Day six and the final day or workouts at the 2007 NFL Combine, Tuesday it was the defensive backs turn to showcase their talent. Coming in to the 2007 NFL combine, Chris Houston was number three on most people's cornerback top tens. After his workout on Tuesday, he might still be number three, but he's moving up the draft board.
Houston not only ripped up the track with the second fastest 40-time of the whole week at 4.32, he also pushed a studly 27 repetitions in the bench press. Yes, 27 repetitions; that's more than three quarters of the defensive linemen pressed. He jumped well, he looked quick in the position drills, and he may have done enough to vault himself into the first round of the draft.
Leon Hall and LaRon Landry came in as the top two defensive backs, and left as the top two defensive backs.
Hall is poised to become the top cornerback taken in the draft, and after running a red-hot 4.35 in the 40-yard dash, and looking great in virtually every position drill, he made an already strong claim to be a top ten overall pick, even stronger. He posted the best time in the 3-cone drill (6.50), the second best time in the 20-yard shuttles (4.07), and top ten results in the broad jump, and the vertical leap. The only non-superlative in his workout was fifteen repetitions in the bench press. His football abilities are what made him a top ten prospect; his workout proved he was mentally prepared to make the jump to the NFL.
All LaRon Landry did was run a 4.39 after checking in at 6'0, 213 pounds. He too was a top ten pick that solidified his position after Tuesday's workout. Most experts were hoping or expecting to see the LSU safety run in the mid 4.5's, and he far exceeded those expectations. A tremendous ball hawk, Landry represents the new breed of hybrid safeties, and he will undoubtedly be one of the top five defenders taken in the draft.
Safety John Wendling may have impressed everyone with a video of a squat jump that he did. Wendling took a three step run up and jumped over a bar that was 66 inches off of the ground. That's five and a half feet! If you're an average sized guy, hold your hand at about your forehead and ask yourself if you think it's even possible to jump that high, let alone to do it with no run up and to literally just hurdle over a bar at that height.
Oh yeah, he ran a 4.48 40-yard dash, did 22 repetitions in the bench press (5th), had the second longest broad jump (10'9"), had the fifth highest vertical leap (38.5"), was fifth in the 60-yard shuttle (11.26), and was seventh in the 20-yard shuttle. All in all, a pretty good day for the Wyoming Cowboy; one that could put his draft stock on the rise.
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