Combine Approaching: Part I

The NFL's annual draft combine begins Wednesday in Indianapolis, and for many players, this is a pivotal point in the pre-draft process. The combine can make some players - and it can break some players. Perform poorly, and your stock plummets. Impress the scouts, you could see yourself rising the draft charts.

Let's take a look at a couple of these make or break prospects on the offensive side of the ball.

Quarterback: Chase Daniel (Missouri), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech)
Both players have seen their stocks drop like a rock since the pre-draft rounds began. A good combine could go a long way towards restoring their value, and might push them into the top seven or eight signal-callers. A bad combine could very well seal these two players' fate; we could be talking about being drafted in the fifth round or later - if at all.

Running Back: Glen Coffee (Alabama), P.J. Hill (Wisconsin)
Coffee is towards the bottom of the second tier of running backs in this draft. A good combine might make him the fourth back off the board, but a bad combine could push him out of the top 10. Hill is at a disadvantage because he is at the bottom end of the height spectrum (5'11") but at the top end of the weight spectrum (265 pounds). If he can use the combine to show that he can be a bigger version of Jacob Hester, he'll certainly get looks from teams in the fourth or fifth round. But if he doesn't show the versatility of the lighter running backs, Hill will be looked at as a late-round fullback at best.

Wide Receiver: Patrick Turner (USC), Mike Thomas (Arizona)
Turner must have a good combine to stay on teams' minds. At 6'5" tall and 221 pounds, he certainly has the size. But he has underachieved throughout his college career, and he has to show teams he has the drive and desire to be a top receiver. Turner is falling off of many draft boards, but a good combine could put him back on. Thomas, on the other hand, is undersized at 5'8" tall and 187 pounds. He must prove to teams that his lack of size is not a severe disadvantage.

Tight End: Only 16 tight ends were invited to the combine this year, and basically everyone other than Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma State) has something to prove.

Offensive Line: This is a weak class in terms of guards and centers, while the tackles are pretty strong. I think the big thing to watch will be who differentiates themselves in the big four of Eugene Monroe (Virginia), Jason Smith (Baylor), Andre Smith (Alabama) and Michael Oher (Mississippi). The question remains as to who is number one in this group. The combine may be able to answer that question.

OT: Who is Number 1?

That seems to be the question these days. There's a quartet of highly-talented offensive tackles in this year's draft: Alabama's Andre Smith, Virginia's Eugene Monroe, Baylor's Jason Smith and Mississippi's Michael Oher. All four tackles should be first round picks. But who is the top of the class?

It's an interesting question. Let's take a look at the tale of the tape for these four stars.

Name	Height	Weight
Andre Smith	6'4-7/8"	341
Eugene Monroe	6'5-1/8"	310
Jason Smith	6'4-1/2"	300
Michael Oher	6'5"	330

They're pretty comparable in size, with Smith being the smallest of the four. But size isn't the only thing when judging offensive tackles. Robert Gallery was 6'7" and roughly 325 pounds when the Raiders drafted him, and he has not been the model of consistency on Oakland's offensive line.

So who gets the nod at #1? Andre Smith was the early favorite, but Monroe has moved into that position, with Jason Smith also seeing some play in the top slot. At this moment, I'm going to give Monroe the slight edge. His injury issues have been documented, but he is a powerful force who combines speed and strength. His agility at the position is incredible, and can start from day one.

Both of the Smiths are viable options and cannot be discounted. However, I think the MCL injury sustained by Jason last season, and the bowl-game suspension of Andre could scare some teams off. In terms of sheer physicality, Andre gets the edge. But Monroe's combination of size and speed is striking.

Oher is also a fine player, and his life story is an incredible one. But his speed is not as good as the other three, and thus will most likely be the fourth offensive tackle off the board.