Alabama prospects Upshaw and Kirkpatrick don’t wow at Combine

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We’ve talked a lot about the standouts at the just-completed NFL Scouting Combine, but what players may have hurt their stock?

According to Charley Casserly of NFL.com, highly rated Alabama defenders Courtney Upshaw and Dre Kirkpatrick are on the list.

Upshaw lacked the explosion that you’d like to see from an edge rusher according to Casserly. Kirkpatrick’s cornerback drills were lacking and he didn’t display the burst you’d like to see from a potential top-15 pick. It’s possible Janoris Jenkins could pass Kirkpatrick as the No. 2 cornerback in the draft.

UNC defensive end Quinton Couples is also mentioned as someone that struggled. While Coples ran a ridiculous forty time for his size, his work in the drills left something to be desired.

Of course, not everyone watching the workout is going to agree with Casserly. It only takes one team to fall in love, and Coples seems especially likely to make one team reach high for him in the draft.

22 responses to “Alabama prospects Upshaw and Kirkpatrick don’t wow at Combine

  1. If everyone watching the combine agreed with Casserly they would not be employed by any NFL team … and then just like him they could show up at future combines and hand out silly assessments based on a few drills which have little connection to actual playing ability. But hey, go ahead and agree with him. Sounds like a winning strategy.

  2. I didn’t witness Upshaw’s and Kirkpatrick’s position drills…I did see them run circles around people on a football field…you know…during the games.

  3. h3min1230 says:
    I’m starting to wonder if it was the system they had in place at Alabama that made these guys look good.

    ———————————————–

    Sorry but “systems” dont make tackles, cover WRs or make plays…sure it can put u in the right position but without the skills it doesnt matter. This is meaningless, some guys are not practice players or drill specialists…they can actually PLAY when the lights are on, thats all the counts. Plenty of workout warriors have underwhelmed in the league, game film is the only measurable a good GM uses

  4. I didn’t see Dre’s workout, but I have to agree with Casserly on Upshaw– he looked absolutely average, no burst whatsoever.

  5. Coples has Albert Haynesworth written all over him, only, at end instead of tackle. Huge specimen at 6’6″, with all the ability you look for, but the knock on him is he’s not a hard worker. You have a better chance taking someone smaller and hoping they’ll bulk up a little than you will in trying to change someone’s attitude.

  6. How Charley Casserly maintains a job, I have no idea. He’s usually as wrong as Bush/ChainHe were about WMD. Listen to him at your own risk. The same guy who said Gabbert was much better than Cam and that he wouldn’t touch Cam anywhere near the 1st round. A real winner. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!!

  7. Over-analysis. Game tape is a much better measurement of talent than the combine drills.

    Of all the things they do at the combine, I think the physical well being assessment and interviewing are far more important than the practice drills.

    Show me your physically sound after years of football and show me you have a good head on your shoulders, I’ll look at your tape to see if you can play.

  8. It’s a matter of preference, I guess. Kirkpatrick and Upshaw were pedestrian at the combine and dominant in college. So, do you place more stock in irrelevant workouts or in what they did against teenagers in college? I personally don’t think either is a standout defender on Sundays.

  9. qdog112 says:
    Feb 29, 2012 3:09 PM
    How Charley Casserly maintains a job, I have no idea. He’s usually as wrong as Bush/ChainHe were about WMD. Listen to him at your own risk. The same guy who said Gabbert was much better than Cam and that he wouldn’t touch Cam anywhere near the 1st round. A real winner. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!!

    Isn’t the same guy who passed on Reggie Bush to select Mario Williams who’s about to become the highest paid defender in the league?

  10. @h3min1230

    I’m a Texan fan and I believe that to be true. We’ve had to experience one of the worst cornerbacks in pro football in Kareem Jackson and this guy was a 1st round pick. Rolando McClain and Gerald McCoy haven’t exactly been tearing the league up either and these guys were top 10 picks( McCoy was 3rd overall).

  11. Gerald McCoy went to Oklahoma. Anyway, if there is anything to Alabama players being not as good in the NFL it might be because they are generally huge and are there are so many of them. It’s easier to make plays when the other 10 guys are doing their job too. Being huge alone isn’t enough in the NFL because everybody else is too.

  12. Charley Casserly irritates me.

    I don’t know if he’s right about these two guys or not. What I do know is I become irritated at the sight or sound of Charley Casserly.

    John Tesh has a similar, inexplicable effect.

  13. The only thing casserely has going for him is that he’s a dead ringer for Moe of the 3 stooges. Nuff said.

  14. I know Casserly has had some nice evaluating moments in his career, but the last few years he just seems to come up with some weird stuff. He’s about as accurate as a weatherman now.

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