Sunday, February 24, 2013

Honey Badger, Leon Sandcastle and Penn Staters on the bench: Five things to look for at Sunday's NFL Scouting Combine

INDIANAPOLIS-- It's easy to forget what day of the week it is when you're covering an event where there's so much going on. Players are constantly in and out of the media room and sometimes you look up from your computer and see a flurry of NFL coaches walking through the room searching for the exit.

Some refer to it as sensory overload and after leaving the stadium it's easy to still hear the voice coming from the loudspeaker announcing each player, all 237 of them as of Saturday night, who have come through the room. There were also at least 50 other coaches and general managers who spoke in the room as well.

A lot of the media availability is starting to slow down, but when it comes to on-field workouts it's only a quarter of the way finished. Here's what's happening in Indianapolis on Sunday.

Meeting their benchmarks

Penn State's Jordan Hill, Michael Mauti and Gerald Hodges have a day full of psychological testing, the NFL's new aptitude test and the bench press waiting for them. The bench is their first physical event since arriving in Indianapolis on Friday and is the only drill Mauti will take part in.

Hill and Mauti both are optimistic about being about to post 30 repetitions at the event where each player lifts the required 225 pounds. Hodges has yet to meet with the media, presumably because either team interviews or medical exams were backed up. He should come through the room at some point on Sunday.

Quarterbacks have a chance to shine

The quarterbacks heard all the talk about the depth of this draft class coming from anywhere but their position group. West Virginia's Geno Smith is expected to headline the mediocre group and some believe Smith is worth as high as a top-10 pick.

On Sunday the quarterbacks will workout on the field and throw in front of scouts and general managers. Some are opting to wait until their pro days to throw, citing their own wide receivers as one of the bonuses to waiting. All of their team interviews are wrapped up and if there's one last place they're trying to impress before pro days, it's on Sunday.

Leon Sandcastle slated to meet with the media

The NFL Network's campaign with Deion Sanders has hit a new level. Sanders, who appeared in a Super Bowl commercial promoting the Combine as a fictitious character named 'Leon Sandcastle' is scheduled to address reporters Sunday evening.

In a clever marketing ploy and humorous press release that the NFL sent out on Saturday, it claims that the pride of ?Primetime University? is taking the Combine by storm. This was all brought up in the 60-second commercial that encouraged fans to watch the Combine for the next star who, like Sandcastle, could come out of nowhere.

Better yet, the NFL went through the trouble of giving their fictitious prospect a profile page on the Combine's website.

High risk-high reward with Honey Badger in town

Former LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu will undergo a physical exam and team interviews before meeting with the media on Sunday. Mathieu, commonly referred to as ?Honey Badger,? was the 2011 SEC Defensive Player of the Year before being released from the team in August for a violation of team rules.

He checked himself into a treatment facility and returned to taking classes at the school, only to later be arrested for marijuana possession. He's projected to be a fourth-round pick but could help himself if he runs faster than a 4.5 second 40-yard dash.

If he turns in a good time it could give him more appeal as a kick returner. As for his interviews, if it weren't for Manti Te'o being present Mathieu would've received more scrutiny.

No more arrivals and only on-field workouts remain after Sunday

The defensive backs were the last group to arrive at the Combine and they came into town on Saturday. They have interviews through Monday before completing their on-field workouts on Tuesday.

There are approximately 60 more players from a few leftover linebackers and defensive linemen to all of the defensive backs who will address the media on Sunday. After that, it's full steam ahead toward the playing field.

Source: http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2013/02/honey_badger_bench_press_and_l.html

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