Rams | Team meets with Greenway

[RamsFan16]

Rams | Team meets with Greenway
Sun, 26 Feb 2006 15:49:41 -0800

During his NFL Combine interview, Iowa LB Chad Greenway said he met with the St. Louis Rams at the Combine.

[Nick]

The thing that concerns me about Greenway after the combine is that he could only do 16 reps of the 225-pound bench press. Both Maurice Drew and Jay Cutler did more than that.

[RamsFan16]

Yea but he may not be bench tough but he is definetly football tough. Do you know what I meaN?

[Nick]

But he needs that strength if he's going to play LB in the NFL. Look at the article you just posted in the Ram Talk forum - it cites versatility as one of Greenway's attributes. But if he's going to play on the strong side, in the middle, or as a 3-4 rush linebacker, that strength needs to get drastically better. Because when playing those positions, he's likely to find himself engaged with a tight end, fullback, or an offensive lineman, and he's going to have to hold his ground or, better yet, break that block in order to make a play on the ball carrier. And that requires strength.

[RamsFan16]

Yea I agree but he can improve that to pry 25-30 if he goes NFL can't he? I mean I know he can improve that but I mean he is such a great LB it would be hard not to draft him for that reason.

[Nick]

Yea I agree but he can improve that to pry 25-30 if he goes NFL can't he? I mean I know he can improve that but I mean he is such a great LB it would be hard not to draft him for that reason.

Actually, it would be very easy not to draft him for that reason if we're looking for a guy to play either Mike or Sam linebacker.

One of the big questions or concerns about Greenway as a prospect this season was that he disappears in games sometimes and doesn't shed blocks that well.

So when he posts a bench press of only 16, it makes you wonder even more how well he's going to be able to get through defenders to get to the ball carrier. And keep in mind that Greenway's had his entire college career to get strong, and has likely been training prior to the combine to improve his strength. How much more is his strength likely to improve?

Maybe he just had a bad day and didn't lift well. That's why teams have pro days for their prospects, I suppose. But if he doesn't post a bench press rep number of at least 20 at Iowa's pro day, then I'd really have some serious concerns about whether Greenway could play anything but Will linebacker at the next level. And we already have Pisa Tinoisamoa for that position.

For comparison purposes, AJ Hawk had 24 reps on the bench press.