Brandon Scherff at the combine

T

Tkingpin

Well-Known Member
First, the bad news: once again we hear the "short arms" comment from the draftniks. He measured out at 33 3/8ths and that is considered short by LT standards and I have read where a lot of experts think he could/should be an OG or RT. Possibly all-pro at those positions as good of a run blocker as he is. sounds fine, but OGs and RTs do not get taken in the Top 10 or even Top 15 of the 1st round.

The Good News: He won't go to a crap team like the Raiders if he is chosen in the 2nd half of the first round. May cost him some $$, but ends up on a better team & organization (theoretically).

Bad News - His bench press comes in at .... (wait for it) .... 23. Seriously on the low side compared to his other OL combine attendees. How can such a monster in the weight room only do 23? Now, that is like me criticizing Zach Johnson on the golf course... I couldn't possibly do 23 reps at that weight. Not sure I could do even 1. But, we are not comparing my strength and Brandon's but Brandon's vs other OL candidates.

That is all the news I have so far. I will try to update this when I have a chance.

UPDATE: Brandon ran 5.07 (unofficial) in his 40. that is a win. only 2 guys ran faster, Fisher of Oregon (5.01) and Gibson of VT and they both weigh only 305 or 306 pounds. My commentary here is that unless you run over 5.50 it is very good. Last year someone ran under 5.00 and that grade moves up to "off the charts." Supposedly skyrocketed up the board. If you run worse than 5.50, that is a bad result. His 5.07 is really outstanding. Average for that group looks to be in the 5.25 to 5.30 range. (no statistical analysis, just eyeballing it).
 
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Tkingpin said:
First, the bad news: once again we hear the "short arms" comment from the draftniks. He measured out at 33 3/8ths and that is considered short by LT standards and I have read where a lot of experts think he could/should be an OG or RT. Possibly all-pro at those positions as good of a run blocker as he is. sounds fine, but OGs and RTs do not get taken in the Top 10 or even Top 15 of the 1st round.

The Good News: He won't go to a crap team like the Raiders if he is chosen in the 2nd half of the first round. May cost him some $$, but ends up on a better team & organization (theoretically).

Bad News - His bench press comes in at .... (wait for it) .... 23. Seriously on the low side compared to his other OL combine attendees. How can such a monster in the weight room only do 23? Now, that is like me criticizing Zach Johnson on the golf course... I couldn't possibly do 23 reps at that weight. Not sure I could do even 1. But, we are not comparing my strength and Brandon's but Brandon's vs other OL candidates.

That is all the news I have so far. I will try to update this when I have a chance.
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Combine is part of the equation, how about the tape, his personality, his football intelligence, his intense work ethic, his game day attitude. So many factors.
 
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I think Brandon is a late first round talent anyways . The kid got beat a lot as a Senior Left tackle. I see him as a left guard in the NFL.
 
Marshal Yanda (Best Guard in NFL) - 23

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=61346&draftyear=2007&genpos=OT

Bryan Bulaga (Top 5 Right Tackle) - 26

http://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?f=Bryan&l=Bulaga&i=8437

Iowa rightly doesn't emphasize bench in their strength program. Football is a game of explosion, 1 rep at a time "6 seconds of hell...". The above two examples are very good at their position and their strengths are in the run game (Bulaga improved a lot as the year went on and he continued to get his strength back from injury) and moving bodies more strength than required for pass-pro. O-line you need to have a punch, and then "bench muscles" are almost irrelevant. Make no mistake the bench serves as a TV event - functional strength in the hips, footwork and hand placement are what define o-line play.
 
WildTurkey said:
I think Brandon is a late first round talent anyways . The kid got beat a lot as a Senior Left tackle. I see him as a left guard in the NFL.
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If by "beat a lot" you mean 5-8 times out of 75 snaps a games (approx. 975 snaps last year) then you have a funny definition of "beat a lot". I can only recall actually him really getting beat like 4 times, but I'm sure it was a couple more than that. If you get beat 1-2% of the time, that certainly isn't "a lot".

Then you look at home many of those snaps he just completely and totally dominated the opposition. Now that is what he did "a lot" of last year.
 
WildTurkey said:
I think Brandon is a late first round talent anyways . The kid got beat a lot as a Senior Left tackle. I see him as a left guard in the NFL.
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I don't disagree that Scherff is a better guard prospect than left tackle (I think he can be dominant at right tackle too), but I'm not sure that moves him down much. I think teams are moving back to more run game and you have to have great guard play. You look at Zach Martin - I think a lot of teams would go back and take him in the top 10-15. Where would Yanda go if they redrafted his year? Scherff had two pretty rough games as a senior, but look at the total body of work and you realize injuries/surgery contributed to the challenges he had senior year.
 
Didn't they have the same knock against Bulaga? Or am I thinking of someone else? Anyway, Bulaga seems to have done ok.
 
Winterhawk said:
Marshal Yanda (Best Guard in NFL) - 23

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=61346&draftyear=2007&genpos=OT

Bryan Bulaga (Top 5 Right Tackle) - 26

http://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?f=Bryan&l=Bulaga&i=8437

Iowa rightly doesn't emphasize bench in their strength program. Football is a game of explosion, 1 rep at a time "6 seconds of hell...". The above two examples are very good at their position and their strengths are in the run game (Bulaga improved a lot as the year went on and he continued to get his strength back from injury) and moving bodies more strength than required for pass-pro. O-line you need to have a punch, and then "bench muscles" are almost irrelevant. Make no mistake the bench serves as a TV event - functional strength in the hips, footwork and hand placement are what define o-line play.
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I seem to remember either Doyle addressing this or one of the former players. Aside from the punch/pop/explosion, they pointed out that you don't block in the NFL by pushing your arms straight out. It's more of get low, engage and push up and control the defender, Thus, the reason for the big tire drills they use. Whole body strength working up at an angle instead of straight out in front.

On the other point, he may not project as an elite LT in the NFL, but if you can draft someone projected as an elite G or RT who can also give you quality play at LT, you take them. The modern rookie scale helps too.
 
I just want him to go to a good fit. If he were to fall to 15 and my 49ers I bet they'd snatch him up to replace Iupati at guard and he'd be a perfect fit for what they like to do. Last thing I want to see have happen to him is go to Oakland and they try and make a tackle out of him and have a replay of Gallerys career. Now that man got paid with how the old pay structure was and he did play a long time too so his career wasn't all bad. But tackle wasn't his best spot by any means.

But now it's about getting to a good fit and doing well so you can be in the best position possible for your 2nd contract. If he were to go to the Redskins or Oakland or some other sorry franchise that'd just suck...
 
Message boards are great for sharing our own opinions aren't they? If you can only recall Brandon getting beat 4 times than you must have only watched a couple games all year.
 
Hey, guys ... I am with YOU. Please don't come back at me like my commentary is the reason why he might get picked lower! I hope he goes 1st overall!

(A) I know that the combine is only part of the equation. Agree with all your comments, there, oakhawk, but the FACT is that the combine is the most recent evaluation tool these teams have and these guys performance here (rightly or wrongly) can overshadow all of their on-field pefrormance over the last 4 years when it comes to where they are drafted.

(B) Shemhawk - I agree with you about how the bench shouldn't be part of the process and is de-emphazed at Iowa. The FACT is that it is one of the evaluation tools these teams use. His relatively weak performance can possibly have a detrimental effect on how high he is drafted.

(C) Winterhawk - I know those 2 guys went in the 20's and are among the best in the business. I am not saying that. I am just saying that Brandon's Gameday performance, here at the combine, strictly looking at his arm length and bench press is hurting his chances at being a Top 10 pick.

Maybe I care where he goes because all year long I was hoping he could be a Top 10 pick for us. One more feather in the cap for the Hawks ... help recruiting possibly ... but not sure it will happen now.

Honestly, I hope my Dolphins take him with the 14th (15th?) pick and then get Tevin Coleman in the 2nd round. The Dolphin's offensive woes would disappear in a snap. Then they could get defense for the rest of the draft.

Better yet, use round 2 and 3 for defensive studs and then take an RB who SHOULD have been a Hawk, David Johnson, in the 4th round.

I digress.

The purpose of my original post was simply to report what was going on with Brandon at the combine. Hopefully, he kills it in the interviews, etc... and these teams come to their senses and draft him in the TOP 10.

Update1 - same as my update above. He ran an outstanding 5.07 in the 40. Outstanding for 319 pound OL, anyway. Donnal ran 5.27. both are unofficial times
 
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Brandon Scherff is a top 15 pick. I haven't seen a mock draft that yet that has him lower than that. The way Mayock was talking about him and the comparison to Zach Martin of the Cowboys will keep scouts interested. Also he's projected as an all-pro guard, good starting right tackle and servable left tackle gives him the advantage of being veratile which teams love.
 
deanvogs said:
If by "beat a lot" you mean 5-8 times out of 75 snaps a games (approx. 975 snaps last year) then you have a funny definition of "beat a lot". I can only recall actually him really getting beat like 4 times, but I'm sure it was a couple more than that. If you get beat 1-2% of the time, that certainly isn't "a lot".

Then you look at home many of those snaps he just completely and totally dominated the opposition. Now that is what he did "a lot" of last year.
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1/2 of those plays are running plays so you have to take that out of the equation and significantly alters the % on passing plays.
 
docholihawk said:
Brandon Scherff is a top 15 pick. I haven't seen a mock draft that yet that has him lower than that. The way Mayock was talking about him and the comparison to Zach Martin of the Cowboys will keep scouts interested. Also he's projected as an all-pro guard, good starting right tackle and servable left tackle gives him the advantage of being veratile which teams love.
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Nothing wrong with a TOP 15 pick. I suppose my hope was Top 5 or Top 10. I have seen a lot of Mock drafts over the last 5 months that had him in either the Top 5 or Top 10. Not many Top 5s after that Maryland game, but still more Top 10s than any showing him being picked outside the Top 10.

So, Top 15 is AMAZING for anyone, right? Unless, I suppose your expectations were much higher than that.

I would still love to be his agent making 10% of whatever he gets
 
1hawkeye1 said:
Didn't they have the same knock against Bulaga? Or am I thinking of someone else? Anyway, Bulaga seems to have done ok.
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May have been Bulaga, but the biggest one that was knocked for it was Riley Reiff IIRC.

ReiffTinyArms3.jpg
 
Heard an interview on the radio this week with a guy who used to be in charge of organizing/running the combine. He was asked what was most important to the coaches/GMs.

He said the 2 most important parts of the combine, by an overwhelming margin, were the physicals and interviews. He said that if he had to assign weights of importance, it would be about 90% for the interviews/physicals, and 10% to all the stuff we see on TV.
 
I was watching today, and the reporter is correct. Brandon pulled a hammy after the 40, when he was running one of the drills, not during the 40. His 40 time was terrific (5.05 official) and was 4th out of about 39 OL players.

I would like to have seen a few more reps (23) in the lifting category, but overall excellent showing.
 
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