Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston had his meeting with the media Thursday postponed and Friday we found out why. Specific testing that each player has to go through entering the NFL Combine showed a weakness in Winston’s throwing arm, usually caused by a nerve problem that can be treated through physical therapy.
Winston addressed the arm issue head on in his press conference, dismissing it entirely.
“I had an MRI just like everyone else,” Winston said. “I’ve been playing football since I was four years old and my shoulder has been fine. I’m not into no competition type of thing. I’m out here to win games and be the face of someone’s franchise.”
The 2013 Heisman Trophy winner also confirmed he will throw Saturday, along with his fellow top-ranked quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Brett Hundley. Winston isn’t concerned about the combine or how he might perform. He already has his sights set further down the line. It also made it pretty obvious Winston sees himself as easily the best quarterback in the draft.
“This is not no competition between me and Mariota,” Winston said. “Because one thing about me, I plan on winning the Super Bowl next year. So it’s going to be Jameis vs Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. I want to be viewed like that.”
The arm issue showing up on the MRI was a surprise to Winston’s trainer, George Whitfield. According to Whitfield, Winston has only gotten stronger since Florida State’s season ended.
“Brand new news to me,” Whitfield said. “It’s actually a little bit of shock.”
Winston also addressed the rumors he’d put in weight in the offseason and a viral photo of him working out that’s been passed across Twitter and Facebook.
“People thought I was fat,” Winston said. “I’m proving everybody wrong. I look good and I know it.”
Tight End Combine Workouts
MyCole Pruitt out of Southern Illinois may have raised his draft stock quite a bit with an outstanding day Friday. Pruitt owned had the fasted 40-time, setting down a wide receiver-like 4.58. He had the highest vertical at 38.0 inches, the fourth best long jump at 118 inches and put up 17 reps in the bench press, good enough for a tie for 10th place among all tight ends.
At 6-foot-2 and 251 pounds with 10.25 inch hands, Pruitt came into the combine as the No. 9-ranked tight end and a projected fifth or sixth rounder. Friday’s performance should change that.
In all, 11 tight ends put down sub-5.00 times, with South Alabama’s Wes Saxton recording a 4.65. Top tight end prospect Maxx Williams out of Minnesota put down a 4.78.
Offensive line workouts, Scherff injures hamstring
Ali Marpet may have gotten the attention of the public by showing up at the combine from NCAA Division III Hobart & William Smith, but he has everyone’s attention after Friday’s 4.98 40-yard dash. The 6-foot-3.7, 307-pound Marpet was the only lineman to record a sub-5.00 40. Marpet was tied for the fifth best in Thursday’s bench press with 30 reps of 225 pounds and performed well in all the drills with a 30.5-inch vertical and a 108-inch broad jump.
Marpet is projected as a third or fourth-rounder and is the No. 7-ranked guard.
Top ranked offensive tackle Brandon Scherff’s combine ended early Friday after he injured his right hamstring during one of the workouts. Scherff, out of the University of Iowa, has the third fastest 40-time with a 5.04.
All Eyes on Saturday’s Workouts
The marquee offensive players will be on the field of Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday, with Groups 4, 5 and 6, containing all quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs working out. For the first time in years all the top quarterback prospects will be throwing, with special attention paid to Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s Jameis Winston, with both men possibly dealing with shoulder issues.
This will also be the first chance we’ll get to see the speedsters take on the 40-yard dash, especially Miami’s Phillip Dorsett can sneak under 4.3 seconds. In the high jump, the star is expected to be Michigan’s Devin Funchess, who had a video go viral earlier in the week of a vertical jump where he got his entire head above a basketball rim.
The big four wide receivers will also put on a show, with most eyes on top-ranked Amari Cooper out of Alabama and Dorial Green-Beckham from Missouri/Oklahoma who never played a down of football in 2014.
