Ross feels good about effort at NFL combine
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BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
I-back Cory Ross listened intently two years ago as the new Nebraska football coach systematically installed a relatively complex West Coast offense.
Ross soaked it all in as Bill Callahan implemented his plays, schemes and techniques. Ross paid close attention to Husker running backs coach Randy Jordan’s words of wisdom during the past two years.
Ross’ learning paid dividends during the NFL Scouting Combine last week when coaches sought to gauge his knowledge of the game. For instance, Ross said, one coach asked him to draw up a blocking scheme that would work well against a particular defense.
No problem, Ross said. He drew up his favorite inside running play.
“Coach Callahan and Coach Jordan did a great job of helping me learn about football,” Ross said Thursday. “I think some coaches (at the combine) were surprised with the things I knew.”
NFL teams’ scouting departments wrapped up their base evaluations and assigned grades to prospects several weeks ago. Between now and the April 29-30 draft, those evaluations will be fine-tuned as teams meet with players and attempt to grade their intangibles. Hence the importance of the NFL Scouting Combine, where coaches and top team executives gather each year to interview players as well as watch them perform a battery of physical tests.
This year’s combine began Feb. 22 and ended Tuesday in Indianapolis.
“When you get there, you realize it’s really serious,” said the 5-foot-6, 195-pound Ross. “Teams want to make sure they know every itty-bitty thing about you. It was like a four-day interview.”
Ross, Nebraska’s leading rusher each of the last two seasons, said NFL teams have a list of each prospect’s injuries suffered during college and even high school.
“They know what injuries you’ve had, but they still ask you about them,” said Ross, who went to the combine in good health. “They look over you very closely. They yanked on my shoulders to see if they were strong.”
Ross said he felt good about the overall experience.
However, “I didn’t run as fast as I thought I would,” he said after covering the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds. “I wanted to be somewhere in the :04.4s. Anywhere in the 4.4s would’ve been good.”
Ross said he plans to try to improve his 40-yard dash time Wednesday during Nebraska’s “pro day” at the team’s indoor training facility. He will be among several ex-Huskers who will perform drills in front of NFL coaches, scouts and team executives.
Pro days occur every year around this time on college campuses across the nation. These sessions are particularly important for players who weren’t invited to the combine. For players who were invited to the combine, pro day provides a second chance to impress NFL teams.
“A lot of coaches (at the combine) were clocking from the stands,” Ross said. “I want them to see me up close. I want them to see that I really can run fast.”
Ross was joined at the combine by three ex-Huskers — safety Daniel Bullocks and defensive linemen Le Kevin Smith and Titus Adams. A total of 330 prospects were on hand.
The 6-2, 210-pound Bullocks ran the 40 in 4.38 seconds and recorded a personal-best vertical leap of 38 inches. He said he doubts he’ll run the 40 again Wednesday in Lincoln, but will be on hand to perform position-specific drills.
“I feel great about how the combine went,” Bullocks said. “I think I showed my athleticism. I was actually expecting to run faster. (But) I didn’t feel any pressure. I knew what I could do. It was stuff that I had been working on for the past three months.”
Bullocks’ 40 time was considered excellent on what is regarded as a slow surface at the RCA Dome.
“A lot of agents tell their kids not to run at the combine because it’s a slow track,” said Gil Brandt, a former top executive for the Dallas Cowboys and now a senior analyst for NFL.com.
Smith measured a shade under 6-foot-3, weighed 316 pounds and ran the 40 in 5.03 seconds, Brandt said, while Adams was a shade over 6-3, weighed 306 and ran the 40 in 5.11.
Said Smith, “I think it went well. I haven’t seen any of my numbers, any of the technical stuff. But I came out of it feeling really good.”
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
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