Through the Smoke

BY BARRY JACKSON
BJACKSON@MIAMIHERALD.COM
INDIANAPOLIS -- Only defending national champion Alabama has more players at the NFL Combine than the University of Miami, which has eight. But UM believes some of them made the decision to turn pro too hastily.

Coach Al Golden told WQAM’s Michael Irvin that he wishes all of them well but cannot understand why any player would turn pro without first receiving an assessment from the NFL’s draft advisory board. Defensive tackle Marcus Forston said Golden expressed the same sentiment to him.

None of UM’s five early entrants waited for that assessment; all five are at the Combine, as well as seniors Sean Spence, Jacory Harris and Travis Benjamin.

Though it would never happen, Golden told Irvin that someone who tries to convince a player that he will be drafted in a round higher than he actually goes should promise, in writing, to pay that player the difference in money.

“From a football perspective, for the most part, they had no business coming out,” NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said. “I really think you’re going to be disappointed.”

None of the five UM underclassmen is projected as a definite first-round pick, though running back Lamar Miller has a chance. ESPN’s Mel Kiper and others have questioned the decisions of Forston, who played in three games last season before suffering a knee injury, and defensive end Olivier Vernon, who was suspended the first six games of 2011 as part of the Nevin Shapiro investigation.

“Forston’s motor is wildly inconsistent,” Sporting News draft analyst and former Browns scout Russ Lande said. “At times, he plays like a top 10 kid. At times, he plays like he shouldn’t be drafted.”

But Forston said Sunday he believes he’s ready for the NFL and is fully recovered from his torn meniscus in October.

Vernon, 6-4 and 265 pounds, might switch to outside linebacker in the pros. He said he felt no need to wait for the draft advisory board because “it was something I had in my heart that I had to do. It wasn’t a tough choice.”

Receiver Tommy Streeter could rise to the second round; he ran a 4.40 in the 40-yard dash Sunday. But Mayock told Irvin that Streeter, 6-5 and 219 pounds, “rarely makes a catch on an in-breaking route. He doesn’t block anybody, doesn’t know how to run routes.

“He might go in the second or third round, but he’s not a second- or third-round talent. He’s just an athletic, tall, fast guy right now. If he had stayed another year to develop his skills, he might [have been] a first-round pick.”

Guard Brandon Washington, also a possible second- or third-rounder, said he turned pro without waiting for his advisory board report because “I felt I was mature and ready.”

He was “upset” when Golden criticized his play at tackle last season, but that’s not why he left. He feels more comfortable at guard and believes that’s his likely NFL spot.

Miller, 5-11 and 212 pounds, said he left UM early partly because he did not want to risk injury. Still recovering from shoulder surgery, Miller led all running backs with a 4.40 in the 40.

“I’m a playmaker, a game-changer,” he said, adding that he is “much faster” than Alabama’s Trent Richardson, considered the draft’s top-rated back. “I have great hands out of the backfield. I’m going to have to get strong. Blocking is something I have to work on.”

Spence is UM’s top-rated senior and a projected second- or third-round pick. “I love Sean Spence,” Mayock said. “Someone is going to get a hell of a player.”

But Mayock was troubled by Spence's poor performance in the bench press on Monday.

Spence measured at 5-11 and 222 pounds but said teams shouldn’t be concerned about his size. “I can cover or run with any tight end or back,” he said. “Teams are telling me I’m very instinctive and get to the ball. A lot of people say Jonathan Vilma and I are alike in some ways.”

Benjamin, a potential mid-round pick, showed off his speed Sunday, running the 40 in 4.36, which tied for first among receivers.

But he’s hurt by his lack of size (5-10, 172), marginal strength and difficulty getting off the line, at times, when pressed. “If you get him the ball in space, he’s gone,” Mayock said. But “there’s no physicality to his game.”

Though he cut down on interceptions last season (at least until the season finale), Kiper said Harris will not be drafted. Harris believes otherwise.

“I expect to be drafted,” he said. “But I won’t be down if I don’t.”

Besides being invited to the Combine to audition, Harris also was asked to be a “throwing quarterback” – in other words, throwing to other skill position players during their auditions. T.J. Yates handled those duties at last year’s Combine and ended up starting in Houston last season after injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart.

“T.J. Yates gives me inspiration,” Harris said. “It’s an extra opportunity to showcase myself.”

Harris has been working with Carolina Panthers and former Canes tight end Greg Olsen and former Detroit Lions quarterback Drew Stanton.

Asked what he needs to improve to make an NFL roster, Harris said, “Most people say decision-making, but a lot of football people say don’t worry about it. Those things will take care of themselves.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/28/v-fullstory/2664024/miami-hurricanes-early-draft-entrants.html#storylink=cpy