout the weekend. If I forgot one feel free to leave a comment.

 

[Video] Footage Of Ray Rice Dragging Unconscious Fiance After Fight

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You may have heard that Ray Rice was recently arrested for a domestic violence incident over the weekend. He and his fiance were both arrested after allegedly fighting with each other in an Atlantic City casino. TMZ has attained footage of Rice dragging his unconscious fiance out of an elevator after the incident.

Rice’s lawyer issued a statement about the video. “The video that has been put up by TMZ shows the very end of what transpired.” After Rice was arrested, his lawyer called the incident ‘a very minor altercation.” I don’t know about you, but most people aren’t usually being dragged around unconscious after being in a ‘minor altercation’.

The NFL is reviewing the case under their personal conduct policy. Here is the video released by TMZ.

Ravens Lose Coin Toss, Final NFL Draft Order Set

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The official 2014 NFL draft order in now set thanks to a good ‘ole fashioned coin toss.  The Cowboys win the tiebreaker giving them the 16th pick, and the Ravens will pick at 17.

Cowboys Vice President Stephen Jones and Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome met at the NFL competition meeting this morning. Since both teams finished with the same record, and both team’s opponents had the same win percentages, the coin flip tiebreaker was necessary to determine the draft order.

Here is the official 2014 draft order:

1 Houston Texans
2 St. Louis Rams (via Redskins)
3 Jacksonville Jaguars
4 Cleveland Browns
5 Oakland Raiders
6 Atlanta Falcons
7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
8 Minnesota Vikings
9 Buffalo Bills
10 Detroit Lions
11 Tennessee Titans
12 New York Giants
13 St. Louis Rams
14 Chicago Bears
15 Pittsburgh Steelers
16 Dallas Cowboys
17 Baltimore Ravens
18 New York Jets
19 Miami Dolphins
20 Arizona Cardinals
21 Green Bay Packers
22 Philadelphia Eagles
23 Kansas City Chiefs
24 Cincinnati Bengals
25 San Diego Chargers
26 Cleveland Browns (via Colts)
27 New Orleans Saints
28 Carolina Panthers
29 New England Patriots
30 San Francisco 49ers
31 Denver Broncos
32 Seattle Seahawks

[Audio] Big Ben Wouldn’t Return Antonio Brown’s Calls For A Week

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During part of Antonio Brown’s ESPN rounds yesterday, he made an appearance on Dan Le Batard’s Highly Questionable. He discussed being a toe away from the playoffs, his angriest moments of the season, his kids, and other topics.

The interview was very light-hearted, but when asked when he was the angriest at a coach or teammate, AB said, “Probably the last game of the season.”

“I was in tune with breaking Hines Ward’s record for 2 more catches, so I think my attitude with getting the ball was a little bit more, my frustration with getting the ball when I was open, was a little more different than the other games when I was able to control that mentality, and able to work poise under pressure.”

When asked if he thought that was selfish, he said, “I feel I was selfish. I’ve got a great QB. He loves me- we got a great relationship.

“When they see that attitude, and that selfishness, it draws guys away from you. Ben didn’t answer my phone calls for about a week. I was calling my quarterback, calling Ben from Hawaii…but, my attitude was so bad from that last game that he didn’t want to deal with me.”

Brown joked about sending Ben some fist emojis to get him to respond.  After about a week, the QB got back with him, according to Brown.  “[Ben said] I don’t want to talk to you when you’re like that. You know, you’re not infectious and contagious, when you’re attitude is like that, I don’t want my son to root for you.” Brown said that’s what got to him the most, and made him realize he needed to work on that for next season.

You can listen to the interview below.

Antonio Brown Wasn’t A Fan Of The Pro Bowl Draft

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Did you like this year’s pro bowl? Many people viewed it as an improvement over the flag football games we’ve come to associate with the pro bowl.  Antonio Brown was making rounds on ESPN today, and told Sports Center his thoughts on the new format.Via Profootballtalk, Brown said of the new format, “It was a little bit off.” Particularly, like most of the viewers at home, Brown didn’t like the new draft format.

“First off, you get there with a lot of great players, they make you wait two and a half hours under a tent for the draft at the Pro Bowl,” Brown said. AB went on to add that he would like to “see some tweaks, especially upon the draft. You don’t want guys waiting two and a half hours to get picked when we’re all Pro Bowl players.”

Brown’s definitely got a point. On top of that, the NFL network promoted that “draft” ad nauseam, and the drafts themselves were just cheesy. One thing’s for certain, Joe Fan isn’t likely wanting to see more of this-

photo credit- Deadspin.com

Ryan Clark Thinks Delmas Would Be A Good Fit With The Steelers

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I reported earlier that the Steelers were hosting Safety Louis Delmas today. Soon to be free agent Ryan Clark said via his Twitter account that he has been texting with Delmas, and thinks he’d be a good fit for Dick LeBeau’s defense.

It’s tempting to read too much into Clark’s comments. Does Clark know he’s not returning in 2014? Either way, he’s showing what a class act he can be. Not many people will go out of their way to send well wishes to their potential replacement.

Sine Delmas was released by the Lions last week, he is free to sign with whatever club he chooses. He doesn’t have to wait until free agency begins.

Report: S Louis Delmas Visiting Steelers Today

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NFL’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Steelers are hosting Safety Louis Delmas for a visit today. Delmas was recently cut by the Lions, who needed to free up cap space. His salary was set to jump from $1.7 Mil last year, to $6 Mil this year. Delmas was the Lions second round pick in 2009. He’s played a mix of strong and free safety with the Lions.

It’s possible the Steelers are legitimately looking for someone to replace Ryan Clark, who is expected to be gone by many people. Or, it’s possible that they are hosting Delmas as a means to add pressure to Polamalu and Clark’s camps, before potential contract negotiations heat up.

Delmas saw 1,058 defensive snaps with Detroit last year. He had an up and down year, but registered 3 interceptions, 3 sacks, 50 tackles, and 19 stops.