The Bruce Campbell Show

Bruce Campbell running 40-yard dash (NFL.com)

Saturday marked the beginning of position workouts for the 2010 NFL Combine. The first day is dedicated to the offensive linemen and tight ends, who undergo a series of positional drills in addition to the standard athletic tests (40 yard dash, bench press, etc).  Although there were over 50 players working out, all eyes were on a Bruce Campbell, OT from the University of Maryland.

His workout numbers:

Mike Mayock went on record as saying Campbell is “the best looking offensive tackle [he has] ever seen in person in [his] life.” At the weigh-in, he was 6’6 and was a svelte 314 pounds.

Not only did he look the part in the standard drills, but Bruce shined in positional work as well.  In the kick slide drill, which is used to test the player’s ability to slide in pass protection, Campbell looked very smooth and explosive out of his stance. And in the mirror drill, he also showed off his good reaction skills and lateral movement.

If you missed his workout, watch the recap here.

Other Notable Performers

Besides Campbell, several other players stood out-some for good reasons, others for bad.  Oklahoma Sooner Trent Williams showed he can run with the best of them, putting up a 4.88 sec 40 yard dash. He also looked very capable in the position drills.  Unfortunately, he failed to live up to expectations on the bench press ( 23 reps).

Pittsburgh TE Dorin Dickerson ran a blazing 4.40 in the 40 yard dash, and leaped an amazing 43 inches in the vertical.

Texas Tech OG Brandon Carter looked very out of place today. He showed up out of shape, and looked very awkward in all the drills.  His lack of lateral mobility was exposed several times, and was caught lunging from the waist in the kick slide drill.

Iowa OL Kyle Calloway also didn’t look good.  He was all-around sluggish and couldn’t move well.

Idaho OG Mike Iupati struggled in agility drills. He did nothing to convince teams that he can play tackle at the next level.