James Laurinaitis still unimpressive at pro day

[Rambunctious]

A 10th of a second or 10 pounds are numbers made important by people looking for guarantees before their team spends millions of dollars.

There are no guarantees and these numbers should only be used as a tie breaker when game film and stats are equal.

There are too many other attributes that go into making a playmaker. Ability to read, anticipate, play hard, play through and play 4 quarters. Mind, heart and skill can beat a quicker player.

It kills me to watch a player have a great college career only to watch him get torn apart by people with measuring sticks and stop watches.

Laurinaitis would not be a reach to go mid to late first round. If he falls to the second round it could be the steal of the century.

[#39 Fan]

If he falls to the second round it could be the steal of the century.

let's not get carried away here...

[Rambunctious]

What about lifetime? No... well what about decade? No... well what about the best steal in the first two rounds of this years draft selections of the Rams? Yea... that's the ticket. You heard it here first.

[Nick]

I think there's a solid chance a guy like Laurinaitis slips into the second round. The last couple of years it seems like there's been at least one highly regarded linebacker that's slipped when it comes to draft day. If we could land Monroe/Smith and then Laurinaitis in the second, it'd be one heck of a first day.

[ramdanv]

... if we went LT or WR in the first and Laurenatis fell to us in the second.
Very lucky. Keep your fingers and toes crossed.

[Bar-bq]

I think there's a solid chance a guy like Laurinaitis slips into the second round. The last couple of years it seems like there's been at least one highly regarded linebacker that's slipped when it comes to draft day. If we could land Monroe/Smith and then Laurinaitis in the second, it'd be one heck of a first day.

That's true. In the last two years, Paul Pozluszny, Dan Connor and Stewart Bradley all fell farther than consensus said they should have. Then again, I don't think anybody could have reallyanticipated Jerod Mayo at pick #9 last year. Bit of a different scenario, Mayo being a late riser, but you just never know.

[ManofGod]

Laurinaitis again ran slow and was fairly unimpressive at the Ohio State pro day (for that matter so was Jenkins who will probably be moved to safety). Looks more and more like he may be around at the top of the 2nd. The question is whether he is an overrated OSU player; or a productive 2 down LB that doesn't drill well?

If the Rams got an OT at 1.2 would you go Laurinaitis at 2.3? My gut is saying no, that he's a product of the system and hype than player.

I don't know where you obtained your information, as you obviously were not at the Pro Day, nor have you cited a source. Here are what others said:



Those are not bad numbers for a MLB, and there's nothing negative in that report. I did a search and could not find any report that described his Pro Day performance as "unimpressive."

Consider this a "cite your source" challenge.

Okay now from what I read & saw on t.v.(sportscenter) Laurinaitis improved and Jenkins did not thus at this point it seems that he has to move to FS which may not be a bad move with his ball hawking ability he could be a pro-bowler in a few years.

Now from what I understand, Brian Robiskie was the talk of the OSU pro day and has a few GM's thinking of taking him early in the 2nd round.

[C-Mob 71]

I once told my sister that "good football players play good football". I don't care about numbers or drills, its about what they did on Saturday and what they will do on Sunday, and Laurinaitis is a dang good football player who plays dang good football.

(Of course I was defending Vince Young's Wunderlic score with that comment )

[txramsfan]

Hey I wouldn't give up on Vince Young yet.

[A-Web]

This is a section taken DIRECTLY out of ESPN.COM's INsider page regarding the OSU Pro Day.

"Talent evaluators from all 32 NFL teams were in Columbus, Ohio, on March 13 to witness pro day workouts at Ohio State, including Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and director of football operations Kevin Colbert, who made the drive down I-70 to get a look at the big three Buckeyes: RB Chris Wells, CB Malcom Jenkins and ILB James Laurinaitis.

All three put on underwhelming performances at the combine but each bounced back with a strong showing in the friendly confines of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center."



(I cannot continue, as I do not pay a premium to see the INsider information)

How does one compute "strong showing" into "unimpressive"

Also, my questions and statements begin as follows;

1) Just another Buckeye Hater ("The question is whether he is an overrated OSU player" football players are football players, you place a specific towards OSU. Maybe you forget all the Linebackers that go through OSU, including Mike Vrabel.)

2) As posted earlier, were you at this Pro Day? Because I have read ZERO articles about any pro day in which any of the OSU players were mentioned in any poor light. They were all praised for their performances, and there are videos on nfl.com and espn.com that support this comment from me. There, you can see all the players performing the drills, and being spoken of very highly and proving their worth. I am native to Ohio, and remain unbias when good data is provided, but I also have read and watched every single thing on my favorite players, and no such data has been brought forward to suggest unimpressive or not of quality.

3) As for Malcom Jenkins, his pro day set aside the worries of the stupid scouts and coaches regarding the whole "he will be a safety in the NFL" talk. He will not be a safety, and he has proven he can cover any receiver. To his name, you cannot be mentioned as the nation's top CORNERBACK, and be the ONE CORNERBACK, that is forced to convert to SAFETY.

4) You want me to mention an overhyped player, who falls into the same field as James, his name is Ray. His last name begins with M, and I have a feeling for some reason, that you would be singing his praises.