What I Learned From the Combine

There's nothing quite like a sunny Sunday afternoon spent indoors at the computer while watching live coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine. I may not be off in football nerd heaven like FanHouse's MDS but I'm content with the high def broadcast accompanied by the dulcet tones of Rich Eisen and co. The behemoths like Jake Long over there (shudder) have given up the spotlight for the true workout wonders. Continue after the jump for my brilliant observations on a bunch of drills and races. It's going to be fun, I swear.

• Runningbacks are fast! Darren McFadden just offered up a big "fuck you" to all the people whispering about his falling stock and lack of strength in the form of a 4.27 40. He can jog on his second attempt and still beat everybody. Of course other guys have represented themselves pretty well. Jonathan Stewart and Rashard Mendenhall both posted solid times in their first go around. Of course every rule has an exception, and Mike Hart is that exception.

• Big guys are strong! Jake Long's hands are fucking huge. He managed to wrap them around five rubber molds of John Holmes' phallus. Nobody else has every gripped more than three. He also put up more bench reps than any other lineman and ran an excellent 40, but how often are offensive tackles really going to need upper body strength?

• Runningbacks are fast! pt. 2! Mendenhall just ran a 4.37. Scouts still like the whole size/speed combo, right?

• Quarterbacks are quarterbacky! Delaware Joe Flacco is getting all sorts of love around the facility for his big arm, his size, and his surprising speed. Peter King was impressed with his charisma and his essence of whimsy. Meanwhile, Colt Brennan has been mistaken for a ball boy on several non-consecutive occasions.