I always thought of the NFL Combine as a time of hope. All of these players come out and try to show their best, hoping to get drafted by a decent team, or even at all in the case of some players. This year, however, has been different, as all sorts of players are having issues with injuries and the like, preventing them from showing much of anything to anyone. These include:
- USC LB Rey Maualuga came up limping at the end of his 40 yard dash. He'll still likely be drafted very high anyways though, given his high level of play, extreme tenacity, and good taste in sideline reporters.
- Texas DE Brian Orakpo limped off the field as well. One of the better DE prospects in the draft, Orakpo projects as an OLB. He's also a Law Student and a Beast.
- In one of the saddest stories of the day, NU TE Brian Mandeville was told that he ought to retire due to a non life threatening issue with one of his heart valves. NU is a small school and it's pretty amazing, as a result, to be combine invited from there. So it's a shame that Mandeville had this happen, and we here at Outside the Boxscore hope everything works out for him, NFL or no NFL.
- Lastly, and non injury related, the story of the weekend seemed to be Alabama OT Andre Smith missing Saturday's combine workout. Smith claims that he accomplished just about everything he wanted by answering questions and giving his weight among other things, and that he had then left earlier than scheduled to begin working out for the March 11th Pro Day. He didn't work out for the combine because he just switched trainers and didn't feel he could impress everyone as he hoped to. Hopefully when he does work out it'll be impressive enough to win over all of those people who have been befuddled with his decisions so far.
Combine Casualties
