Steeler Draft Watch: LB and DL 2013 NFL Combine Day
Manti Te’o struggled all day, and his stock slid down down down. Credit: USPresswire
Monday was Day 3 of the NFL Combine, and that means a big day for potential Steeler draft picks. The Steelers will more than likely be hunting down a LB or DL as their top pick in the draft. The picks at these two positions could go even into the mid to latter rounds as well. So who were top performers and who stunk up the joint?
Top Performers:
Linebackers
| 40 Yd Dash | School | Time | Bench Press | School | Reps |
| Zaviar Gooden | Missouri | 4.47 | Cornelius Washington | Georgia | 36 |
| Cornelius Washington | Georgia | 4.55 | Sio Moore | Connecticut | 29 |
| Jon Bostic | Florida | 4.61 | Michael Mauti | Penn State | 28 |
| Jamie Collins | Southern Miss | 4.64 | Zaviar Gooden | Missouri | 27 |
| Sio Moore | Connecticut | 4.65 | Jelani Jenkins | Florida | 27 |
| Vertical Jump | School | Height (in.) | Broad Jump | School | Distance (in.) |
| Jamie Collins | Southern Miss | 41.5 | Jamie Collins | Southern Miss | 139 |
| Cornelius Washington | Georgia | 39 | Zaviar Gooden | Missouri | 131 |
| Sio Moore | Connecticut | 38 | Cornelius Washington | Georgia | 128 |
| John Lotulelei | UNLV | 35.5 | Sio Moore | Connecticut | 127 |
| Sean Porter | Texas A&M | 35 | Brandon Hepburn | Florida A&M | 124 |
Defensive Linemen
| 40 Yd Dash | School | Time | Bench Press | School | Reps |
| Trevardo Williams | Connecticut | 4.57 | Margus Hunt | SMU | 38 |
| Barkevious Mingo | LSU | 4.58 | Brandon Williams | Missouri S. St. | 38 |
| Margus Hunt | SMU | 4.60 | Akeem Spence | Illinois | 37 |
| Dion Jordan | Oregon | 4.60 | Josh Boyd | Mississippi St. | 32 |
| Corey Lemonier | Auburn | 4.60 | 8 players | 30 | |
| Vertical Jump | School | Height (in.) | Broad Jump | School | Distance (in.) |
| Trevardo Williams | Connecticut | 38.0 | Barkevious Mingo | LSU | 128.0 |
| Ty Powell | Harding | 37.0 | Devin Taylor | South Carolina | 128.0 |
| Markevious Mingo | LSU | 37.0 | Trevardo Williams | Connecticut | 124.0 |
| Damontre Moore | Texas A&M | 35.5 | Ty Powell | Harding | 122.0 |
| Nate Williams | Ohio State | 35.0 | Dion Jordan | Oregon | 122.0 |
| Devin Taylor | South Carolina | 35.0 | Damontre Moore | Texas A&M | 122.0 |
There are your top performers for Monday. So how did some draftees due that are potentially on the Steelers board?
Ezekiel ‘Ziggy’ Ansah (yeah another Ziggy…) ran a 4.63 40, benched 21 times, a 34.5 vertical, and a 118.0 broad jump. What’s strange is that Ansah’s 40 time posted on NFL.com is not in the same group as the Top Performers that the website also provides. At any rate, Ansah’s 4.63 is pretty fast for a LB and lines up with his explosive speed in game film. The rest of Ansah’s stats fall near the top of all the LB’s who participated in the combine. Reports say he did incredibly well in the coverage drills. His stock, if possible, went up on Monday. If the Steelers are still drooling over this guy, they will in all certainty need to trade for the pick.
On the other end of the spectrum, Manti Te’o ran around the field all day long like he had an invisible girlfriend strapped to his back. His disappointing performance during the National Championship game continued as he completed each drill. He ran one of the slowest linebacker 40’s at 4.82 seconds. His jumps were very poor as well. The only thing that went well for him is that he caught the ball better than any LB in the drills. His stock probably took a big hit Monday. This might actually fair well for the Steelers. If they still like Te’o after a poor combine performance, they could actually wait to get him in the first round and go for a top safety or even a wide receiver with their first pick. The receiver position is not very deep as in years past, so it could be an opportunity for the Steelers to grab a receiver of very good value and wait to select Te’o in the second round. Wishful thinking? Not if Te’o doesn’t blow out the competition in his Pro Day workout.