Before the NFL scouting combine, Cornelius Washington merely was the 10th guy on the alphabetical list of the 11 Georgia Bulldogs invited to Indianapolis.
The NFL scouts knew about the big three — outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, inside linebacker Alec Ogletree and defensive tackle John Jenkins – from the defense that helped the Bulldogs come within 5 yards of the BCS championship game. But after Washington put on a dazzling workout with the linebackers, the scouts all have his name in their iPads.
Washington, along with Georgia safety Shawn Williams, Tennessee Tech wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers (Calhoun), N.C. State offensive guard Zach Allen (Tift County) and Mississippi State cornerback Darius Slay (Brunswick) all turned in performances that helped their draft status.
Washington finished in the top three in four categories — 225-pound bench press (36 lifts, first), 40-yard dash (4.55 seconds, second), vertical jump (39 inches, second) and broad jump (10 feet, 8 inches, third). His 40-yard dash time was faster than some of the running backs.
“He was under the radar in terms of being an explosive athlete,” NFL.com draft analyst Bucky Brooks said Wednesday. “This forces more teams to go back and do some more work on him to see what kind of player he can be at the next level.”
Teams want to know why his physical tools didn’t lead him to make more plays during his stay in Athens. Washington registered 79 tackles and 10.5 sacks over his career.
“Based on the way Georgia plays, they had a lot of stars on that side of the ball,” said Brooks, who played cornerback in the NFL from 1994-98. “When you look at the tape, sometimes he gets lost in the wash.”
Williams, a projected third-round pick by nfldraftscout.com, may have helped himself. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds and did the bench press 25 times, both ranked third in the safety group.
“It’s a great safety class — best safety class I’ve seen in years,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said.
After Texas’ Kenny Vaccaro and Florida’s Matt Elam, there’s a group of 10 to 12 safeties whom Mayock has evenly rated. Williams is in that mix.
Rogers started his career at Tennessee, but left after he failed three drug tests. He noted that he passed 10 tests at Tennessee Tech.
Rogers finished in the top five in five of the seven wide-receiver drills. He had the best vertical jump of 39.5 inches and the second-best broad jump of 11 feet.
“When you think about Da’Rick, you think about a poor man’s Dez Bryant,” Brooks said. “He’s a big physical receiver, great hands, and he has an outstanding knack for running routes.”
Allen is recovering from foot surgery and did not run. He had 32 lifts in the bench press, which ranked fifth among the offensive linemen.
Slay had the fastest time of the cornerbacks, running the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds.
Some other top combine performers with Georgia connections included:
- Jenkins took part in just one drill, the bench press. He lifted 225 pounds, 30 times, which ranked tied for fifth among the defensive linemen.
- Georgia Tech's Rod Sweeting ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, the ninth-fastest time of the cornerbacks. His 37-inch vertical jump was eight-best among the group.
- Georgia defensive end Abry Jones finished tied for fifth among defensive linemen with 30 bench presses.
- Auburn's Philip Lutzenkirchen (Lassiter) finished in the top 14 in all six tight-end drills. His 21 bench presses of 225 pounds ranked sixth, and his 4.35 time in the 20-yard shuttle run ranked fifth among the tight ends.
- Jacksonville State's Alan Bonner (Newnan) had 14 lifts on the bench press, which ranked 12th among the wide receivers, and he ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.15 seconds, which ranked 10th.
- Georgia cornerback Sanders Commings flashed his speed at the combine by running the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds, which was seventh amongst the cornerbacks.
- Georgia wide receiver Tavarres King had the 13th fastest 40-yard dash time (4.47 seconds), 10th best broad jump (10 feet, 3 inches) and 13th best three-cone drill time (6.91) in the wide receiver group.
- Georgia Southern's J.J. Wilcox had a time of 4.09 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle run that was fourth-best of the safety group.
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