What do Brodrick Bunkley and Jon Alston have in common?

[t.j 35]

They both scored over 80 if you combine their vertical leap (inches), broad jump (feet), and bench press (reps of 225#).

 

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/9326200

I have been adding these three scores for a long time now and I am always looking for athletes who can score a 70 or better.

This year, we have a number of players who crossed the 70 mark and we have the rare few that have crossed the 80 mark. Believe me, not many NFL draft-eligible players ever get an 80-plus score.

 

NAME POS. VERTICAL BROAD BENCH TOTAL

Mario Williams DE 40.5 10.0 35 85.5

Brodrick Bunkley DT 32.5 9.05 44 85.5

Vernon Davis TE 42.0 10.08 33 85.08

Jon Alston OLB 40.0 11.0 30 81.0

 

Not surprising that Williams and Davis put up monster scores, and both have moved up after the combine, possibly to go top 5 and top 10, respectively. I heard Kirwan talk about Mario Williams and this stat on Sirius NFL radio, and I was surprised to see that Bunkley matched his score. But Bunkley is rated as a mid-1st rounder, and Alston is the 9th-rated OLB, even though these guys are playing positions where (according to Kirwan) these measurements are pretty good indicators of their physical ability to perform. By comparison, Haloti Ngata (the top DT prospect) and A.J. Hawk (the top OLB prospect) scored 77.52 and 73.07, respectively. So Buckley and Alston each scored about 8 higher than the top prospect at their position.

 

It will be interesting to see if Bunkley and Alston see their stock rise as the draft approaches. Having two leg exercises among the three measurements I'm sure is supposed to emphasize leg strength and explosiveness. Then again, the fact that Bunkley and Alston are both undersized (Bunkley gives up 32 pounds to Ngata and Alston gives up 25 to Hawk) probably helps them in the broad jump and vertical jump. Perhaps the teams who grab these guys will be fooled by their excellent upper-body strength and quickness, and overlook a lesser amount of lower-body strength.

 

Disclaimer:

At no time do I believe any measurable or a combination of measurables replace what I can watch on tape when the athlete performs in a football game. But when it comes to putting the puzzle together and separating packs of players with similar production and grades, I do like to take a look at this combo score.

[OrangeSoda 2]

Bunkley is a beast, and is basicly gilbert brown in his prime, but with out the conditioning problems, I would consider him a top 15 pick, i am hoping he falls to my Broncos at 22!

[Zap 0]

Bunkley has been top 15 since the Senior Bowl. He might be able to reach the top ten, but that's a stretch. I've watched Alston play many many times, and he's raw. He has moved into day one, but not round two. If he does, it's a mistake.