The NFL Scouting Combine begins this weekend and will run till March 2. The combine, which is basically a “career fair” for prospective NFL players, features the top college football players in the nation, who perform a variety of workouts infront of NFL scouts, coaches, and general managers.
The UConn Huskies have three members of their 2009-2010 football team in Indianapolis this week for the event. Running back Andre Dixon, receiver Marcus Easley, and defensive end Lindsey Witten. All three have been working out in preparation for the event. The combine can really improve a player’s draft stock, which would ultimately increase the amount of money the player makes in his first contract.
Andre Dixon has been working out at the Athletic Edge Training Center, in Bradenton, Fla. Dixon, who is coming off a season where we rushed for more than 1000 yards, is excited about the opportunity that awaits him in Indianapolis, and he knows what it could mean for his future. He spoke with Hartford Courant writer Desmond Conner, and had this to say:
“Whatever my outcome is going to be is going to be my outcome. Know what I’m saying? I’m not holding back anything. I’m giving everything I have. Even if I don’t like the way I did a rep I do it over just so I can be satisfied. I just don’t want it to be a situation down the road I look back and ask myself did I give it my all so I’ve been busting my hump.”
Marcus Easley, who came out of nowhere to have an unbelievable senior season, is also excited about his opportunity. Easley knows he has more to prove then the other two Huskies due to the fact he wasn’t even a scholarship player heading into last season, but worked hard enough on the field to give himself a shot at being a NFL player.
“I’m ready to get out there and kill it to be honest with you,” Easley said. “These past couple months, working out twice a day. It’s been hard and I’ve been working hard but I’m ready to get down there and show what I can do.”
One area scouts are interested in seeing how well Easley does, is with his speed. Speed at the combine is measured in a 40 yard dash. When asked by the Courant’s Conner, what his times have been like during his training, Easley responded,”4.3 second forty.”(Which if you didn’t know, is unbelievably fast)
“If I can run (a 4.3 forty-yard dash) at the Combine, in front of the right folks? Then it becomes official.”
Lindsey Witten has been working out in his hometown of Cleveland at the Euclid Sport Plant. The defensive end, is coming off a senior season where he finished in the top-10 in the nation in sacks. Witten knows he has work to do if he wants to be an NFL player, and it continues at the Combine.
“It’s time to go to the combine and work hard and my main goal is to give great effort in every drill,” Witten said.
It’s a great opportunity for these three young men, and they hope to continue the tradition of good performances at the Combine by UConn players, which was started last year by the likes of Donald Brown, Darius Butler, Cody Brown, and William Beatty.
