The Scouting Combine is getting underway and the coming days will feature impressive performances in drills along with those that lead to chuckling from those watching the event play out.
Orlando Brown was in the latter category a year ago when he did poorly in both the bench press and 40-yard dash after an All-American career at Oklahoma. Brown wound up going in the third round to the Ravens, moved into the starting lineup at right tackle during the regular season and ended the year earning good marks for his play.
On Monday night, Brown revisited the Combine experience in a series of tweets that started with a note about offensive line play being difficult to evaluate because there are different types of players. Some are great athletes, but others rely on fundamentals and technique to succeed. Brown put himself in the latter camp and warned against making more of Combine drills than the way players did on the field in college.
“A lot of OL rely on there athleticism instead of developing a set of fundamentals you are confident in,” Brown wrote. “The DL in football are only getting smarter, they recognize those that try to use athleticism to there advantage. With it being combine week, many evaluators will write off several OL because of his ‘lack of athleticism.’ I’m here to tell you to pay attention to his film, figure out how he manipulates his blocks based off his tools, and don’t count him out cause he isn’t a Super athlete.”
It’s not the first time someone has made the argument that the way someone plays football is the best way to judge how they will continue to play football, but it’s a good reminder ahead of the broad jumps and shuttle runs coming up this week.
