I'mback.Actually, I was back yesterday. But five minutesinto the work day,I was clobbered by that Star Tribune computer virus. So, like the Detroit Lions, I wasdonealmost beforeI started.
I won't be attending the scouting combine in Indy this week. And I'd like to say I'll watch less coverage of the combine than I have the Olympics. But zero can't be beat, so I'll just say I won't be watchinganyfuture NFL starsor busts beingweighed in their underware or bench-pressing 225 pounds while some overcaffeinated muscleheadscreams for one more rep.
To me, the combinecan be summed up in two precautionary words:
Troy Williamson.
For every guy who runs real fast or causes a talking head to prattle on about how a player's draft stock is rising, just remember "Troy Williamson."
I hate to pick on Troy. It's not his fault he went to the combine, ran the 40-yard dash of his life and caused the Vikings to loose their minds and pick him seventh overall with thedraft pick they got in the Randy Mosstrade.Troy was a good kid who couldn't live up to thatselection because, well, he was a receiver who couldn't catch.
His selection in the draft had more to do with him running a fast 40 inFebruary of 2005 thanit did with anything hedidon the football field in the fall of 2004.
Troy isn't the only example of a "combine pick." Perhaps my all-time favorite example wasformer Gophers cornerback Willie Middlebrooks. I liked Willie Middlebrooks.I also knew there was no way in God'sGreen Earth that Willie Middlebrooks was a first round draft pick.