FanHouse NflCombine

This isn't about your stance on the legality of marijuana, or how many football players or college students smoke the stuff on a regular basis. Those arguments only cloud the issue. This is about people doing stupid things and getting punished for it. In the cases of Percy Harvin and Brandon Tate, the two receivers who reportedly tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine, the issue couldn't be more simple.

These two guys will not be drafted as high as their abilities and resumes say they should. In the case of Harvin, he's gone from a first-half-of-the-first-round pick to a guy who might slip all the way into the second round and beyond. Tate could have been a second- or third-round pick but is now likely to slip further.

And that is 100 percent fair. For a couple of reasons.

It looks as if we'll soon have some clarity on this sticky issue of who did and who didn't test positive at the NFL scouting combine.

According to a report on ProFootballTalk.com, the NFL's 32 teams will receive a list of the players who tested positive on Monday or Tuesday of this week, giving them a couple of days before the draft to digest the information and determine how it should affect their draft-day decisions.

When the list does come out, and when the names on it are made public, the NFL will finally be through with an ugly part of its offseason.

The Senior Bowl -- a way for teams to evaluate potential draftees in a game setting -- has come and gone, and now it's time for the NFL Combine, an entirely different beast. Prospects flock to Indianapolis hoping to prove themselves. It's all about measurables, baby. That being said, here's a look at some guys who might raise their profile and, therefore, their paychecks.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, cornerback, Tennessee State - Leodis McKelvin appears to have claimed the role of best cornerback in the draft, and, a top athlete himself, shouldn't hurt his reputation this week. But Rodgers-Cromartie could push him. At the Senior Bowl he proved himself to be a gamer, and his measurables are damn good as well. Deion Sanders hand-picked him to train together this offseason, and Deion has a good eye for talent -- he also picked Devin Hester in 2006. Rodgers-Cromartie has helped himself more than anyone this offseason, by the time the Combine's done he might be considered in the top half of the first round.

Vernon Gholston, defensive end/linebacker, Ohio State - Even casual draftnicks have probably heard of Gholston (pictured at right), who will most likely be a top 10 pick as is, but the hybrid is currently stuck behind three defensive lineman at the front of the pack. That could very well change this week. Gholston's an absolute freak of nature -- as strong as he is fast -- and I wouldn't be surprised to see him run a 4.5 and shoot near the top of everybody's draft board. Miami runs a 3-4 defense perfect for him, and he'd make a nice eventual replacement for Jason Taylor. Nobody thought Mario Williams had a shot at first overall, and Gholston could very well wind up in the same position.

Any list of the players who most improved their draft stock at this year's NFL scouting combine would have to include Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson, Kansas State receiver Yamon Figurs (pictured) and LSU safety LaRon Landry. All three worked with personal trainer Tom Shaw, whose reputation has soared after the combine.

Johnson solidified his status as a Top 5 pick, Figurs went from a little-known special teams prospect to a definite draft choice, and Landry likely moved into the Top 10 from the late first round. All credit Shaw, who says he makes the players he works with faster by focusing on two aspects of running: lengthening the stride and increasing stride frequency by pumping the elbows faster.

How valuable does that make Shaw? For an NFL prospect, the difference between running the 40-yard dash in 4.40 seconds and 4.30 seconds can be hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. If Shaw's training tips really are the reason Johnson, Figurs and Landry ran such great 40 times, every prospect invited to next year's scouting combine should be throwing money at Shaw to learn his secrets.

Now this is interesting. As we've previously reported at FanHouse, the Cleveland Browns received the third overall draft pick via a coin toss with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, meaning the Browns pick ahead of the Bucs in the first round of this year's NFL draft. As we've also reported, losing that coin toss and picking fourth could turn out to give the Bucs the player they want -- Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson -- for $7 million less than they would have had to pay him if they had won the coin toss and picked third. So in a sense, losing the toss might have turned out to be very good, from a business perspective and a salary cap perspective, for the Bucs.

And now SI.com's Peter King reports that the Bucs controlled everything about that coin toss:

There was almost a mini-scandal in the coin flip for the third pick in the draft. The Bucs and Browns finished tied for the third pick, because their opponents' won-loss records were identical. So Friday morning, Savage and Tampa Bay GM Bruce Allen met in a Westin Hotel conference room to break the tie for the third pick of the draft. Imagine the significance here.

Allen came into the room with a coin he wanted to use, one from a military base in Florida. That was fine with Savage. League officials Joel Bussert and Ken Fiore ran it. Allen called heads. And when the coin went up in the air, Allen shouted, "Wait! Wait!'' The coin was plucked out of the air. And Allen said, "What are we going to do, let it fall to the floor or catch it and flip it over on your hand?'' Let it fall, he was told. He called heads again. It came up tails.

So Allen provided a special coin, Allen decided whether to call heads or tails, and Allen was obsessed with knowing whether the coin would fall to the ground or be caught in the air and turned over. Gee, does it sound like Allen knew whether heads or tails was coming up? And then it turns out that the result of the toss saved Allen's team $7 million?

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and I'm also not so sure Johnson will be around with the fourth pick, but this is just strange. If the NFL is going to use a coin flip for something so important that it could mean $7 million to a team, shouldn't it ensure that the coin flip is fair?

Peter King begins his Monday Morning Quarterback column with the following statement:

Calvin Johnson is atop everyone's draft board. Two team executives told me that not only is the Georgia Tech wide receiver the No. 1 player on their boards, but also he might be 32 for 32. The amazing thing is, there's a good chance he'll last until the fourth overall pick.

I don't believe that both of those things can possibly be true. If Johnson, the Georgia Tech wide receiver, really is on top of all 32 teams' draft boards, there's just no way he'll last until the fourth overall pick. For a player to be that good, good enough that there's no debate that he's the best player in the draft, someone will trade up and take him even if the three teams at the top of the draft -- Oakland, Detroit, Cleveland -- don't want to select a wide receiver.

And that's my guess about what will happen. After Johnson's combine workout, he is so coveted by NFL teams that I think we're going to see a blockbuster trade from a team that's lower in the draft and desperately wants him. Which team? Just hazarding a guess here, how about the Falcons? Yes, they've already devoted a lot of resources into getting wide receivers, but to Johnson might be exactly what both Bobby Petrino and Michael Vick need. It would take a lot to trade up, but Johnson is worth it.

I'm a big fan of college quarterbacks switching to other positions in the NFL. Matt Jones became a first-round pick when he agreed to switch from quarterback to receiver. Brad Smith was effective for the Jets last year. Antwaan Randle El of the Redskins, Ronald Curry of the Raiders and Drew Bennett of the Titans all made the switch.

Will anyone do it this year? At Fox Sports, Aaron Schatz reports that Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball is the only college quarterback working out at another position at the combine. Ball was an absolutely horrible passer in college (just ask Calvin Johnson), so that's a no-brainer. I also think Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanbeck (pictured) should switch. He ran track at Washington and played a few games at receiver before earning the starting quarterback job, and I think his speed (and the fact that he's not a great passer) makes receiver his more natural role. As a receiver I'd peg him as a fourth-round pick; as a quarterback I'd peg him as an undrafted free agent. He's working out as a quarterback in Indianapolis, but I'll be shocked if he doesn't end up making the switch eventually.

And here are two other names to ponder: Ohio State's Troy Smith and Florida's Chris Leak, who met in the BCS National Championship Game. I think Smith is an NFL quarterback, but I'm betting some teams would like him to switch. Some NFL scouts are so obsessed with height that there have to be a few who don't even have Smith on their boards as a quarterback.

And Leak is a little shorter than Smith and a worse passer than Smith. The problem for Leak, though, is that he isn't a great athlete like Stanbeck. I don't think Leak will get to the NFL at any position, but I do think he'd have a better shot if he at least gave receiver a try.

I was going to write this morning about what a great performance Adrian Peterson turned in at the combine yesterday, with a 4.40-second 40-yard dash. I was going to write that Peterson is unusual among top prospects for his willingness to participate in all the drills rather than waiting for the Oklahoma pro day, and that he made himself millions of dollars on Sunday.

And then I learned that Peterson's workout came just hours after he learned that his brother was shot and killed in Texas.

Peterson was told in the wee hours Sunday morning that his half-brother was gunned down and killed in a Texas homicide. Sources say he was shot multiple times. The sources also said Peterson was very close to his half-brother and took the news extremely hard. Details are still sketchy and when contacted officials at the Houston Police Department did not have any information available.

It's a sad story for a young man who has had a rough upbringing, including having his father in prison for much of his life. To perform that well in those circumstances, NFL teams have to be impressed.

Florida quarterback Chris Leak worked out at the combine yesterday, and he had a reasonably good day with his running and his passing. But what about the Wonderlic?

Wonderlic scores aren't released publicly the way 40 times and vertical jumps are, but just as we heard whispers about Vince Young last year, there are rumors floating around this year that Leak scored an 8. Loser with Socks links to Mac Mirabile's site, which lists Leak as scoring an 8. That's a terrible score. (Mirabile lists Drew Stanton as scoring a 35 and Brady Quinn a 28; the average for all players at the combine is 20.) In an e-mail, Mirabile told me his source for Leak's score is NFLDraftScout.com, and that it's a score from 2006:

"the score reported from his campus testing/agility workout last year," he said. "The 8 is not his 2007 Combine score.... If Chris prepares for the test (which his agent will likely help him with this weekend), I am sure his score will increase substantially."

So there you have it, I guess. We don't know yet how Leak scored on the Wonderlic at the combine. He apparently scored badly a year ago. I've heard enough talk about Leak and the Wonderlic that I thought it was worth addressing, but for Leak's draft status, I think the biggest problem is the yardstick, not the Wonderlic.

Previously at FanHouse:
Vince Young, Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Wonderlic
After Vince Young Fiasco, Wonderlic Scores Kept Secret

Two running backs. Both left school early. Both had a lot to prove at the scouting combine. One showed up in great shape. One showed up with a beer belly. The difference? One will realize his dream of being a pro football player, one won't make it to the NFL.

One is Arizona's Chris Henry (pictured). He decided to leave after his junior year because he didn't think he was getting the ball enough and thought he would get the ball even less when the new coaching staff implemented the spread offense. So he spent the last few months getting ready for the combine. He showed up looking muscular, even bulky, and he turned in an awesome time of 4.33 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He's now a first-day pick.

The other is Minnesota's Gary Russell. I thought before the combine that Russell was one of the players to keep an eye on, and I think now that there's no more reason to keep an eye on him. He showed up fat and out of shape, and his 40 time was 4.84 seconds. That's it. He would have been better off not showing up to Indianapolis at all.

The combine is often derided as a meaningless exercise that gives more weight to what players do in shorts and t-shirts than it gives to what they did in a helmet and shoulder pads. But the combine can tell you a lot about a player if you know what to look for. Every NFL team now knows that Henry is willing to do what it takes to play at the next level and Russell is not.